Can't install: "this disk cannot be used to start up your computer"

After making sure that my current startup disk for 10.5 was imaged to another hard drive, I inserted the Snow Leopard install disk and double-clicked the Install icon. Everything worked fine till I got to "Select the disk where you want to install Mac OS X." All of the disk partitions had warning triangles, including the one for my original startup disk, which has worked perfectly for the 10.5 pre-installed on my new iMac (identifier 9,1). When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed. No other programs were running except Finder.
I used Disk Utility to check the disk and repair permissions: no change in the installation program's message. I quit the installation program and reinserted the DVD. It certainly does a lot of churning of the DVD before you ask it to do anything. With all external hard disks disconnected, it still gives the same error message.
Where do I go from here? I thought Snow Leopard was "The world's most advanced operating system. Finely tuned." It can't even install itself and recognize a bootable internal hard drive on an iMac.

GasMan4932 wrote:
When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed.
How did you partition this drive, if you did that? Does it contain start up or utility partitions for any other OS (for instance Linux)? There have been reports that the "cannot be used to start up your computer" message will appear if a third party utility was used to create a 'triple boot' system or such, apparently because SL is picky about the format GUID partition scheme table info & how partitions are allocated space on the drive by other formatting/partition methods.
For some users with these partitions, the fix has been as simple as "tickling" (slightly changing) the partition size of some partition with Disk Utility, which apparently updates the GUID partition scheme table info so that the SL installer accepts it as safe to use with SL.( In this sense, the message may be trying to say the installer thinks the disk can't be used to reliably start up your computer with SL, not in general.)
See the discussions topic Cannot install Snow Leopard over 10.5.8 for more about this.

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Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

Read
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15659267#15659267

Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).only have one disk to select and my partition map scheme is GUID partition

just bough OSX Mountain Lion, my laptop operating with v10.6.8. Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).only have one disk to select and my partition map scheme is GUID partition table. 24.44gb disk available.

Verify your computer can run Mountain Lion:
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
     OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
Open Disk Utility and verify the drive is partitioned using GUID and formatted Mac OS Extended, Journaled. If it is then do this:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Now try installing Mountain Lion.

Can't install MAC OS X Lion - Macintosh HD "This disk cannot be used to start up your computer."

I downloaded OS X Lion this morning and when I went to install it I got a "Screen - Select the disk where you want to install OS X." -- Had two disk my Macintosh HD and my Time Machine (both are 1TB). The top and most important is the Macintosh HD (999.86GB - 739.75GB available states "This disk cannot be used to start up your computer". What do I need to do to install OS X Lion?

Create a Backup Lion Bootable 10.7 Disk
Purchaseand download Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Macrunning Snow Leopard.
Right click on “Mac OS X Lion”     installer and choose the option to “Show Package Contents.”
Inside the Contents folder that     appears you will find a SharedSupport folder and inside the     SharedSupport folder you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is     the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
Copy “InstallESD.dmg” to     another folder like the Desktop.
Launch Disk Utility and click the     burn button.
Select the copied “InstallESD.dmg” as the image to burn,     insert a standard sized 4.7 GB DVD, and wait for your new Lion Boot     Disc to come out toasty hot.
With this disc you can boot any Lion compatible Mac, and install10.7 just like you installed previous version of Mac OS X. You caneven use Disk Utility's Restore function to image your Lion boot discimage onto a external drive suitable for performing a clean installon a optical-drive-less MacBook Air, or Mac mini server.
If your using Mac's in a mission critical type environment or have third party hardware or software you must rely upon working correctly. It's advised to wait until all the bugs, driver updates, third party software updates and other issues are resolved before upgrading. This might take several months. Then if you do so, do one machine at a time and carefully test everything before full deployment.
It's also highly advised to backup all one's data either manually to a external powered drive in addition to TimeMachine and Hold option bootable Carbon Copy Clones etc.

