General question about Mac from a new user

[bcwarlock]

I just bought a used mac to use just for Ableton that did not come with the install cds, so can I just buy the operating software discs and use that if my hard drive fails for some reason provided it is compatible with my mac specs b/c I saw different OS box sets for sale on amazon??

[Akshara]

Pretty much, though not exactly.

There can be issues when installing an older OS revision than the one that was preinstalled with the mac when shipped from the factory. Whatever OS was installed on the Mac from the factory is the furthest back that it can go with no problems, even if an earlier OS revision is technically compatible with the specs. And some models came with special install versions of the OS and included software, which may not be included in a retail box version of the same OS. Here is a quote from Apple...

"Even though one version of system software may be identical in version number to another, the software may not be exactly the same. For example, you may have a retail version of the Mac OS X v10.5 installation disc, and your computer perhaps came with Mac OS X v10.5. Your computer may have additional software specific to it included on its software disc (Mac OS X v10.5) that may not be present on the retail Mac OS X v10.5 disc.

Be sure to use the original software discs that came with your computer when performing a reinstall of Mac OS X unless you are installing a new release (for example, installing the retail version of Mac OS X v10.5 onto a compatible Mac that shipped with Mac OS X 10.4 is fine). This is particularly important if you are creating and installing custom disc images."

A further example, my Macbook Pro came installed with OS 10.4.9 Tiger, and I use a retail copy of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard when reinstalling from scratch with no problems. Once when I couldn't find my original install discs, I tried reinstalling with what was called a CPU drop-in version of OS 10.5 which shipped with my wife's Macbook, and the install didn't work right; yet a full retail version of 10.5 from the Apple Store worked fine.

To the point... the best solution is to find out what OS version came installed with your model from the factory (Click Here), and then buy the retail version of the next release, so if it shipped with 10.6.4, buy 10.7. If the next later version than was shipped is the OS that is already currently installed, then cool, buy that one. If not, consider and research into upgrading to the next version if/when reinstalling is necessary.

Good luck, and congratulations.

[hps909]

there are exceptions to the rule... i can boot a 10.6 retail install on external hdd on my wifes macbook air that had 10.7 from factory .. so backing up from clones of a previous install will work in my experience

[Machinesworking]

What OS is installed? What are the specs of the mac?
If it's capable of operating at 64 bits OS wise, just go with Mountain Lion and be done with it.
Most machines past about 2009 should be and a lot previously can.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57 ... ntel-macs/

[bcwarlock]

Its a macbook 13.3 inch w/ an intel core 2 duo 2.16 Ghz and 2 gigs ram that I think is maxed out as its from 2007 so Im not sure if it can do mountain lion but in any event say my hdd failed and wouldnt work any more, I had no back up, and I installed a new blank hard drive into the mac,would I just buy any copy of the os that is later than the one that came w/ my machine and put it in the optical drive and go from there since I didn't get the original discs...I cant imagine this hasn't been encountered before as some people could end up losing the original discs by the time they sell their machines to upgrade....

[Szuumm]

You can (and should) bump the RAM up to 4Gb.

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it it might not recognize all 4Gb... I have the same Mac & have 4 installed though.

[hps909]

Its a macbook 13.3 inch w/ an intel core 2 duo 2.16 Ghz and 2 gigs ram that I think is maxed out as its from 2007 so Im not sure if it can do mountain lion but in any event say my hdd failed and wouldnt work any more, I had no back up, and I installed a new blank hard drive into the mac,would I just buy any copy of the os that is later than the one that came w/ my machine and put it in the optical drive and go from there since I didn't get the original discs...I cant imagine this hasn't been encountered before as some people could end up losing the original discs by the time they sell their machines to upgrade....

that mac will run anything from 10.4 up

[Akshara]

Its a macbook 13.3 inch w/ an intel core 2 duo 2.16 Ghz and 2 gigs ram that I think is maxed out as its from 2007 so Im not sure if it can do mountain lion...

It can't, that system isn't compatible with 10.8. Adding to your private inquiry, with those specs and that amount of memory, your best performance would be with 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. Straight up.

but in any event say my hdd failed and wouldnt work any more, I had no back up, and I installed a new blank hard drive into the mac,would I just buy any copy of the os that is later than the one that came w/ my machine and put it in the optical drive and go from there since I didn't get the original discs...

Not if you want to keep using Lion. There is no official retail optical disc release of Lion 10.7 available for purchase. Installing a fresh copy of 10.7 to a blank hard drive requires either a burned image of the App Store version of Lion, or using Lion's Recovery mode over the internet, which is what the article I linked to in our private communication referenced.

The only way to do what you are asking - purchase a retail optical disc on Amazon and install a fresh OS to a blank hard drive - with zero compatibility problems, is to downgrade to 10.5 or 10.6.

There is a third option however... make a bootable clone of your current system to an external USB drive using something like Carbon Copy Cloner, and then keep updating it every so often. If the internal drive ever fails, replace the drive and then boot from the USB drive and restore the system to the internal drive. That is the simplest solution, if you want to keep running Lion.

If you don't care about Lion or the extra iLife apps that came bundled with the original system, and just want the best performance with Live on your Macbook, buy a copy of 10.6 Snow Leopard, boot up the install disc and run Disc Utility from the Utilities menu before installing to wipe the internal drive (see here), install Snow Leopard, run Software Update after boot to get to 10.6.8, and then install Ableton Live.

Edit: If you had a retail copy of 10.6 Snow Leopard, installed to a fresh drive, and upgraded it to at least 10.6.6, then it would be possible to install the App Store and purchase a new version of 10.7 Lion and install it. That is another alternative for getting to Lion from a blank hard drive.

[bcwarlock]

Thanks for all of the help, I just wasn't sure if I could even install a retail copy of an os on a blank hard drive if it wasn't what originally came with the machine, so I'm glad that I know I can now...thanks:)