iLife 08 on separate disc w/ new macbook?

Hi, here's my situation. I use a 1st gen macbook that is currently running leopard. The reason I have leopard is because the hard drive died on me over christmas, and I had to replace it. The replacement came with Leopard on it to my delighted surprise, but I soon realized I'd lost iLife. My restored computer came with no install discs.

Recently my friend got a macbook which of course came with Leopard and accompanying discs. My question is, can I use one of her discs to install iLife 08 on my computer without reinstalling Leopard altogether? I've accumulated a surprising amount of data since I started with this new hard drive.

Alternatively, if I can track down the Tiger discs that came with my laptop originally, can I install the old iLife from those?

Thank you.

 

you can install iLife from YOUR install disks that came with your machine, did you buy a used HDD?

most likely, you will not be able to use your friends install disks as they are tied specifically to certain types of machines, and you are both using different types of macbooks.

for example, i have a 17" mbp and my roomate has a 15" macbook pro, both have identical specs, but each machines disks cannot be used with one another.

if your machine didn't come with iLife 08, you won't be able to use install disks that include iLife 08, most likely.

if you go into an Apple store, they should install iLife for your, if you let them know you have lost the install disks, which was definitely not an intelligent thing to do.

 

Thank you for the reply.

The HD I bought was not used as far as I know - if it was, they never told me that. I got it from a local store that is licensed to sell Apple stuff.

So, what I'm trying to get at is, if I have the disks that came with my laptop, can I install just the part I want (the old iLife) without wiping Leopard from my system and replacing it with Tiger? I might do this if I'm left with no other choice...depending on how much iLife 08 costs new.

EDIT: Just want to clear something up from my original post that might be confusing: when I said I'd "lost iLife", what I meant was that, although my new hard drive came with leopard on it, it did not come with iLife pre-installed as it would if I was buying a new laptop from the store. I'm trying to figure out if I can install iLife, (any version) on my new HD without having to start over again. Also it would be a pretty big bummer to have to go back to using Tiger after I've been using Leopard for a month.

 

Yes, you should be able to use the old DVD to install iLife on Leopard. If you're comfortable with Terminal.app (Applications/Utilities) use the following code to show invisibles:

Code:

[COLOR="Green"]defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

killall Finder[/COLOR]

Then insert Mac OS X Install Disc 2 (should have been included with you Mac). Use Finder to navigate to /Mac OS X Install Disc 2/Packages/ and install the iLife applications. After you are finished, use Terminal to hide invisibles with the following commands:

Code:

[COLOR="Green"]defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

killall Finder[/COLOR]

If you are not confident with Terminal there are several applications that can help. My favorite is MainMenu. Once installed you should see an icon in your Menu Bar. Click that and choose Finder > Show/Hide Invisibles.

 

Yes, that's possible; I've done it. Everyone else who has chosen to make a clean install of Leopard must have done the same, if he/she wanted to keep using iLife.

Just make sure you run the correct installation package. On the first installation disc that came with your computer, you should find the alias "Install Bundled Software Only"; double-click on that, and the installation will commence.

It does no harm to your Leopard installation; so don't worry about on-screen indications as to installing [the previous version, obviously of] photo booth etc.

After installation just run Software Update and get all the recent patches for iLife applications.

EDIT: Don't listen to what I said; Xander describes the better way to do it.

 

I think your method is equally good if not better! Plus the bold part is really important.

 

i was assuming you assumed you would not be able to find your install disks, like these guys have put it, if you do find those disks, it is a very simple process to install iLife separately.

if you cannot find the disks, I know a few people that had lost their disks, so they went to the Apple store and were able to get iLife installed there, at no charge, and it is possible you could get a new set of disks from Apple as well.

 

Awesome, thanks very much guys. I just got home and haven't had the chance to look for my old install discs yet, but I should be able to find them. If not I'll try what circa86 suggests with going to an Apple store.

I'm not all that confident with Terminal but I want to learn. So, one last newbie question if I may: what does the killall Finder command do? just curious. And I'm assuming that's on a separate line from the ones above.

 

you shouldn't be afraid to get to know Terminal, it is a fantastic way to do many other things with the operating system.

i recommend checking out this thread I made awhile back to learn a little more about it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2869370

the "killall Finder" command simply restarts Finder, the killall command is used to quit an App, if an app like Finder or Dock is closed, it will automatically restart. so basically, the first command Xander listed will show all hidden files, the second "killall Finder" command restarts finder to allow the new settings to become active.

oh, and another little tip that I highly recommend getting familiar with:

with apps that you don't use extremely often, such as utilities, etc. or even apps that you use often. you can quickly open them by using the key command for Spotlight (Cmd + Space), then quickly type the first few letters of the application or whatever you want to open and press return. i find this much quicker than trying to navigate to the correct place and double clicking on something. using the Spotlight shortcut is a great way to easily navigate around the OS with only the keyboard.

 

thanks circa