Can I use my MacBook Pro DVD OS Installer on iMac?

[mac98aop]

Hi there

The old iMac we were donated is on Yosemite and slow to the point of impossible to use. Alas, it's come with no original discs etc.

My MacBook Pro came with OSX Lion I believe - can I clean install with that DVD?

Or, is there anyway of getting an older OS on the iMac? My MacBook runs Mavericks, could I somehow clone it on to the iMac perhaps, USB to USB?!?!

We just need it for simple surfing and the children doing very basic primary school assignments. Alas, homework books and a pencil seem a thing of the past!

Thanks

Adam

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

Lion wouldn’t have come on a DVD. If it had a DVD it would’ve been Snow Leopard and most likely won’t work on the iMac. You could search eBay for a Lion USB installer stick, then just boot from that.

Or pop an SSD in there and Yosemite will fly ;)

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

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[mac98aop]

Ok, thanks Sam.

Just seen that a low end small (but big enough) SSD really is now affordable.

So, just to confirm, with the older style iMac (aluminium, DVD drive, not super skinny etc) is it a case of popping off the back and installing the SSD? Or is there a need to melt glue, reapply glue to hold in place etc?!?!

I did my MBPro and that was as easy as you said it would be! Is the iMac as easy?

Thanks

[mac98aop]

Or Sam, Apple Help Center implies I can revert to a previous OS using Time Machine.

I have a TimeMachine for my MBPro, could I boot and restore the iMac from that to get Mavericks on there, at least until I install the SSD?

Thanks!

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

I wouldn’t bother, just install an SSD, it’ll be faster than reverting to Mavericks. There are guides on ifixit.com, it’s not massively complicated, just arrange the screws on a piece of paper in the order in which they are removed, makes it easier when reassembling. The 2008 iMac usefully has an external thermal sensor which can just be fixed to the SSD with Kapton tape (heat-resistive sticky tape). I use a combination of self-adhesive velcro and Kapton tape to secure the SSD in place.

The most complicated bit of the install will most likely be removing the display from the iMac, there’s a connector with two very small Torx screws on it, and a very stiff cable connector which connects the display to the power supply (I usually remove the display end as opposed to the power supply end as it’s less fiddly).

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

[Derek Wright]

Apart from fitting an SSD , check to see if the memory has been maxed out in the machine. Use the Crucial analyser tool from the Crucial web site to determine if you can add more memory.

[Jason Davies]

Typically installng means running on the machine you got the disk for. So you have to start the iMac up in Target disk mode, connect to the MacBook Pro as a firewire disk, and then install by booting the MBP from the DVD.

I repeat something I said a while ago, that running an older Mac with an SSD as an external back up is remarkably successful. My son had a Mac Mini (2010) which was unusable but still runs effortlessly thanks to an external enclosure with an SSD.
That's preferable as a) it's much easier b) your software doesn't have to be out of date.

I set theirs up to clone the external disk to the internal one daily so there was always a start-up if the external disk got disconnected.

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[Sam - MacAmbulance]

With the difference in speed between usb2 and sata2/sata3 you'd get a lot better performance by swapping the internal drive and external ssd.

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

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[Gillian Snoxall]

Hi Sam,

Can you recommend an SSD for my iMac, please?

Best regards,

Gilly

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

Can you send over the serial number for your iMac? I'll check the best options

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

[Gillian Snoxall]

Thanks so much, Sam. The serial number of my iMac is W89072AQ0TF

Gilly

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

Great that's an early 2009 iMac, so while the install procedure is slightly lengthier than the 2011, there's thermal sensor which is attached to the hard drive and can be reattached with Kapton tape to the new SSD. You can get Kapton tape from eBay very cheaply, it's a heat resistant sticky tape.

Instructions are on ifixit or get your local Apple Registered Service Engineer (that's how I like to abbreviate us anyway)  to install it. Or plan a day trip down to Brighton!

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

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[Gillian Snoxall]

Hi Sam,

Thank you so much for your help. I am sorely tempted to plan a day trip to Brighton, but I want to avoid offending my local Mac guru ( https://macwiz.co.uk/ ). Not sure if he’s an Apple Registered Service Engineer, but he’s the best we’ve got around here.

Meanwhile, can you please advise me which make of SSD I should go for?

Thanks Sam.

