Create a startup disk

I have a MacBook Pro 13 inch purchased in 2010. Currently I am running Yosemite on it. I want to sell it so I need to wipe and reformat the drive. I have backed my data already. I moved 3 times since the original purchase and I have no idea where the original disks are. Do I have to reformat with the original OS (and I have no idea what it was) or is there some way that I can make a start-up disk with Yosemite and use that to reformat?
Any help is appreciated.

You need to use the computer’s original disks or a retail disk newer than that Mac. Anything which you might make from the Yosemite system is tied to your Apple ID.
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Similar Messages

Create a startup disk on a thumb drive

Trying to create a startup disk on a thumb drive to diagnose my wife's hard drive which I think is failing (another problem I won't go into here). We are on the road and the only thumb drive I have is 4 gb. But when I try to create a startup disk for it using the Mac OS X operating CD, it says it's not big enough. But I'm guessing it wants to install all of OS X and I just want to install the essential files necessary for a startup disk which I'm assuming would easily fit on my thumb drive.
Is this doable? If so how? Or is there a way to do this using Disk Utility? I tried that, but couldn't figure out how. Also, we have an iPod that has plenty of space, but from what I can tell, I would have to erase it and we can't do that.
Bottom line: is there any way we can create a startup drive from an iPod that we don't want to erase or a 4gb thumb drive? thanks.

Jolly Giant -
Thanks for the links. Unfortunately, neither seem to solve my issue assuming I'm looking at it right.
I ran across the first link previously and gave it a try. In step 9 it says to select the volume (the USB Drive) and continue the OS X installation. Unfortunately, when I select the USB thumb drive volume, it says it can't install because the volume (USB thumb drive) is not big enough. Mine is 4gb. That's my real issue. I need to install just the OS X files that are necessary to boot a Mac from a USB drive, but all the instructions I've run across apparently are designed to only install a full version of OS X and my 4 gb drive is too small for that.
Your second link, which is also a link from the first link, apparently explains how to do this installation on a smaller thumb drive like mine. But when I click on the link, it comes up as a dead link for me.

Create an Install Disk just for Utilities

Is there a way to create a startup disk just so I can boot off of it to Repair Permissions / Repair Disk and make use of the other non Install utilities available on the original Install Disks?
I worry that the install disk will go bad over time if I continue to boot from it.
Using 10.5.1
Thanks

My Leopard install DVD was very flaky so I used a small partition on my external to clone it in case I had to fix something before the replacement DVD arrived. The directions are here. You can also make a DVD copy of the Leopard install disk if your drive will burn dual layer DVDs.
You can Repair Permissions using Disk Utility from your internal drive so you don't need to use the Leopard DVD for that purpose.

Startup disk for SATA

I have created a DOS startup disk, in order to 'ghost' my the OS and application on the c drive (my data is on d) using the my "computer->format->create msdos startup disk" option. However, after booted it up from a, I found that it cannot detect my c or d sata drives. Did anyone over come this problem or did I do something wrong?
SATA Settings:
Native
S-ATA: only
P-ATA: yes
P-ATA channel: both
875P NEO FISR2
P4C with Intel stock fan (55C - 59C)
Corsair ValueSelect PC3200 CL 2.5 512K x 2
SATA 80GB Hitachi 7K250 x 2
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Haupauge PVR
Sony DVD RW DRU-500A
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Thanks for the quick responce
I did set the boot order to:
1st) Floppy 1.44
2nd) SATA 1
and SATA raid to no but without success. In fact, I even tried the 'legacy' mode but it is still the same. :angryfire:I could boot from drive c if I remove the floppy, but the problem is that there will be no harddrive c and d to work with. Removing the floppy disk will result in normal Winxp boot - which is ok. My c drive is like a sitting duck if there is a crash on OS without a backup image

Startup disk for USB

Hi,
I want to create a startup disk for lion before I upgrade to Mountain Lion. What size USB drive should I buy, 4gb, 8gb etc? Any help is appreciated.

You can re-install the OS without affecting your other data. Since oops do happen, do a backup, preferably 2 on 2 separate drives.
Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)

I tried creating a startup backup via Disk Utility. There wasn't enough space and now I have no internal disk space. How do I fix this?

I used DIsk Utility to create a startup backup clone for the first time yesterday. I cloned it to my internal drive on my Mac. I let it run all night and when I woke up this morning it showed it as failed (not enough disk space). Now when I boot up my Mac, it showed a warning at the login screen (not enough disk space at startup). I do not have an external hard drive (which is why I chose to backup internally). Do I need to purchase one?
It still allows me to log in. When I open Finder and look at my internal drive, it shows less than 100.00 MB space available. I tried deleting a bunch of old files and stripped needless apps. However, it keeps showing my computer as having less than 100 MB of storage.
Is there a way to find the failed clone backup and delete it? I tried looking in Spotlight for the backup clone (I named it 4-21-14.dmg). I cannot find the file. I was hoping to backup my files so I can install OS Mavericks on my computer (mid-2010 Macbook Pro), but I do not have enough free space.

