How do I prepare my Mac for a macOS upgrade?
Answer
In order to get your computer ready for a macOS upgrade, do the following:
- Uninstall any antivirus software you having running. If you're got Symantec Endpoint Protection through the College, here are resources for removing it from your Mac: Uninstall Symantec Endpoint Protection | Broadcom Knowledgebase Scroll down to the "Mac client uninstall" section at the bottom of the article.
- Make sure you've got an up-to-date Time Machine backup of your computer. For questions about Time Machine backups, refer to Apple's knowledge base article: Back up your Mac with Time Machine | Apple Support
- Make sure there's a second copy of your most important & irreplaceable files somewhere safe. The easiest way to do this is to install Google Drive File Stream & store a backup copy of your files in your College-provided Google Drive. For questions about Google Drive File Stream, consult Google's knowledge base article: Use Drive File Stream with work or school | Google Drive Help
- Newer versions of macOS don't support software that contains 32-bit code. You'll need to check to make sure that the software that you need to do your job will actually run after the update. Download and run Go64 to see what software will need to be updated for your new computer, or what software you will have to find alternatives for.
- Check to make sure your computer is capable of running the latest version of macOS. For Fall 2019 - Fall 2020, that's macOS Catalina. Here's Apple's knowledge base article on which Macs are compatible with macOS Catalina, & how to check to see if your machine is one of those machines: macOS Catalina is compatible with these computers | Apple Support
Once you've done all that, your machine is ready for its macOS upgrade! To upgrade your Mac yourself, here's Apple's knowledge base article explaining how to upgrade your Mac to macOS Catalina: How to upgrade to macOS Catalina | Apple Support
If you're a full-time employee of the College, you can make an appointment with LIS to have us do the upgrade & fix subsequent problems for you. As always, if you end up having a problem with your computer after performing the upgrade yourself, we can help with that too. Send an email to computing@help.carthage.edu to generate a help ticket, & we'll get back to you schedule a time to work on your machine.
If something goes wrong & you need to reinstall a copy of your old operating system & data, that won't be a problem, because you've got an up-to-date Time Machine backup, as well as a second backup copy of your most important files somewhere (hopefully at least your College-provided Google Drive).
Last Updated: 2020-10-20