Apr 01, 2020  If a key combination doesn't work at startup, one of these these solutions might help: Be sure to press and hold all keys in the combination together, not one at a time. Shut down your Mac. Then press the power button to turn on your Mac. Then press and hold the keys as your Mac starts up. Mar 12, 2020  Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of. Jun 22, 2013  This option on boot trick works for quite literally any boot volume, whether it’s an external USB drive of any sort, a Thunderbolt hard drive, boot DVD, CD, the Recovery partition, even in dual-boot environments with other versions of OS X, or a Linux or a Windows partition with Boot Camp, if it’s bootable and connected to the Mac it will be visible at this boot manager. Starting with Disk Drill 3, anyone can create a bootable Mac OS X drive in a matter of minutes. Make sure you have an extra storage device, which is at least 2GB in size. Connect it to any Mac, run Disk Drill and use the 'Create Boot Drive' option on the main toolbar.

1. Mac Os X Change Boot Drive
2. Mac Os X Clone Boot Drive
3. Select Boot Drive Mac Os X
4. Boot Mac Os On Windows

Mac Os X Change Boot Drive

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

Download macOS

Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macOS version:

macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, ormacOS High Sierra
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.

OS X El Capitan
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.
2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.
   Catalina:*
   Mojave:*
   
   High Sierra:*
   El Capitan:
   
4. Press Return after typing the command.
5. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
6. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created.
7. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Catalina. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument, similar to the way this argument is used in the command for El Capitan.

Use the bootable installer

After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it:

1. Plug the bootable installer into a compatible Mac.
2. Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
   Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it.
3. Choose your language, if prompted.
4. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
5. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

For more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter this path in Terminal:

Catalina:

Mojave:

High Sierra:

El Capitan:

Jun 08, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

A Universal Serial Bus or USB drive, also known as a flash drive is a portable data storage device that includes a memory which includes a USB interface. It is typically removable and much smaller than an optical disc. Any sort of data can be stored in this device. The drives are available in various sizes and as of till date, the 2TB(Tera-Byte) flash drives in terms of storage capacity are the largest ones available in the market.

Today, these drives are one of the most consumed used devices in the world. Thanks to their portable nature, affordability, and compatibility, USB drives are being used to send and receive endless information across a surplus of networks and platforms all around the globe. This small tool has opened the world to a stream of limitless options with respect to storing, transferring, copying data, and much more. One of them includes Booting the Mac from such device.

Part 1. Reasons for Mac Boot from USB:

Booting the Mac from USB in a way gives the power back to the user. The likeliest of the reason for choosing the boot from USB method is that your Mac won’t start which denies the user access to the computer. Using from an external source like the USB drive helps the user get around the problem. It provides the user access to contents of the internal drive, assuming the data is safe and not corrupted. It also helps to repair the Mac disk with Disk Utility and other tools. Here are the top reasons why the user should choose to Boot Mac from USB:

• Allows the user to install a different version of MacOS.
• It allows the user to test a new version before you make the decision to upgrade.
• Allows risk-free testing of the Beta version.
• Faster and efficient.
• By installing older versions through USB, it permits certain Apps to run which are not compatible with the latest MacOS.

Part 2. Preparations for Booting Mac from USB:

To ensure a risk-free procedure certain measure should be taken:

• The user should buy a name-brand flash drive.
• The USB should contain 16-32GB of free space.
• The user should scan the flash drive with some reputable Anti-Virus software.
• The user should check to see what size of ports they have on the Mac. A 12’ Mac only contains a single C-Type port.
• Make sure to purchase the C port flash drive to avoid any inconvenience.
• It is adviced that the user should go with a USB 3.0 supported drive, with a size of 16GB to ensure a swift transfer of data.
• The USB drive should be formatted with a supported GUID partition.
• It should contain an OS X installer or a usable operating system to work with.

Part 3. How to Create Bootable USB on Mac:

There are a few general guidelines that can help get your machine started which are mentioned above, regardless of the OS the user prefers.

Here are the methods to create a bootable USB drive on Mac.

