# Yosemite munged my Mac **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920 "2016-08-15T15:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/1 "2016-08-15T15:32:58Z")
The software update has been advertising the free Yosemite upgrade for I-don-know-how-long. Yesterday, having a couple of hours I didn’t need to be on the computer, I decided to go ahead and get it, along with the Safari update that caused the App Store window to open in the first place. It took longer than expected. I opened Safari, and the first thing I notice is that my bookmarks bar is missing. So I go to Bookmarks on the toolbar to see if it still exists. It never responded. I force-quit Safari and tried again. Same thing. ‘Safari not responding.’ I tried rebooting. No joy. I can use Firefox, but I’m taking a class at the local college and it says my browser is not supported in Canvas (their system). It worked anyway, but it’s not ideal. _AND…_ My computer is deadly slow. It’s torture. Apparently my 2010 or 2011 MacBook Pro isn’t up to this newfangled Yosemite operating system. I need to revert to Maverick (or maybe it was El Capitan, I don’t remember). I searched for Time Machine in Finder, and it said I had to set up Time Machine. So I’m guessing this is not as simple as clicking a button. I looked online, and I saw something that said ‘Put your Maverick flash drive into the computer.’ I don’t have a Maverick flash drive. The computer is so slow, searching for a fix takes more time than I have. So… Any Mac geniuses out there who can tell me how to fix my computer? Or should I just take it to the Mac store and have them sort it out? (I still have my PowerBook G4, and I was able to connect to the office last time I tried it.) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/2 "2016-08-15T15:51:41Z")
There’s no reason that Yosemite shouldn’t run on any supported hardware. I found it faster and at least as stable as Mavericks. So, a trip to the local Apple store (or local user’s group) might be in order. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/3 "2016-08-15T16:06:04Z")
Do you keep Time Machine backups? If so, and you need to use the machine, try rolling back to the last backup before you updated. I had to do that when I updated to the latest and half my Adobe software stopped working. A little later, there was an Adobe update, then when I updated again, things were fine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/4 "2016-08-15T16:17:45Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Do you keep Time Machine backups? I assumed it was automatic, like Gateway Go-Back I had on my old PC. Apparently it isn’t. I called the Mac store. It sounds like my MacBook Pro will have to last forever. They’re not making any laptops with 17-inch displays anymore. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/5 "2016-08-15T16:23:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I assumed it was automatic, like Gateway Go-Back I had on my old PC. Apparently it isn’t. > > I called the Mac store. It sounds like my MacBook Pro will have to last forever. They’re not making any laptops with 17-inch displays anymore. ☹ They _are_ automatic, once TM is set up and turned on. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/6 "2016-08-15T16:31:43Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > They _are_ automatic, once TM is set up and turned on. On the PC you didn’t have to set it up or turn it on. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/7 "2016-08-15T16:34:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > On the PC you didn’t have to set it up or turn it on. Sure you do. How else would it know where to back up to? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/8 "2016-08-15T16:41:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Sure you do. > How else would it know where to back up to? OK, I just looked Gateway Go-Back up, and it’s not a backup program like Time Machine. It just lets you undo some small amount of file system changes (8GB max). So, you probably don’t need to configure it, since it’s not backing up your entire machine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/9 "2016-08-15T18:05:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There’s no reason that Yosemite shouldn’t run on any supported hardware. > I found it faster and at least as stable as Mavericks. > > So, a trip to the local Apple store (or local user’s group) might be in order. I called the shop, and they said I can bring it in tomorrow morning. My boss has no problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/10 "2016-08-15T19:00:00Z")
I haven’t been offered the Yosemite upgrade, running an iMac (mid-2011) … my understanding is that Yosemite won’t run on my machine … so be it … sick of my /usr directory being deleted … ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/11 "2016-08-15T21:18:48Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > OK, I just looked Gateway Go-Back up, and it’s not a backup program like Time Machine. It just lets you undo some small amount of file system changes (8GB max). > > So, you probably don’t need to configure it, since it’s not backing up your entire machine. Sounds like another built in feature of Windows, System Restore. And it also automatically works. More importantly, though, is that Microsoft lets you undo any upgrade. The old files are put in a different folder. I’m really surprised that Apple doesn’t do this. There’s always a chance that things will go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/12 "2016-08-16T00:18:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Sounds like another built in feature of Windows, System Restore. And it also automatically works. It automatically works without having to configure it? At all? > [@BigT](#): > > More importantly, though, is that Microsoft lets you undo any upgrade. The old files are put in a different folder. I’m really surprised that Apple doesn’t do this. There’s always a chance that things will go wrong. Apple’s Time Machine allows you to go back to previous upgrades. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/13 "2016-08-16T02:42:07Z")