I solved the problem by deleting over 100 gb of files and apps. I would have rather not gone that route, but having less than 100 MB of storage is an unacceptable headache to deal with. Now I have to decide on whether to try again with the backup internally route or risk it and download/install Mavericks.

I have a WD 2 tb hard drive that I want to use to back up my Mac Pro quad core. How do I create a back up startup disk? Also, when I used Time macine, it only backed up users and not the system or library folders. Ideas?

I have a WD 2 tb hard drive that I want to use to back up my Mac Pro quad core. How do I create a back up startup disk? Also, when I used Time macine, it only backed up users and not the system or library folders. Ideas?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Time Machine should be enough to make a backup of your files. Also, it should back up all folders, so open System Preferences > Time Machine > Options, and make sure that there are no folders included in the excluded items list.
If you want to create a bootable clone of your hard drive, you need to use an app like Carbon Copy Cloner or the Disk Utility's Restore feature > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU7.html

Bootcamp fails to create windows 7 startup disk

Bootcamp version 5, running on Mountain Lion, keeps failing on creating the Windows 7 Startup disk. I'm using a 8gb USB drive and it formats it without any problems. The process will carry on until around 50% of copying installation files and then fails.
I've tried 2 different USB Flash drives and I've check the ISO image for Windows 7.
Can anyone help me with a solution? Or why this is happening.
Thanks

Visit the Boot Camp forum https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp.
The Windows Support software download servers are notoriously slow. Try again and be patient. When you say it formats ok, it should be FAT format.
Your issue is addressed in the Boot Camp forum.

Create startup disk

I noticed some problems with my mac book pro. I used the disk utility application and recieved a message to reboot with a startup disk. How do I create a disk? other sites recommended finding a file called Install Mac OS X Lion.app I could not find this file.
Any ideas?

Here is some information on the recovery process from Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
(you do need to hit Command + R for it).
Alternately, hitting the Option key should bring up the startup manager and offer the recovery partition as a boot option.
I would still suggest making a copy of the installer after your download to be able to avoid having to download the entire OS whenever there is a problem.

Can't create a Tiger startup disk on an external drive

After backing up the applications and data files to DVD’s I installed Leopard on my Power Book PPC G4. Everything went without a hitch. Now I would like to create a Tiger startup disk on a USB drive. When I try to format the USB drive with the OS 10.4 disk that came with the laptop I get a message that says “Unable to find system 10.3 or later” just prior to the step that lets you pick the drive you wish to format. I would like to be able to startup in system 10.4 so I can run an older version of 4th Dimension in the Classic mode. Is there a way to accomplish this now that I have already successfully installed Leopard?

I quickly scanned your profile before posting the link to that KB article, and could have sworn that I saw an Intel-based Mac there... In any case, many people have successfully booted OS X from USB drives on PPC Macs. It's certainly not as good or reliable as using a FireWire drive, but you can read various reports about it here and by Googling something like +PPC Mac boot USB+. You'll come up with a lot of information, so I don't understand other posters denying it can be done...
Good luck.

Create a Raid1 on startup disk on Leopard server

Hi,
I need to create a raid1 after my Leopard Server installation. I want to mirror the startup disk with a other one.
Best regards

Creating a mirror with Apple DU destroys the data.
With 3 drives, use your system now as backup (you can pull it later) and use Disk Utility Restore to clone your system to the new mirror, after you create mirror. Then put the backup on the shelf for emergency backup.
SoftRAID has always been my choice for mirror (stripped reads and better feature) as well as for stripped RAIDs - don't know if it works with server though.
http://www.softraid.com - their pdf manual is worth a look.

What is my best solution for creating space on startup disk?

So, I'm a novice with Apple...novice in computers general actually.
I have about 58GB of music in iTunes and 85GB of photos in iPhoto- my two favorite things in life. I own a Time Capsule and it is set to do backups on my MacbookPro. My problem is that I have been getting "startup disk is almost full" notifications and have been trying to figure out how to create space without losing my data. How do I accomplish this? How do I know that Time Capsule has it if i delete it on my laptop and how do I get to it? I'm a little nervous to do anything but need the space.

Replace your hard drive with one that has a larger capacity.
Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive
1. See Lion/Mountain Lion's Storage Display.
2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.
3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.
4. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
5. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
6. See The Storage Display.
You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.
You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.
Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.

