Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Installation Step by Step

At the time of writing this guide, OS X 10.5 Leopard was the current release by Apple. The newest OS by Apple is OS X 10.10 Yosemite. The installation procedure should be relatively the same as previous versions, although, you will need to first create a Yosemite Recovery Disk using this tool.

Install Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard on a new hard drive.

 
Step 1 — Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard 

• Insert a Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard installation disc into your optical drive.
• Hold down the “option” key and restart the computer to bring up the boot option menu.
• To begin the installation, click the install disc icon on the boot option menu.

Step 2 

• When prompted, select your language and click the arrow button to continue.

 
Step 3 

• After the installer loads, you will be greeted by a welcome window.
• Select “Disk Utility” from the Utilities drop down menu.

Step 4 

• Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.
• The correct partition table type needs to be set for your hard drive.
  • If it's a brand-new hard drive, it may have no partition type listed.
  • For an Intel-based machine, you should have "GUID Partition Table" listed.
  • For a Power-PC-based machine, you should have "Apple Partition Map" listed.
• If the incorrect partition type is listed, proceed to the next step to delete and re-create the partition. If not, proceed to step 8.
• Warning: Deleting the partition table will erase the entire contents of the drive.

Step 5 

• The following two steps are only necessary if your drive's partition is set incorrectly. Erasing a partition will permanently erase all information stored inside.
• Select the partition on the drive and click the "-" button.
• When prompted, click the "Remove" button to remove the drive's existing partitions.
• Once the partitions have been removed, click the "Options..." button.

Step 6 

• Select the partition scheme required for your machine:
  • Select "GUID Partition Table" for Intel-based machines.
  • Select "Apple Partition Map" for PowerPC-based machines.
• Click "Ok."
• Press the "+" button to add a new partition.
• Press the "Apply" button.

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Step 7 

• Click on the “Erase” tab.
• Choose the Volume format (we recommend “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”).
• Select a name for the drive.

Step 8 

• Type in a name for the drive. Apple names their drives "Macintosh HD" from the factory.
• Click “Erase.”

Step 9 

• A warning window will pop up and ask if you wish to continue with the erasing process.
• Click "Erase" on the warning window that has popped up.

Step 10 

• After erasing is done, quit Disk Utility.

Step 11 

• After quitting Disk Utility, proceed with the installation by clicking the "Continue" button.
• A window will open and ask if you agree to the Software License Agreement.
• Agree to the Software License Agreement by clicking the "Agree" button.

Step 12 

• Make sure the correct hard drive is selected as the installation destination.
• Click "Continue" to proceed with the installation.

Step 13 

• We are now ready to install Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard on the hard drive. Before proceeding to the next step, make sure that all of the installation settings are correct.
• Click "Install" to commence the installation.

 
Step 14 

• The installer will check the source DVD disk before starting the installation process.
• During this step, you will see a "skip" button. It is not necessary to check the disk, and the "skip" button may be used. However, if you have never used your disk before, or haven't used it recently, it is highly recommended you check it.

 
Step 15 

• Leopard will now install onto the hard drive.
• The installation process can range anywhere from a half hour to an hour.

Step 16 

• If you are installing Leopard from a retail disk, please skip this step.
• If you are installing an OEM version of Leopard, you need to install the iLife applications and other software from the Applications Install Disc.

Step 17 

• The installation was successful. Click "Restart" to reboot the computer.
• At this point you are finished with the Mac OS X install.

Mac OS X Leopard should now be freshly installed. Enjoy!

Make an ISO image for Boot Camp from a Windows installation DVD

When installing Windows 7 or Windows 8 using an installation DVD, you might see the message "press any key" or your Mac might restart to OS X.

Create an ISO file from your installation disc

You might not be able to install Windows 7 or 8 if you're using a Windows DVD on a Mac that doesn't have a built-in optical drive. To install Windows on your Mac, create an ISO image of the install disc instead.

1. While started from OS X, insert the Windows installation DVD in an external optical USB drive.
2. After the DVD mounts, open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder (choose Go > Utilities from the Finder).
3. Select the USB optical drive so it's highlighted in the Disk Utility window.
4. Click the New Image icon at the top of the Disk Utility window.
5. Choose DVD/CD master from the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose none from the Encryption menu.
   