1. How do I set up Time Machine? 2. As I said, my favourites bar is missing. How do I get it back? (Probably academic, as I’m going to the Mac dealer in the morning. But it would be nice to know.) ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/14 "2016-08-16T03:02:20Z")
El Capitan (10.11.6) is the current version. My 2007 iMac is running it with no issues. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/15 "2016-08-16T03:08:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 1. How do I set up Time Machine? > > 2. As I said, my favourites bar is missing. How do I get it back? > > (Probably academic, as I’m going to the Mac dealer in the morning. But it would be nice to know.) First of all, you need a backup drive. This can be a USB (or Firewire) external drive, or an Apple Time Capsule. If you use a USB drive, as soon as you plug it in, the Mac will ask if you want to use if for Time Machine. You can go into System Preferences-\>Time Machine to tweak settings. Favorites bar in Safari? View-\>Show Favorites Bar. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/16 "2016-08-16T03:20:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 1. How do I set up Time Machine? Plug in an external hard drive. Go to System Preferences \> Time Machine. See that obscenely large ON/OFF switch? Switch it to “ON” and select the external hard drive. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 1. As I said, my favourites bar is missing. How do I get it back? > > (Probably academic, as I’m going to the Mac dealer in the morning. But it would be nice to know.) In the Safari menu bar, go to View \> Show Favorites Bar. edit- ouch, much too slow ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/17 "2016-08-16T18:18:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Favorites bar in Safari? > View-\>Show Favorites Bar. > [@zbuzz](#): > > In the Safari menu bar, go to View \> Show Favorites Bar. Tried that Sunday. It opens a pane on the left side of the screen. What I’d like is to have my Favourites bar below the toolbar, where it’s supposed to be. I can click on the URL box, and it will display ‘icons’ of my faves; but that means I have to click twice instead of once. With the bar up there, I could click on SDMB to go back to the main page from the thread. It was handy. Or I could to to my webmail or whatever. Now, not so much. In any case, the guy at the Apple store said you can’t have the Favourites bar. You have to open the side pane, or else click on the URL box. Also, you can’t install a previous version of Safari. As for the other issue: Sunday night, the computer was virtually unusable. Last night it was better. Still slow, but much better. It seems I am running El Capitan. The Mac guy said it eats up a lot of memory. I had them double my RAM from 400 to 800. It still seemed to be slow. Mac guy said I have File Vault turned on. If I turn it off, the computer will run faster. But… It takes 10 hours to decript the drive, so I’ll have to wait until just before I go to bed before I start it. I also got a 1Tb external drive so I can run Time Machine. I wish I’d had it before the upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/18 "2016-08-16T19:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > In any case, the guy at the Apple store said you can’t have the Favourites bar. You have to open the side pane, or else click on the URL box. Also, you can’t install a previous version of Safari. He’s wrong. I have a Favorites bar under the Address bar in Safari 9.1.2 (the latest). And, showing and hiding the Favorites bar does, indeed, show and hide it. The pane on the left is the bookmarks sidebar. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/19 "2016-08-16T19:41:15Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > He’s wrong. > I have a Favorites bar under the Address bar in Safari 9.1.2 (the latest). > And, showing and hiding the Favorites bar does, indeed, show and hide it. _View!_ Not Bookmarks. That says Show favourites. :smack: Thanks. I’m less pissed off now. ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yosemite-munged-my-mac/762920/20 "2016-08-16T22:05:38Z")
I also just upgraded my 2009 Macbook Pro to El Capitan. It’s running just fine, no lags on regular tasks. It’s a 2.8 GHZ Intel Core Duo with 4GB of RAM. A few months back I had been having trouble with my 2007 iMac, similar to what you have described. No matter what task I tried to do, just opening an application or trying to load a web page, it took _minutes_. I hauled it to the Apple Store as well, and asked them to have a look at it. They were unable to find the issue, so I had them wipe the drive and do a clean install of the latest operating system which at the time was El Capitan. (This was not my main machine, and I didn’t have any important files on it). This 9 year old iMac works great now. I use it mostly for watching streaming video. Now that you have a backup drive (and hopefully have backed up all your data), wiping your hard drive and starting over is likely going to be your best bet for fixing your issues.