Creating Startup Disk on External HD

I will be getting an external HD for use with my MacBook (Late 2007). In addition to partitions for Time Machine backups and a master iTunes library, I want to create a startup OS X 10.5 partition that can boot the MacBook (and a new iMac that will be added shortly). Will the installation disk that came with the MacBook be able to create such a partition?
I understand that the partition needs to be a GUID partition to boot an Intel Mac, but will the same startup disk be able to boot both the MacBook and the new iMac? (The main purpose of the startup disk will be for emergencies and to be used as the base user account to be imported when installing OS X on other computers.)

Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your external hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu to three. Use the sizing gadget to set the size of each partition to what you want. Bear in mind your Time Machine partition should be about twice the size of the hard drive you are backing up. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volumes mount on the Desktop.
4. Select a volume you just created (this is a sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the partition size.
Repeat Steps 4-6 for each partition.
You can then boot from your Leopard Installer DVD and install Leopard on the partition you created for the Leopard installation. In order for the bootable volume to start both your computers you will need to update the Leopard version to what is required to boot the latest Mac model you have.

Can I create a startup CD from my Tiger install disks?

I just found my Tiger install disks. I have upgraded to Leopard but there are some programs I have that only run under Tiger. I had been booting into Tiger from my external LaCie firewire drive, but that doesn't work any more.
Is there any way I can create a startup CD from the Tiger install CDs without actually installing Tiger on my hard disk (i.e. over top of Leopard!).

He is talking about making a Live CD/DVD.. You know, where you boot up and run the OS right from the DVD/CD.
From the CloneX documentation-
Bootable DVD
This function provides an easy way to build a customized bootable Mac OS X DVD that includes one or more applications. Such DVDs are generally dedicated to utilities that repair disks, partition disks, backup data, or recover data. Such DVDs can be usefull when it is necessary to restart from another disk to run operations on the main hard disk. The DVD is related to the hardware it is created on, so it’s compatibility may vary depending on the machine used. For example, a DVD created on a PPC machine will not boot an Intel Mac. Contrary to previous version of Clone X, the System includes more libraries and frameworks to try to be the most compatible possible with applications. The drawback is that data will not fit on a CD-ROM anymore. You must use DVD. The System on the DVD is a limited one, and there is no Finder available on DVDs created by Clone X. But Clone X installs a special launcher, CXLauncher, to run any of the applications copied in the DVD.
Creating the DVD
First, you can choose the size of the DVD you want to create.
Click the “Create a bootable DVD” button. Depending on preferences, Clone X may ask for a folder where the disk image used to create the DVD will be saved. Then, Clone X will create a disk image and copy necessary files to this disk image. When done, Clone X will display a list of the applications installed in your Applications folder and subfolders.
Select any application you desire, and click the arrow button to move it to the list on the right side of the window. Clone X displays the available free space on the DVD, so that you can select the applications you can add.
To remove one application from the DVD, select it in the right list and click the right arrow button.
When you have chosen all applications you need, click “Finish Install” button. Clone X will copy applications, and ask you if you want to burn the DVD.
----------------

I'm having trouble creating an external startup disk

I have just obtained a new 500 Gigabyte hard drive to replace my iMac's G5 160 Gigabyte internal drive. Alas, when I started to take apart the computer, I realized that mine (late 2005 iSight model) is the only one of the G5 iMacs that is so complicated to dismantle that I could not do it myself. Cleverly (of course) I sent off for an external enclosure for the drive so I could at least have its backup (and startup) capacity. God forbid I should pay someone an unreasonable amount of money to install it for me.
Following suggestions here (in these forums) and elsewhere, I elected to use Data Backup, which came with another external drive I previously purchased, in order to clone my onboard hard drive. I followed the instructions, and (many hours later -- during which I largely was asleep) the cloning process completed.
I checked the contents of the drive, and all seemed in order. So I restarted and held down the option key, the better to select the new drive as startup disk.
And guess what? It wasn't there. I tried several more times. Only the iMac's drive (and, when turned on, any other external drives with startup capability I had attached) showed up.
Did I choose the wrong copy option?
I chose: "Entire Internal Drive to /Volumes/iMac Startup Clone"
Is that NOT the option I needed in order to clone the hard drive? Should I have used Carbon Copy Cloner (my previous method) instead?
The drive will not go to waste, of course, even though I can't install it (myself) into the computer. But startup capability would be nice.
Before I erase and start from scratch, I am hoping someone here might have a clue.
Many thanks, if so.
Leonard B.
Message was edited by: Leonard B.

Hi, BDAqua,
Nice to hear from you. You helped me with another recent question. Thank you.
The external case is Other World Computing's Mercury Elite Pro with Oxford chip set. Drive is an Hitachi deskstar 500 Gigabyte disk (I'll dig around for exact specs, if needed).
Weird thing is that the drive (partitioned into two disks, one boot, one for files) shows up in the Finder and in Disk Utility, but not in System Profiler. It's not visible at all there (not under Firewire, by which method it is connected, nor anywhere else). I can access its files, though, via Finder.
Very strange.

Create a startup disk

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