   
    
6. Give the new file a name, then click on Save. The Creating image dialog appears with a progress bar. It may take some time to create an image file from your Windows DVD.
7. Once imaging is complete, select the Windows DVD in the disk list, then click the Eject button at the top of the Disk Utility window. 
8. After the DVD ejects, disconnect your external optical drive from the USB port.
9. From the Finder, locate the disk image file you created earlier. Single click on it to select it, then press the Enter or Return key on your keyboard to rename the file. Change the disk image file extension from .cdr to .iso. When prompted, click "Use .iso" to verify this change.
   
   
    
10. Insert a blank USB 2 flash drive that is a least 16GB in size into a USB port on the computer. Boot Camp Assistant uses this drive to store the Windows 8 install media and support drivers during installation of Windows. This flash drive needs to be formatted for the FAT32 file system and must use the Master Boot Record partitioning scheme. Use Disk Utility to check the format of the flash drive before proceeding, and partition or erase the flash drive if necessary.
11. From the Go menu in the Finder select Utilities.
12. Open the Boot Camp Assistant app in the Utilities folder.
13. Click Continue.
14. Make sure the following options are selected (checked) in the Boot Camp Assistant window:
    ✓ Create a Windows 7 or later install disk
    ✓ Download the latest Windows support software from Apple
    ✓ Install Windows 7 or later version
    
    
15. Click Continue.
16. When prompted to select an ISO image, click Choose, then select the ISO image you created.
17. Click Open.
18. When prompted to save Windows drivers by the assistant, select the flash drive you connected as your destination disk.
19. Click Continue.
20. A message appears letting you know that the next step erases and reformats your flash drive. Click Continue to erase the flash drive.
21. A task status dialog appears with a progress bar. Do not disturb your computer during this process. Boot Camp Assistant creates Windows install media on the USB flash drive, and downloads and copies related Windows drivers to the same drive.
22. Next, a prompt appears asking for a password to install the Boot Camp Assistant helper tool. Type in your administrator password and click Add Helper.
23. Follow the onscreen instructions to partition your drive and to install Windows.
    - If you're asked where you want to install Windows 7 or Windows 8, select the BOOTCAMP partition, click Advanced, then click Format.
    - If you're installing Windows 8.1, select the BOOTCAMP partition, then click Format. 

Make sure your device is "removable"

When creating an ISO image or copying drivers to a USB flash drive, make sure the device you're using works as a removable drive. Some devices mount as a fixed storage device and can't be ejected. 

Connect your flash drive or SD Card, then try to eject it from the Finder. If you don't see an option to eject the drive in the Finder sidebar, this device can’t be used to install Windows.

Install Windows on a Mac With Boot Camp

How to Install Windows on a Mac With Boot Camp

Thanks to the switch from PowerPC to Intel many years ago, a Mac is just another PC. Macs come with Mac OS X, but you can easily install Windows on them with Apple’s built-in Boot Camp feature.

Boot Camp installs Windows in a dual-boot configuration. You’ll know what to expect if you’ve ever installed Linux alongside Windows. Both operating systems will be installed, but you can only use one at a time.

Do You Actually Need to Use Boot Camp?

Before we proceed with the details on how to install Windows in Boot Camp, you should first stop and think about whether or not that is the best choice for your needs, because there are also a couple of drawbacks to consider.

When you use Boot Camp to install Windows on your Mac, you’ll need to re-partition your drive, which is going to take up quite a bit of your available drive space. Since storage on a Mac is fairly expensive, it’s something you should really think about. In addition, to actually use Windows, you’ll need to reboot, and if you want to use OS X again, you’ll need to reboot yet again. The benefit of Boot Camp, of course, is that you’re running Windows directly on the hardware, so it’ll be a lot faster than a virtual machine.

If all you need to do is run a few Windows applications on your Mac, and those applications aren’t games or something that requires a lot of resources, you might consider using a virtual machine like Parallels (there’s a free trial), VMware Fusion, or VirtualBox to run that software instead. The vast majority of the time you don’t actually need to use Boot Camp, and you’d be better off using a virtual machine.

Note: I don’t often recommend paid software, but in the case of Parallels Desktop, it’s something we use at How-To Geek every single day for testing software and running Windows. The integration with OS X is amazingly well done, and the speed blows away Virtualbox. In the long run, the price is well worth it.

You can even use Parallels to load your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine while you are in OS X, giving you the best of both worlds.

What You’ll Need

You’ll need a non-Enterprise, 64-bit copy of Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 for this. This applies to Macs made in the last several years — if you have an older Mac from 2009 or earlier, you won’t be able to install Windows 8. Check Apple’s detailed system requirements for more information.

Windows doesn’t come with Mac OS X, so you’ll need a full version of Windows — not an upgrade version — to install it on your Mac. You can download Windows installation media for free if you already have a product key, but you’ll need to purchase a copy of Windows if you don’t. You’ll need the installation media in ISO file or DVD form.

You’ll also need a USB drive at least 8 GB in size. This will be used to install Windows and the appropriate drivers on your Mac.

Apple recommends backing up your files before partitioning or installing Windows. It’s always good to have backups before doing something that could potentially be destructive. If you make a mistake or the partitioning process fails due to a bug, you could lose your files. If you’re careful, this shouldn’t happen.

How to Install Windows on Your Mac

You’ll use the Boot Camp Assistant application that comes on your Mac for this. Open it by pressing Command + Space, typing Boot Camp, and pressing Enter.

The Boot Camp Assistant will copy the Windows installation files from an ISO file or physical disc to a USB drive. Windows will install itself on your Mac from this USB drive. The latest Windows drivers will also be downloaded from Apple and placed on this drive, and they’ll install automatically after you install Windows. This application will also guide you through the process of resizing your Mac’s existing system partition and creating a Windows partition.

First, select what you want to do. You should probably leave all these options checked. However, if you already have a Boot Camp USB drive or you’ve already partitioned your Mac, you can uncheck these options to speed the process up. This is useful if you’re installing Windows on multiple Macs and you’ve already created a USB drive.

Next, point your Mac at the ISO file or USB drive. Insert a USB flash drive and select it. This drive will be erased, so be sure you have backups of any important files stored on it.

The screen will read “Copying Windows files” as your Mac creates the Windows installer drive it will need. This process may take quite a while, depending on the speed of your drive. It’s normal for the progress bar to appear stuck in one position — just be patient.

After your Mac finishes creating a USB installation drive, you’ll see the Create a Partition screen. You can now divide your Mac’s system drive into two separatepartitions — one for Mac OS X and one for Windows. How you should allocate the space depends on how much space you want for your Windows system and how much space you want for your OS X system. If you have multiple hard disks in your Mac, you can use one specifically for Windows.

If you want to resize your partitions after this process, you’ll need to use a third-party tool. Boot Camp Assistant can’t help you with that.

Click the Install button and Boot Camp Assistant will resize your Mac OS X partition and create the new partition for Windows. Your Mac will then restart and boot the Windows installer from the USB drive. Go through the installer and install Windows on your Mac like you’d install it on any other PC.

Select the partition labeled BOOTCAMP when you reach the Where do you want to install Windows? screen. Click the Format option to format the partition as NTFS, and then click Continue.

Warning: Triple-check that you’re formatting the right partition. You’ll wipe your Mac OS X system if you format the wrong partition.

Windows will now finish installing normally. The Boot Camp installer will appear after you finish installing Windows, installing the hardware drivers and utilities you’ll need in your Windows system.

After the Boot Camp installer finishes, you’re free to remove the USB drive and do whatever you want with it. If you don’t plan to install Windows on another Mac, you can format the drive and place your personal files on it again.

The Boot Camp Control Panel

You’ll find Apple’s Boot Camp Control Panel running in your system tray after installing Windows. Click the up arrow in your system tray to view more icons, click the Boot Camp icon, and select Boot Camp Control Panel to open it.

This control panel allows you to choose the default operating system your Mac boots to, as well as tweak keyboard and trackpad settings.

While in Windows, the Mac’s Command key functions as the Windows key, while the Option key functions as the Alt key.

How to Remove Windows From Your Mac

If you want to remove Windows from your Mac and free up space, reboot into Mac OS X and open the Boot Camp Assistant again. You’ll see the Remove Windows 7 or later version option here if Windows is currently installed.

Boot Camp Assistant will automatically remove Windows and expand the Mac OS X partition for you, reclaiming all of that space.

Warning: This will delete all the files on your Windows partition, so be sure you have backup copies first!

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Windows should work just fine on your Mac hardware. These aren’t the PowerPC days anymore — your Mac has standard hardware components. In fact, many of the hardware drivers provided by Apple are the same ones you’d get on a typical Windows PC.