Install error : disk cannot be used to start up your computer [or] MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small

Greetings,
I am aware that this problem has been discussed, but in long and vague discussions that I had to sift deeply to find an answer. Therefore I am posting a clear message, as this problem can be very troublesome for someone who just received a Mac OS installation disk and cannot install it.
Situation : you cannot install/update your new system because the installer does not consider your volume.
Error message : this disk cannot be used to start up your computer.
Version française : Ce disque ne peut pas être configuré pour démarrer votre ordinateur.
Also discussed below error: "MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small"
Note : although this occurred with a Snow Leopard (10.6) install DVD, it can alo occur with Lion (10.7) according to discussions on Apple web site.
IF YOUR CONDITIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS :
- You are using an official Apple installation DVD of Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) [or 10.7 Lion] or an official download/upgrade of those systems.
- Your main Mac partition scheme is in GUID as it should be (check with Disk Utility). That partition contains a Mac system that can start-up.
- Your volume format is: Mac OS Extended (journaled) [the format should not be Case Sensitive.]
- You have the hardware requirements to install Mac OS 10.6 (Intel processor; internal or external DVD drive or a linked DVD drive; 1 GB of RAM; a screen controlled by your computer graphics card; at least 5 GB space on the hard disk or 7 GB if you install all components).
- Using Disk Utility, you of course tried the disk Repair Tool and the Repair Permissions tool.
- Your hard disk does not have a file called Backups.backupdb (if it does, this means Time Machine has once used this hard disk for its back-ups). Anyhow, if it were the case, the installation would give a different error message (with the word TimeMachine). This file may block the installation: Apple Support suggest to place it in the garbage, *without* deleting it, and placing it back on the disk later. Mind you, if you do not use this hard disk as such to save your Time Machine back-ups, you can simply delete this file.
HOW TO FIX :
1. Boot with the 10.6 install DVD (Tip: you can either select Mac 10.6 as the boot DVD in your Start-up Preferences or simply press down c during the start-up).
2. Above the install screen, you have a Utilities tab from where you can run Disk Utility. Select your hard disk and select the Partition tab. Resize the primary Mac partition (don't add a new one) by decreasing it by about 5 GB.
It will look like this http://i.imgur.com/jHTbr.jpg
( That image shows only one partition, but the same principle applies even if you have two or more partitions on your disk.)
Also see the official Apple how to: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
Version française: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926?viewlocale=fr_FR
3. Commit the change by hitting "Apply"
3.b. If you get the error "MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small", this is a rare error where the partition that follows (for example Bootcamp) is slightly overlapping your main Mac partition. You will need to reduce that other following partition. Once you have reduced the other partition, you will probably need to return to step 2 and 3 and try again.
[ For example, in my case, I had resized my Bootcamp with CampTune software and it would seem that the file system ended-up somehow larger than the actual partition container. I simply asked CampTune to reduce the partition a bit (barely 2 GB) and that fixed it.]
4. Reboot, again into the 10.6 install DVD.
5. You can then install 10.6.
6. Once 10.6 is installed, use the Disk Utility on the desktop (you can boot into the primary HD at this point) to resize the primary partition back to its original or maximum size.
SOURCE (main fix): http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=774410 [and] http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
SOURCE (explaination for MediaKit error): some Apple discussion post.
nb: in my case, it was on a MacBook Pro (late 2008).

GasMan4932 wrote:
When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed.
How did you partition this drive, if you did that? Does it contain start up or utility partitions for any other OS (for instance Linux)? There have been reports that the "cannot be used to start up your computer" message will appear if a third party utility was used to create a 'triple boot' system or such, apparently because SL is picky about the format GUID partition scheme table info & how partitions are allocated space on the drive by other formatting/partition methods.
For some users with these partitions, the fix has been as simple as "tickling" (slightly changing) the partition size of some partition with Disk Utility, which apparently updates the GUID partition scheme table info so that the SL installer accepts it as safe to use with SL.( In this sense, the message may be trying to say the installer thinks the disk can't be used to reliably start up your computer with SL, not in general.)
See the discussions topic Cannot install Snow Leopard over 10.5.8 for more about this.

Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer

I have a macbook pro with snow leopard on it. I am giving it away to a family members, but would like to erase the disk before giving it away. When I put my snow leopard dvd in, and click "install", I get a screen asking me to select the hard drive to install on. When I click the only one listed: "Macintosh HD", I get the message:
Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start your computer
If I try to boot from the dvd, my mac just hangs on the gray screen that shows the apple logo. Basically I put the dvd in, shut down the computer, when I turn it on, I hold the "C" key, and it just hangs.
How should I go about erasing everything on the computer, and re-installing the OS, I just want it to look like it did when it came from the factory. Any help would be much appreciated.
Note: I lost my original install dvd, so I called Apple and asked for a replacement, they charged me $20 and sent the Snow Leopard disk that I am using as my replacement.
Thanks.

It's possible you got a disk from Apple you can't use. What you should have gotten were gray disks based on the Mac's serial number so you would get disks which were identical to the ones it came with.
If the disk you received has a picture of a Snow Leopard on it, then they sent you a 10.6.3 retail disk, which will not have any of the bundled iLife apps on it.
Much more important is the point release. If your Mac originally came with 10.6.4 or some later point release of Snow Leopard, then 10.6.3 will not install on that Mac. The necessary hardware drivers are not on the retail disk.

Mountain Lion wont install on macbook. "This disk cannot be used to start up your computer"

Basically, when I try to install the mountain lion update onto my Snow Leapard OS, I get the above message. Something must be wrong with my hd configuration.
I think the problem was caused when I tried to install linux on a partition before this and failed miserably time after time; I think the problem was that reFIT wasn't recognizing the proper partitions to boot into. Anyway, I also noticed that even after deleting the defunct linux partitions using Disk Utility, the linux drives still showed up in the reFit startup menu. Did I screw up my HD? Is that what is preventing me from installing Mountain Lion? If so, how can I fix it?
Thanks.

Go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and press Macintosh HD. Open > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926

Why do I get the message "This disk cannot be used to start your computer" w/ upgrade to Mountain Lion from 10.6.8

I have a MacBok pro later than 2007. running 10.6.8 . Downloaded Mountain Lion from app store. When I get to the install page I get the message "This disk cannot be used to start your computer." What is the problem and what can be done?
Thanks,

I appreciate the prompt reply. I saw that on the support community and it isn't giving me a solution.
The disk where the volume I need to upgrade is 250.06 GB Hitachi, the partition window (current) does not have a blue marker for the used data space, so there is no way to resize it.
If it's helpful, System profiler reads:
NVidia MCP89 AHCI:
Vendor:          NVidia
Product:          MCP89 AHCI
Link Speed:          3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed:          1.5 Gigabit
Description:          AHCI Version 1.30 Supported
Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02:
Capacity:          250.06 GB (250,059,350,016 bytes)
Model:          Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02
Revision:          PB2AC60W
Serial Number:          100814PBL200CSJA72PN
Native Command Queuing:          Yes
Queue Depth:          32
Removable Media:          No
Detachable Drive:          No
BSD Name:          disk0
Rotational Rate:          5400
Medium Type:          Rotational
Partition Map Type:          GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:          Verified
Volumes:
Capacity:          209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
Writable:          Yes
BSD Name:          disk0s1
Capacity:          249.72 GB (249,715,376,128 bytes)
Writable:          Yes
BSD Name:          disk0s2
Macintosh HD:
Capacity:          249.71 GB (249,714,352,128 bytes)
Available:          100.41 GB (100,405,456,896 bytes)
Writable:          Yes
File System:          Journaled HFS+
BSD Name:          disk0s2s1
Mount Point:          /
Boot OSX:
Capacity:          134.2 MB (134,217,728 bytes)
Writable:          Yes
BSD Name:          disk0s3

I downloaded lion and and accepted the terms but it won't install on my hardrive. "This disk cannot be used to start up on the computer." What does this mean?

I have plenty of space remaining for this to be downloaded to the hardrive.

Have you checked to see what the Partition Map is? It sounds like, and this is a stab in the dark, that you might not be set on a GUID format.
To check, go into Disk Utility and highlight the drive you want to use. in the bottom of the Disk Util box, you will see the details of the disk itself. Check to see if it is GUID, listed under Partition Map Scheme.
If it is then you have a different issue and one that I am unable to answer. If it isn't then you will need to back any data up from the drive you want to use and reformat the disk to GUID. This should then correct the install issue you are experiencing. Reformatting is relatively easy, just following the prompts in the Partition Tab, in Disk Util.
However, to reiterate, back up any data ypou wish to keep prior to this! Reformatting will wipe the disk completely.

