How to Install Leopard on a Dell Laptop
The "hackintosh" (hacking+Macintosh) community has been hard at work ever since Apple switched to Intel processors to get the operating system run on Dell PC hardware. As it turns out, Dell has released a perfect candidate for this process in the Dell Mini 9 and 10v. With nothing more than a little formatting and preparation, you can get Leopard (and Snow Leopard) running on your Dell hardware.
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Things You'll Need
- Dell Mini 10v
- OS X 10.5/10.6 Install DVD
- 8GB+ USB flash drive
- Netbook Boot Maker
- Apple Computer
Instructions
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Insert the Mac OS X Install DVD into the drive of an Apple Computer. You will need an Apple computer for the first few steps of this installation: Insert the USB flash drive into the computer's USB slot.
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Open Disk Utility ("Applications" > "Utilities") and highlight the USB drive in the sidebar. Select the "Partition" tab. Set the "Volume Scheme" to "1 Partition." Select "Options" and click "Master Boot Record." Set the name to "Hackintosh." Select "Apply" to format the drive.
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Highlight the USB drive once again (once the formatting finishes) and select the "Restore" tab. Drag "Mac OS X Install DVD" from the sidebar to the "Source" input field. Drag "Hackintosh" from the sidebar to the "Destination" output field. Select "Restore." A warning will pop up, informing you that the contents will be erased; select "OK."
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Download the Netbook Boot Maker from the link in the Resources section below. Open the utility and select "Mac OS X Install DVD" from the "USB Partition" drop-down menu. Click "Prepare Boot Drive." Once complete, remove the USB drive. You no longer need the Apple computer.
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Insert the USB drive into an open USB slot on the Dell Mini 10v. Restart the computer, then press and hold "F2" as the computer starts to load the BIOS screen.
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Navigate to the "Boot" tab using the arrow keys. Locate and highlight "USB Storage" and press "F6" until it sits at the top of the list. Press "F10" to save the changes and exit. The computer will restart and boot into the USB drive. You should next see a grey Apple logo.
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Select "Utilities" from the Mac OS X Installer menu bar, before starting the installation, and select "Disk Utilities." Highlight the Dell's hard drive and select the "Partition" tab. Set the "Volume Scheme" to "1 Partition." Select "Options" and click "GUID Partition Table." Set the Format to "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)" and click "Apply."
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Continue with the installation by installing the newly-formatted Dell hard drive. Follow the on-screen instructions. It will take roughly an hour for the installation to complete. Once installed, remove the USB drive, and the computer will boot into Mac OS X on your Dell laptop.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Leopard image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
