How to Upgrade Mac OS Panther

Performing an upgrade on a computer OS (Operating System) is quite different on Macs than it is on PCs that run Microsoft Windows. In fact, the entire nature of the OS philosophy is different, a fact that is dramatically illustrated by the numerous different versions of the new Windows Vista OS (Home, Premium and others). Rather than having different versions and also having both "upgrade" and "full install" sets, Mac OS Panther is "all for one and one for all," and is installed the same way on machines with existing systems as it is on computers with new, blank hard drives.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac OS installation disc(s) on DVD

Upgrade Mac OS Panther on an Existing Drive/Volume

1. Back up any data you wish to retain, even if you are not going to reformat the drive with the "Upgrade" option. You can't be too careful with your important data.

2. Begin the upgrade process by inserting a Mac OS installation disc for an OS newer than Mac OS Panther 10.3 (Tiger 10.4 or Leopard 10.5).

3. Open the installation disc and double-click the appropriate (normally center and top) icon to begin the OS installation. Your first decision will be to choose "Archive and Install" (which saves your older system in a new "Previous System" folder) or "Upgrade" (which will reformat the drive resulting in the loss of all data). Study these terms at the Apple support site if they are not clear to you (see Resources below).

4. Follow the installation steps to check the target drive with "DiskUtility," then continue. At the proper time, the installer routine will notify you that it needs to "Restart" and boot from the DVD itself to complete the installation.

5. Choose "Restart" from the "Apple" menu to ensure that the final phase of the installation proceeds correctly. The installer program should be running the Mac after the "Restart" command, just as it did before you invoked it.

Upgrade Mac OS Panther on an External or Secondary Internal Drive/Volume

6. Insert the installation disc for an OS greater than Mac OS Panther 10.3 and double-click the appropriate icon to begin the process.

7. Select the target drive, whether an internal or external drive (not USB), and choose either "Archive and Install" or "Upgrade" depending upon whether you wish to retain the old system and data or not.

8. Restart your Mac and ensure that the secondary drive appears when you select "Startup Disk" in the "System Preferences" application (located in the "Dock" or "Apple" menu). Drives only appear in that window if they have a properly installed version of the Mac OS.

Tips & Warnings

• Always check the suitability of a hard drive before installing Mac OS Panther by, at the very least, running "DiskUtility" on the target drive.
• If you are installing Mac OS Panther to a new, blank internal drive, you need to start up from the OS installation DVD and run "DiskUtility" from the menu bar.
• Do not attempt to install Mac OS Panther to an external USB drive. USB drives are not yet capable of acting as startup disks for the Mac OS, although Firewire drives are supported for this use.

Resources

• Apple support pages for installation support