• Creating a Bootable USB Using Terminal.
• Create a Bootable drive with the help a third party compression software, which is available for free.

Mac Os X Clone Boot Drive

Creating a Bootable USB Using Terminal:

Terminal is the default gateway to the command line on a Mac. It is just like the Command Prompt feature works for MS Windows. The Terminal feature ensures a hassle-free experience for the Mac user without the conventional pointing and clicking, the user just has to type the commands and the computer does the rest. The user can find Terminal in the Applications>Utilities folder or it can be checked in the finder utility.

Using the Terminal feature is the most simple way to create the bootable USB drive. The user just needs to follow one easy step which is renaming the MyVolume portion of the command with the name of the drive. The name of the drive can be changed using the Disk Utility of Mac.

Here are the steps required after opening the Terminal feature to create a bootable USB drive.

• Copy and paste the command which is suited for the version of the operating system into the Terminal window.
• The command for MacOS Mojave is as follows:

sudo /Applications/InstallmacOSMojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume/Volumes/MyVolume

• Press the Return key.
• Enter the password.
• Confirm to erase the USB drive by typing Y followed by the Return key.
• Terminal will erase all the data inside the drive and create the bootable USB drive.

If there is a need to install a different version of the operating system then the user just has to replace the above-underlined command with their desired version of OS. For example, if the user wants to install Mac OS Sierra instead of Mojave then they would have to replace “Mojave.app” with “Sierra.app” inside the command line.

Part 4. How to Boot Mac from USB Media:

After creating a bootable USB drive, the user simply needs to plug the created drive into the open port on the Mac. Here are the steps to boot Mac from the USB flash drive:

• Power on the system.
• Press and hold the Option (Alt) key on the keyboard when the computer starts.
• Select the USB drive as a startup disk when the option appears.
• The system will start the boot process off the USB drive.
• Install the operating system from the MacOS utilities.
• Data can be restored by using the Time-Machine backup option.

Part 5. How to Recover Data from Unbootable Mac:

The Mac becomes unbootable when the BIOS which is a firmware that is used to perform hardware initialization during the booting process fails to recognize the startup process. It usually happens when there is a failed system update, system crash, damaged MBR, or when the drive becomes corrupt.

Recoverit Mac Data Recovery tool is the most efficient option to recover all the lost data when Mac becomes unbootable. Developed by Wondershare, Recoverit is one of the most preferred recovery tools in the world. The tool provides an instant preview of what is recovered after a detailed scan. It allows to connect almost every type of portable device and recover data from them. Data can be restored by performing the recovery and repair process. The process involves the installation of the Recoverit software that offers users the chance to get back the important data that they had lost.

First of all, the user is required to download the Recoverit software on Mac system from the official website. Here are the following step required to recover data from an unbootable computer:

• Installation: Please Install Recoverit by clicking on the icon.
• Select the folder: Select the “Recover from Crash Computer” option.
• Initiate Recovery Process: Click on “Start” for the recovery process to launch.
• Create Bootable Drive: Select the “Create USB bootable drive” option and click on “Create”.
• A pop up will appear that will prompt the user to format the USB drive.
• Format the Drive: Click on “Format” Now.
• The process will start that will create a bootable flash drive.
• Recover Data: After the boot is completed, click on the ”View Guide” option to recover data.
• Start Recoverit: Launch the Recoverit software again.
• Recover Data: Scan the drives for lost data.

All hope gets lost when the computer becomes unbootable and the data gets deleted. Recoverit recovery software is the most convenient program when it comes to retrieving lost data from the computer.

Select Boot Drive Mac Os X

Conclusion:

Installing the MacOS from a USB flash drive gives the user an instant solution when the Mac installer due to some reason refused to work. The method to create a bootable drive is easier than it sounds. Now, you know what to do whenever you want to upgrade your MacOS from a bootable external source by following different methods to ensure a safe and hassle-free process. If you lose valuable data when the Mac becomes unbootable then you can easily recover the lost files by using the Recoverit recovery software. Recoverit guarantees data recovery in no time.

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