MacMedics Frequently Asked Macintosh Service Questions: Snow Leopard Installation

Do I need to to back up before installing Snow Leopard?

In a word YES! Whenever you run a minor or major software update, you DO need to have your data backed up (and be sure to have that back up tested as well!).

Time and time again we have clients come in with a major hard drive problem right after they have tried to upgrade their Mac OS.

Run Time Machine BEFORE you run that installer. If you are not on Leopard or Snow Leopard, run a program like SuperDuper to make a clone of your hard drive before you perform your upgrade. Even if you have a Time Machine back up, I highly suggest you have a fresh clone of your hard drive on standby whenever you’re running a major Apple software upgrade. This way if something goes wrong, you have a bootable copy of all of your data. Nice thing about a clone vs. Time Machine is you can boot off it and TEST it BEFORE you run a major upgrade. This way if something goes wrong you can get right back to work by booting off the clone.

Never run an Apple software update when you’re on deadline or have a major project due. Updates should always be performed when you’re not under the gun.

Should I unplug my external backup when installing Snow Leopard?

Yes. In fact MacMedics recommends that all USB and FireWire devices (except your keyboard and mouse) should be unplugged before you run the Snow Leopard installer. That holds true for any software update or upgrade as well.

See our full Snow Leopard upgrade Blog post with all the things you should consider here.

Before you install this or any other software update, be sure to read our Software Update/Upgrade Warning Page which can be found here.

Here’s the text from the Apple Software Update window:

The 10.6.2 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

An issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly

An issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3874.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Update 1/27/10: This topic was mentioned on the Apple forums. See the link here.

Apple released Snow Leopard to the public on August 28. This new version of OS X leaves behind support for the Power PC and it will only run on Intel based Macintosh computers. It’s faster, smaller in size, and much cheaper then previous Apple operating systems. At $29 it’s a good value and well worth the investment. It’s $29 for the single user, $49 for a 5 user family pack, and Tiger users can upgrade via the Mac Box Set which includes iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 as well as Snow Leopard.

Update 9/12/08: MacMedics has both Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard Family Packs in stock in both Lanham and Millersville locations.

Our initial reaction to Snow Leopard has been good, and most of the MacMedics are running it now and have been using it and testing it for some time. While we are excited for it, we have not yet begun to install it for clients just yet.

Before you take the leap to Snow Leopard (or any other update to Apple’s OS) be sure to read our software upgrade warnings page first. It can be found here, but to get the word our we’ve copied the text of the page to this Blog post.

As noted below, MacMedics also strongly recommends you have a tested and fully functional back up in place BEFORE you install any Apple system software update. Something could go wrong, and you could have a major problem on your hands. Whenever Apple releases a major update to OS X we usually see 4 or 5 clients’ hard drives die that first day. If your hard drive is dying or already unhealthy, the extra hard drive activity needed to install a major update is often all it takes to kill a hard drive. Please see our web page on the subject of hard drive failures.

For more detailed information on installing Apple system updates, please see details below.

Upgrading to Snow Leopard and/or installing any Apple OS X software update

Running a software update from Apple (or elsewhere) as soon as it pops up is not always the best plan. In our travels we very frequently see clients who have run a software update without planning ahead for it, and as a result end up with annoying issues, sudden incompatibilities, and even data loss. One thing to consider is how healthy your hard drive is overall before running an update. Never try to solve an issue such as system lock ups or crashing by installing the latest update, as symptoms like those can be exasperated by applying a software update.

Here’s our safety checklist for running software updates or installing a system upgrade.

6. Consider the possibility that major applications and/or features might be affected by an Apple software update or system upgrade.

Don’t run a software update on a production machine while on a deadline. You want to be certain that the update will not cause more problems than it was designed to fix. If your machine is working, let it continue working as is, and plan to install the update after you know it’s not going to cause any issues for you. We install the updates on our test machines here at MacMedics as soon as they are released to Apple Developers, and again when they are released to the public.

Can your hard drive handle Snow Leopard?

Installing a new OS is like taking your hard drive to the gym. It can be quite a workout for an older hard drive, and whenever a new OS comes out, we always see a few dead hard drives as a result. No matter what you do, make sure you have a back up of your data before you begin! Also, don’t forget (or skip over) the important task of TESTING your back up. Time Machine is what many clients are running, and while it works most of the time, it can suffer from issues. It’s very hard to test that a Time Machine back up is totally working, and we often find ones that don’t work. Just keep that in mind when you plan your upgrade.

Prices have dropped significantly on hard drives over the last year or so. MacMedics now recommends retiring hard drives after three years in desktops, and two years in laptops. Be sure to check out new web page to find out why you should retire your older hard drive and to learn about our 5 rules of data protection and preservation. Why take a chance with your data when faster, larger, and generally more reliable drives are available. Moving to Snow Leopard is a great opportunity to get a new drive, while at the same time insuring your data is safe.

Apple released the much anticipated 10.5.7 update to Mac OS X today.

PLEASE be sure to have a fully tested backup before installing the update. Also, unplug that backup drive and any other USB or FireWire devices before your run the 10.5.7 update. It is also a good idea to “restart” your computer BEFORE running the update, and install the 10.5.7 update before running any applications.

In general, MacMedics does not recommend that you install this update on a production machine. We also suggest that you not install the update the very same day it comes out, in case the update is recalled for any reason.

See our update warnings page for all of the things to watch out for.

http://www.macmedics.com/updates.htm

Also, see our full 10.5.7 post from a few days ago: http://www.macmedics.com/blog/?p=615

Word on the street is that Apple might release OS X 10.5.7 very soon (it was rumored to be released on Friday 5/8, but that turned out that not to be the case).

While the 10.5.7 Leopard update will be very exciting news, MacMedics DOES NOT recommend that Mac users install this update the day it comes out. Also, for anyone that use their computers for production or other mission critical purposes, we recommend you install this update on a test machine and try it out for a few days before installing it on your primary machine.

MacMedics also strongly recommends you have a tested and fully functional back up in place BEFORE you install any Apple system software update. Something could go wrong during the install, and you could have a major problem on your hands. Whenever Apple releases a major update to OS X we usually see 4 or 5 clients’ hard drives die that first day. If your hard drive is dying or already unhealthy, the extra hard drive activity needed to install a major update is often all it takes to kill a hard drive. Please see our web page [http://www.harddrivesdie.com] on the subject of hard drive failures.

Don’t forget that while Time Machine is an excellent automatic back up (just the way we like it here at MacMedics!), it IS very hard to test the RESTORE capabilities of such a back up. Read my post on Time Machine here. The short story is while you might not lose any data, you could be in for a major situation and delay if you want to recreate your hard drive as it was. The ideal situation is to have TWO back ups. One Time Machine and one “bootable” clone back up of your hard drive. That way no matter what happens you can boot off the clone and get right back to work.

We’ll post new info on our update warnings page and here in our Blog as it becomes available. We will also Twitter about anything you need to know in the meantime.

http://www.macmedics.com/updates.htm
http://www.twitter.com/macmedics

Apple released it’s largest batch of security bug fixes for OS X yesterday. MacMedics’ stance on Apple security updates is that in most cases they should be run as soon as possible.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, one of them being that you should never run an update while you are in the middle of completing a job. We instead recommend that you wait until you have completed anything that is on deadline and then run the updates. In other cases of software updates from Apple, we usually like to take a more cautious approach, and wait to see how the update fares before we start installing it for our clients.

It is important that you check and verify that your data is fully backed up and readily accessible before undertaking any system update. When running an Apple system update it is also recommended that you unplug any attached hard drives, iPods, or any other USB or FireWire devices.

Security Update 2009-001 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update.