Gilly

On 20 Apr 2016, at 10:11, Sam - MacAmbulance <in...@macambulance.co.uk> wrote:

Great that's an early 2009 iMac, so while the install procedure is slightly lengthier than the 2011, there's thermal sensor which is attached to the hard drive and can be reattached with Kapton tape to the new SSD. You can get Kapton tape from eBay very cheaply, it's a heat resistant sticky tape.

Instructions are on ifixit or get your local Apple Registered Service Engineer (that's how I like to abbreviate us anyway)  to install it. Or plan a day trip down to Brighton!

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

He doesn’t have to be a certified technician, it was just a silly joke my mum came up with when she abbreviated the words. Your Mac’s well out of warranty now so doesn’t matter who installs it as long as they know what they’re doing

Crucial BX200 or SanDisk Ultra II are very good value, just make sure you get one big enough to hold all your data, 480GB or ideally 960GB.

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

[Gillian Snoxall]

Great! Thanks so much Sam.

Gilly

[mac98aop]

FWIW Gilly, at the time I did it, I went with Sam's Crucial suggestion and it's worked brilliantly and good value (best value at the time 2.5 years ago) and yes, get as big as you can afford.

It's staggering how much of a difference it makes. 

My 5 year old MacBook is as fast (ok, so I'm not rendering Photoshop, but for all day email/web/writing work) as anything current.

Enjoy!

[Gillian Snoxall]

Many thanks, Adam. That’s a great recommendation. I am looking forward to having a faster computer. At present it’s really sluggish.

Cheers.

Gilly

[Rob Beattie]

I'd second that. On Sam's recommendation I got a Crucial SSD for my late 2008 Macbook and it's now running El Capitam and Logic Pro just fine.

-----------------
Rob Beattie
Freelance writer and book author
www.robbeattie.com
07769 902820
Twitter: @robbeattie

Author of The Bluffer's Guide to Fishing 

and 101 Things to do in a Shed

[Adam Pymble]

Rob, please expand on "just fine" for your Macbook, only...

I've been worried bout my early 2011 Macbook Pro, and downgraded to Mavericks again as fans went like mad etc. Do they settle down? Or is there a compromise?

If it's ok, I'll update.... I think!

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[PHILIP TOMLINSON]

I'd like to reassure you too.  Sam put a 1TB SSD into my 2007 iMac and it has become like a new computer running the latest operating system.

Phil T


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

[Rob Beattie]

Hi Adam, to be fair, it's early days yet. I've only created songs with half a dozen tracks (loops and software instruments) and a couple of vocals but it *seems* fine. I get the occasional fan panic but that seems to me to be a good enough compromise to keep the machine going for a bit longer. I've deliberately put nothing else on the old MacBook though. 8-)

-----------------
Rob Beattie
Freelance writer and book author
www.robbeattie.com
07769 902820
Twitter: @robbeattie

Author of The Bluffer's Guide to Fishing 

and 101 Things to do in a Shed

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

The fans might be a reaction to the increased disk activity that comes with El Cap. More disk activity means more heat, although SSDs get the job done far quicker, so less heat, and put out much less heat normally anyway.

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

[Adam Pymble]

Thanks Rob et al

How 'occasional' is the fan panic? I get it from time to time with Mavericks on my SSD (early 2011 MBPro) but bearable.

I do find the fan panic annoying, but agree, if it extends life of the old workhorse...!

Thanks!

[Rob Beattie]

I was recording an electric guitar yesterday and it didn't happen once. Like I say, these are mainly small Logic projects so your mileage may differ.

-----------------
Rob Beattie
Freelance writer and book author
www.robbeattie.com
07769 902820
Twitter: @robbeattie

Author of The Bluffer's Guide to Fishing 

and 101 Things to do in a Shed

[mac98aop]

Just to finish the thread folks...

Sam has previously advised having a Clone to hand, and I simply resurrected my old iMac with a Clone of my MacBook running Mavericks. Works like a charm, very quick and painless with Carbon Cloner and the old iMac serving us well again.

Another time, (and if it wasn't simply for our young children to do their homework) an SSD it will be, but for now.... the £10 used Samsung HDD I bought and cloned to was a wise investment to have on hand with a TimeMachine backup nearby!

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 9:01:26 AM UTC+1, mac98aop wrote: