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INSTALLING/UPDATING APPLE SOFTWARE UPDATES IN MAC OS X

From time-to-time, users experience problems after installing Apple software updates on their Macs. Whatever the reasons that these occur, most if not all problems can be avoided if you stick to some rules when updating.

Downloading the updates

Determine which software updates are required by using the Software Update program that's built into OS X. It's normally set to run once weekly, however this can be changed in System Preferences. To run it manually, do one of the following:

Go to the Apple menu and select "About this Mac". In the window which appears, click the Software Update" button:

Open System Preferences, click Software Update and click the "Check Now" button:

When the list of updates appears, click on the "Name" column heading to sort the list by name and select the ones you wish to install (note that any items beginning with a lowercase "i" may appear at the bottom of the list). Sorting by name helps you quickly scan and identify the items in the list. The window can be enlarged and the pane divider can be dragged down or up to expose more or less information. Only those items with ticks in the checkboxes are considered selected:

Once you have selected the items you wish to install, I recommend that you download the installer packages rather than click the "Install x Items" button which downloads and installs them immediately. The reasons for this are threefold:

1. You can download them in the background while you continue working without having to worry about having to restart if the update requires it.
2. You can install them at your convenience (like after-hours when your work won't be interrupted).
3. You can keep the installers for re-use if ever you have to reinstall or if you have another Mac which needs the same updates... no need to download them all over again.

To download them, go to the Update menu and select "Download Only":

Installing the updates

Once you've downloaded the installer packages, they will be saved in a folder appropriately named "Packages" which should open automatically once the first download is complete (this folder is located in /Library/Packages). Here's how I recommend you install them:

1. Create a new folder on the target computer (I would suggest the desktop as the location). Name it something like "Software Installers":

2. Open the new folder and create another new folder inside of it. Name it " Already Installed" (note the space in front of the word Already):

3. Select list view and sort by date modified in descending order. To sort the list, click on the Date Modified column title. If the triangle to the right of the title is pointing up, click on the title one more time so that the triangle points down:

4. Move all the installer packages from the Packages folder to the "Software Installers" folder.
5. Do the installations, installing each item starting from the last item in the list (the oldest item). After each is installed, move it into the " Already Installed" folder. When installing a Mac OS X system update, be sure to follow the additional steps below.

Installing Mac OS X System Updates

The correct way to INSTALL A NEW VERSION of OS X (eg. 10.3.x Panther to 10.4.x Tiger):

1. Boot from the install DVD (insert DVD and restart holding down the letter C).
2. Once you select the correct language, go to the Utilities menu in the menu bar and select Disk Utility.
3. In the Disk Utility window, click on the drive you plan to install OS X on and then click the Verify Disk button:

4. If errors are found, click the Repair Disk button:

5. Repeat step 3. If errors are still found, cancel the install and use a utility like DiskWarrior to repair the hard drive before returning here. If you don't have DiskWarrior, back-up the whole drive and re-format it if necessary. (PS: Its possible that the drive may be defective, so bear this in mind too.)
6. Once no errors are found, if the drive already has OS X installed, click the Repair Disk Permissions button:

7. Quit Disk Utility.
8. If the drive already has OS X installed, continue the install process till you see the Options button. Click the Options button. If OS X is not already installed, bypass this step as well as step 9 below.
9. Select "Archive and Install". Leave the "Preserve user..." checkbox checked (unless you specifically want to lose your account settings).
10. Continue the install process till you see the Customize button. Click on the Customize button.
11. Examine the customization options and select/deselect those you want.
12. Complete the install process.

The correct way to UPDATE AN EXISTING VERSION of OS X (eg. 10.4.3 Tiger to 10.4.6 Tiger):

1. Open Disk Utility (its usually found in /applications/utilities).
2. Select the OS X volume you are updating and click the Repair Disk Permissions button:

3. Quit Disk Utility.
4. Launch and run the updater package.
5. After restarting, re-open Disk Utility and repair disk permissions again.

Following these procedures will usually prevent post-installation problems, and we all know that prevention is better than cure.

Gordon Gonsalves, 2006
gordon@rightent.com