MacMedics Frequently Asked Macintosh Service Questions: Snow Leopard Installation

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.