Installing a major new version of Mac OS X should be exciting and fun, but without proper guidance you may find it nerve-wracking or even lose valuable files. Fortunately, many thousands of people have upgraded Mac OS X calmly and successfully with Joe Kissell’s previous best-selling Take Control of Upgrading… titles. Joe’s friendly, expert steps—developed over innumerable test installations—help you to avoid trouble, understand what’s going on when you install Snow Leopard, and easily recover from problems that might arise. The ebook will help you:
- Evaluate if your Mac is ready to run Snow Leopard.
- Complete crucial pre-upgrade steps that help you avoid trouble.
- Make a bootable duplicate in case Joe’s easy Plan A doesn’t work for you.
- Understand just what you need to know about what the installer will do.
- Successfully install Snow Leopard on an Intel-based Mac.
- Perform a few important post-installation tasks and tweaks.
- Solve problems that might arise after installing—such as a Mac that won’t boot.
Want help with installing a later version of Mac OS X? Check our catalog for new editions of this ebook that will help you with later upgrades.
You should buy this ebook if one—or both—of the following describes your situation:
- You want to ensure a calm, successful update with no data loss or other unpleasant surprises.
- You could run the Snow Leopard installer on your own, but you want to know the ins and outs of what’s new with the Snow Leopard installer because you are a Mac consultant, because friends and relatives rely on you for tech support, so you can wow everyone at your next MUG meeting, or simply because you like knowing exactly how things work behind the scenes.
Specific questions answered in this ebook include:
- Is my Mac ready for a Snow Leopard installation?
- What’s new in the Snow Leopard installer?
- What’s the deal with QuickTime and Snow Leopard?
- What’s Rosetta, why should I care, and what should I do about it?
- Under what circumstances should I partition my startup drive?
- How can I check if I need to run a firmware update before installing?
- What are smart ways to free disk space to make more room for Snow Leopard?
- How do I back up Boot Camp before upgrading, just in case something goes horribly wrong?
- I clicked Customize in the installer—which checkboxes should I select?
- How can I do what was previously called an Archive and Install? I know it’s fussy, but I like it.
- I just installed Snow Leopard and my Mac won’t boot. Help!
- What should I do if Time Machine wants to start backing up?
About Joe Kissell
Take Control publisher Joe Kissell has written more than 60 books about technology, including many popular Take Control books. He formerly wrote for publications such as Macworld, Wirecutter, and TidBITS. He lives in Saskatoon with his wife and their two sons.