1.3 Upgrading from Earlier Versions of Mac OS

     Because you install OS X Mavericks through the Apple App Store, everything about the upgrade process is practically automatic. The steps that you should take before you start the installation are important; I cover those in the next section. Pay heed, or pay later. I won’t go into detail about the actual installation because there aren’t any details to speak of — you’ll answer a question or two and then hop up to get another cup of coffee or another caffeine-laden soda while the installer does the rest. Would anyone expect anything different from Apple?
     But before you strike up the band, read the following sections to protect yourself against some common pitfalls.

Back up! — Please, back up!

     I know you’re anxious to join the In crowd, and Apple makes the upgrade process as noninvasive and as safe as possible, but snafus such as power loss and hard drive failures do happen. With a full backup of your system to an external hard drive (using Time Machine), you can rest assured that you’ll get your precious files and folders back in pristine shape if tragedy strikes. You need to back up your system on a regular basis, anyway. Promise me now that you’ll back up your system, won’t you?

Snuff out disk errors

     Before you upgrade, I recommend that you check that hard drive for errors one last time because upgrading a disk with directory errors takes longer. To give your drive a clean bill of health, use Disk Utility, which I cover in Chapter 9 of this minibook. Ain’t technology grand?

Plug it, road warrior

     You’re on the road with your MacBook Pro, and you’re thinking of buying your brand-spanking-new Mavericks OS upgrade — Stop! NOW.
     Before you decide to upgrade your Mac notebook, consider what will happen if that magical vessel containing all your files should flicker and. . . .No, on second thought, don’t even visualize it. (Even if the battery is fully charged.) If you’re installing an OS X upgrade on a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, make sure that it’s plugged in and receiving its share of good, clean AC power from a handy, nearby wall socket. The installation process could take an hour, and you can expect constant hard drive activity — think “Attack of the Energy-Draining Installation from Planet Lithium.” You don’t want to try this while your notebook is operating on battery power.
     Heck, a technopurist would probably recommend that you attach your Macintosh to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for the installation process, but I’m not quite that paranoid about power outages.
     Keep one thing in mind while installing OS X: If you format the destination drive (the drive where you’ll install OS X), you’ll lose everything that it stored. No big surprise — and the installation program will warn you profusely beforehand. There’s no reason to format the destination drive unless you just crave a clean installation (an installation of a new OS on a newly formatted drive, compared with an upgrade of your existing OS X System files). Oh, and if you do decide to format the drive, don’t forget to use Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format when prompted by the OS X install application.
     What’s that, you say? You’d like a comprehensive guide to your classy new Apple MacBook Air or MacBook Pro laptop? Look no farther than the fourth edition of my bestselling MacBook For Dummies, published in both print and electronic format by the good folks at Wiley. With a copy in hand, any road warrior will find the answers to those Persistent Laptop Questions!