Upgrading an Apple Macbook Pro to Leopard
- By Chief Editor
- Published 7 Nov 2007
Chief Editor
Experienced IT professional and frequent blogger with a special interest in technology, the internet, photography and motoring.
At the time of writing, although Leopard has been on sale for a few weeks, some Apple stores in the UK are selling Macbook Pro laptops with the previous version of the OSX operating system.
However, you can order a copy of Leopard from Apple for free (you just pay the postage).
If you are lucky enough to have a new Macbook Pro you will be able to select the Erase and Install method of upgrading, but if your Macbook has been in use for a while and contains your important data then you will probably choose the Archive and Install option.
Archive and Install
This method of upgrade will archive old files and install Leopard. This will take more hard drive space due to the upgrade.
But for the purpose of this artice we are assuming you are performing an Erase and Install on a new Macbook.
Erase and Install
Let your new Macbook go through the initial setup for the previous operating system, then once your Macbook is ready to use install your Leopard upgrade DVD.
Click on the upgrade icon and select rele
vant options including:
When this stage in complete your Macbook will reboot.
You will then see a video displaying "Welcome" in various languages and the install process will continue.
Select your country or region and keyboard layout.
You are then given the option to transfer data from a previous Mac if you have one.
Transferring information from another Apple Mac during upgrade
For the purpose of this blog we are assuming you are transferring data from another Mac. If you are not, you can skip this part of the blog.
However, you can order a copy of Leopard from Apple for free (you just pay the postage).
If you are lucky enough to have a new Macbook Pro you will be able to select the Erase and Install method of upgrading, but if your Macbook has been in use for a while and contains your important data then you will probably choose the Archive and Install option.
Archive and Install
This method of upgrade will archive old files and install Leopard. This will take more hard drive space due to the upgrade.
But for the purpose of this artice we are assuming you are performing an Erase and Install on a new Macbook.
Erase and Install
Let your new Macbook go through the initial setup for the previous operating system, then once your Macbook is ready to use install your Leopard upgrade DVD.
Click on the upgrade icon and select rele
- Upgrade and install
- Click "Options" to deselect the installation of printer drivers, extra language options etc. to save hard drive space (this could save you around 4Gb of hard drive space).
When this stage in complete your Macbook will reboot.
You will then see a video displaying "Welcome" in various languages and the install process will continue.
Select your country or region and keyboard layout.
You are then given the option to transfer data from a previous Mac if you have one.
Transferring information from another Apple Mac during upgrade
For the purpose of this blog we are assuming you are transferring data from another Mac. If you are not, you can skip this part of the blog.
- First, select the option "from another Mac"
- Attach a Firewire cable to your Macbook and your old Mac.
- You will then need to restart your old Mac while holding the "T" key.