Mavericks won't install because Macintosh HD "cannot be used to start up your computer"

I've searched around, but I haven't found a solution yet. Any ideas?

Thanks for the quick response. I had already found this while searching for a solution, and it unfortunately didn't solve the problem. I'm in the process of backing up right now, I wanted to avoid reformatting and reinstalling, but it's looking like that might be my only option.

This disk cannot be used to startup this computer message when I try to install mavericks. Cant partition my SSD (which is verified) either - help!

Hi all
I am using Snow Leopard and have just downloaded Mavericks. I have a 250 gig SSD with no partitions. When trying to install I get a message saying 'this disk cannot be used to startup this computer" and disk utility has checked my drive and its fine, but I cant partition it either saying 'the partition cannot be resized Try reducing the amount of change in the size of the partition". I have tried various sizes but nothing works. Please help!

Well, I'm puzzled by the fact that you have your 750 GB disk highlighted, yet on the right it is showing disk0s2 as having 750 GB with nothing on it although your Macintosh HD appears to be part of that disk0s2. I have no idea what disk0s1, 5, and 6 are or what they contain, but the only thing accessible seems to be your Macintosh HD - does that contain your OS? For comparison, here is a screenshot of mine (2 partitions on my internal hard drive):
The area shaded in blue is the space my OS/apps/etc. occupies.
Unless there is a viable explanation of your disk(s), my suggestion would be to boot into recovery, erase your drive, partition properly, and then reinstall from scratch. Make sure you have a backup first.

Mountain Lion will not install on MBP (late 2011) Macintosh HD: "This disk cannot be used to startup your computer"

Tried to upgrade from 10.7.4 on relatively new MBP. It appears that Mountain Lion successfully downloaded from App Store. However, ML will not install to the hard drive because "This disk cannot be used to startup your computer". Thanks for advice.

Try going through the steps described here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926.

I am getting "this disk cannot be used to startup" when trying to upgrade to Lion. I do have whole disk encryption software on the MACBOOK AIR

after downloading the LION OSX upgrade I am getting an error "This disk cannot be used for startup" I can go any further. I am using checkpoint fulldisk encryption software on the MACAIR

You've answered your own question.
Lion will not install on a disk with 3rd-party encryption.

Can I fix a disk with this message?-Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

Can I fix a disk with this message?
Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

Some problems can indeed be fixed this way. But working from Recovery_HD or Disk Warrior DVDs and working in the restricted environment those provide can be difficult. You can literally spend days working on this problem (while your regular work is unavailable) only to discover the old drive is unsalvageable.
There is no way to know up front whether you are facing a major Hardware failure or a minor software glitch, or something in between. Often you are forced to work from the drive you no longer trust. I continue to recommend you do this work from a different, fully functioning Mac OS X booted from a different drive.
If you have had the foresight to (as The hatter often recommends) clone your virgin install onto another drive for use in such situations, you will be able to recover from such problems in record time. If not, my previous recommendations stands:
Buy a new Drive. Or two. Install Mac OS X from scratch on a new drive, and get your Mac running again. Later, you can use the full power of Mac OS X to attempt to rescue your data, if needed. Then Zero the old drive, to see if it can hold data again reliably.
If the old drive eventually provides some needed data, and is salvageable, Merry Christmas.

I currently have an old version of Photoshop Elements, it is version 5.0. I recently upgraded from my old Windows XP computer to a new Windows 7 computer. My question is: Can I install this version 5.0 on my new windows 7 computer without any problems?

I currently have an old version of Photoshop Elements, it is version 5.0. I recently upgraded from my old Windows XP computer to a new Windows 7 computer. My question is: Can I install this version 5.0 on my new Windows 7 computer without any problems? my email is: [email protected] Thank you!

Do not know about 5, but, just installed PE 6 on I7 64 bit and it works.

Can't install: "this disk cannot be used to start up your computer"

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