For information on this update, please visit Apple’s website.

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 3 delivers improvements to the security and compatibility of Java on Mac OS X 10.5.6 and later.

Further information regarding this update is available from Apple’s website.

For more detailed information on installing Apple system updates, please see our webpage at http://www.macmedics.com/updates.htm

We are surprised that more people are not writing about the issue or it’s solution as this has been a problem for a number of our clients. Adobe posted the following on their knowledge base website:

“Adobe InDesign CS3 or CS4 fails to respond to the show or hide commands when you use the Cmd+H keyboard shortcut or the “Hide InDesign” or “Show All” commands on the Application menu on Mac OS X10.5.x.

InDesign may enter into a hidden state and cannot be made visible again. This can occur when switching context from or to InDesign. For example, clicking on the desktop to switch to the finder, or using the Command+Tab keys to switch between InDesign and another application.

You might also have problems maximizing or minimizing the application.”

The number one fix is to install Apple’s 10.5.6. update which resolves this issue.

Read all the details on Adobe’s website.

Apple released 10.5.6 yesterday. It’s a major update. When you go to install it, ensure you follow Apple’s advice:

1. Back up your computer prior to installing any updates.
2. Quit any open applications before starting the installation.
3. Do not interrupt the installation process.
4. You may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications installed, or if you have modified the operating system through other means, or if you have moved Apple applications from their default locations

This is all sound advice – we highly advise that you follow these four items. To read more about the update be sure to see Apple’s page on it.

These guidelines are pretty much the same as ours here at MacMedics. What we often see is that a major system update will cause one of two issues.

Running an update may seem like a good idea, but beware! Very frequently an update will cause an issue with a major application like Quark or InDesign, and cause a problem during production. That’s never a good thing. Never run a major update during a deadline, and don’t run an update to try and solve a larger issue without knowing what that problem is.

The other thing we often see is that an update like this can be a heavy duty workout for a sick or dying hard drive (see www.HardDrivesDie.com to learn more on this). Ensure that you’ve got a healthy drive before you run the update. Repair permissions, boot in safe mode, check things out, unplug external devices, and make sure you have File Vault or any other encryption software turned off.

Make sure your data is 100% backed up, and do that by actually checking your back up to ensure your data is where you think it is. If your back up is bootable, try booting off of it to check to see if its working. You don’t want to find out you can’t immediately bounce back from a problem if one should pop up. Sadly Time Machine is NOT a bootable back up, unless you have another system you can test on, but be sure you check it and maybe try pulling a few sample files off of it to test it’s validity.

If your Mac is on MacMedics Scheduled Service, then we’ll perform this update for you when we deem it safe. If you like to live up to the second, follow us on Twitter to watch what’s going on with us and the very latest updates.

iPhone Software version 2.1 was released by Apple today via iTunes. It adds the Genius playlist feature that is also available in the iPod touch. This software update was released to address connection issues by reducing call drops and set-up failures. Changes also include some improvements to the 3G signal strength meter and some tweaks related to text messaging that allow for an option for repeating an alert on an incoming message up to tow times.

The new firmware also addresses some improvements in battery life, contact searching, and has reduced the amount of time needed to make a back up of the iPhone

Here is the complete list of items addressed in this update from Apple:

1. Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops.
2. Significantly improved battery life for most users.
3. Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts.
4. Faster installation of 3rd party applications
5. Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications.
6. Improved performance in text messaging.
7. Faster loading and searching of contacts
8. Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display.
9. Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages.
10. Option to wipe data after 10 failed passcode attempts.
11. Genius playlist creation.

My update went well, and so far so good for other MacMedics staffers as well. We are especially anxious to see if this update really improves call reception and reduces dropped calls for those of us who one the new 3G iPhone.

I will post more on this topic, if we uncover anything that our clients need to know about. Are you on e-mail newsletter list? If not sign up here. Also, you can follow us on Twitter.