Help please: how to boot from clone/external hard drive because "disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved"?

MBP Retina 15" MID 2014 2.5Ghz
OS X Yosemite 10.10
I have a external HDD and want to erase and restore my laptop so I can install windows via Bootcamp Assistant but I don't know how to boot from a clone to fix the issue and am not sure if when I erase and restore I will still have Yosemite 10.10? I have no way to reinstall the OS if I lose it. An average user friendly guide would be greatly appreciated please

I do not think you have to erase your MacBook's disk in order to install Windows. First of all you can try a few things before formatting the disk.
The first thing you should do is to check that your MacBook Pro's drive is OK with Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities). After opening it, choose "Macintosh HD" in the sidebar and press "Verify Disk". If it gives you any error, you will have to boot your Mac in OS X Recovery (press Command and R keys while your Mac is starting up) to repair Macintosh HD (the steps are the same but pressing "Repair Disk" instead of "Verify Disk").
After you have repaired the drive, boot up in OS X and try partitioning the drive again with Boot Camp Assistant. If it does not work, you will have to format the drive and reinstall OS X, but I will give you these steps only if this does not work.

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http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/

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Hi there, I recently got the white screen of death (w/ circle slash) on my 13" 2009 MacBook Pro. Most people are saying that it is hard drive failure, so I am trying to boot it from an external hard drive to save some of my data before having it repaired. Unfortunately, every time I press "option" while it boots, it only shows the internal drive on the grey screen. I have my external drive connected, but it won't recognize it. What should I do?
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Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You can only start from an external drive if OS X is installed there. If not, it won't appear as a bootable volume because there isn't any operating system inside it.
As you have a Mid 2009 MacBook Pro, it's better to start from the Mac OS X disc that came with your Mac. Insert it and hold the C key while your Mac is starting. After starting, go to Utilities menu > Disk Utility, select "Macintosh HD" in the sidebar and repair it. If you can't get it repaired, take the computer to an Apple Store.
If the hard drive can't be repaired, the only option to recover your files is to use an application as DiskWarrior, but it's expensive and it's not sure that it will work, because it may fail

How to copy from an external hard drive collection to a folder on your mac?

I put 2000 images from my honeymoon on an external hard drive. I flag my favorites and work on 7 images i layter but in an collection. I am really proud of this 7 images and want to put them in my portfolio map on my laptop. BUT that seems to be impossible! I have the choice to move the files from the external hard drive or make a virtual copy! I want them in bout my external hard drive and laptop! This is turning out to be a mess. What to do now? And how to prevent this in the future?
What is the best way to manage and storage images?
If I only could copy an collection! SO FRUSTRATING.
Please help me

I am really proud of this 7 images and want to put them in my portfolio map on my laptop.
In Lightroom, select the 7 images, then use File->Export, and make sure the exported photos wind up in the desired location.
What is the best way to manage and storage images?
I would manage the photos inside of Lightroom using keywords, captions, flags, star ratings and any other Lightroom organizational tool that seems appropriate. I would then use Lightroom as the mechanism for searching for and locating and displaying whatever photos you are interested in finding. If you need copies of the photos for non-Lightroom use, as in your example of 7 images, then use File->Export.

I get error 8062 when trying to copy files from one external hard drive to another. It starts out copying files, but after 10 minutes or so it stops and I get the error 8062. The hard drive tech support says the problem is in my Macbook Air.

I cannot copy my doc and photos and videos from one external hard drive to a second external hard drive -- both plugged in to my MacBook Air -- I get Error 8062 and the copying (which seemed to be going on for 10 minutes) stops and nothing gets copied.
As any Macbook Air owner knows, there is SO LITTLE storage capacity on the computer that you have to back up big files onto an external hard drive to avoid getting the other annoying error that says you have no more memory/storage capacity/whatever the proper term is, and you cannot use the computer.
Backstory: Before this error cropped up, I had backed up lots of files to an external drive and then removed them from my computer. But then the external hard drive got corrupted and I could not access my entire photo library. Had to pay $850 to Kroll Ontrack to recover those files. I have now bought 2 new external 1 Terrabyte hard drives as protection against another such disaster. BUT I cannot copy the files from the first hard drive where all my reovered files now sit, to another backup hard drive.
Feeling vulnerable. Please help.
SusaninNY

From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Energy Saver ▹ Power Adapter
and uncheck the box labeled Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible, if it's checked.
If the drive has more than one interface (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, eSATA), try one of the other interfaces.
Check that the data cable is securely inserted at both ends.
Try a different cable.
If you're connecting the drive through a hub, connect it directly to a built-in port on the Mac.
If you're connecting it directly, try a different port.
Disconnect all other devices on the bus, or as many as possible.
Test the drive with another Mac. Test another drive with this Mac.
If the drive is bus-powered, but has an AC adapter, connect the adapter.
Start up in Safe Mode and test.
If the drive doesn't work under any of the above conditions, and if another drive does work with the same Mac, then the drive has failed. You may be able to salvage the mechanism by removing it from the enclosure and installing it in another one, or in a drive dock.

How do I boot from an external hard drive?

I have a MacBook Intel. I attached a USB hard drive and made a partition for an system image and another for Time Machine. I did a system Restore to the Image partition. I would like to test it to see if I can back up to it. Is there a key or something that I have to hold down to be able to choose which disk to boot from (internal or external)?
also, I created the system image for the external hard drive by using the Restore command with the source as my current hard drive and the output as the external partition. There did not seem to be any other options. Is there something else I should have done?
The drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and I chose the Intel set up (GUID ?).
The OS is Leopard

Is there a key or something that I have to hold down to be able to choose which disk to boot from (internal or external)?
Hold the "Option" key when booting.

Trying to boot from an external hard drive - drive not recognized at boot

I am trying to upgrade my Operating system. I am going from Mac OS 10.4.11 to Mac OS 10.6.
Hardware:
Model Name:
MacBook Pro 15"
Model Identifier:
MacBookPro1,1
Processor Name:
Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed:
2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors:
1
Total Number Of Cores:
2
L2 Cache (per processor):
2 MB
Memory:
2 GB
Bus Speed:
667 MHz
To backup my existing environment I bought Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 500GB for PC and Mac. USB 3.0 but backward comaptible to USB 2.0 which is what my laptop is. The system requirements included support for 10.4.11. I attached the drive to my lap top and used disk utility to format to Mac Extended OS (journaled). It recognized the drive immediately.
I used SuperDuper 2.6.4 to copy all files to the external drive. It seemed to copy just fine. It said it made the drive bootable. TO test it, I shutdown the system and started it back up with the option key pressed, but it only gave me my original HD as a choice to boot from. When the system came up, it didn't recognize the external drive. I unplugged the drive and re attached it and it seemed to recognize it, I trued to reboot again and it doesn't recognize the hard drive on reboot. Only when I un attach and reattach it.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

I haven't forgotten, it just takes forever to get to a result when backing up an entire system.
So here's what I did. I agree with this idea:
Limnos wrote:
mac-sales.com I mentioned above is the OWC Ogelthorpe uses.
I suspect StartupDisk is seeing a nicely mounted drive connected in a bootable interface (USB) with all the needed files (palced there by SuperDuper). However, what it doesn't know if that drive isn't really accessible until the computer has properly booted because the chipset doesn't work without full system support. This is not at all unusual in external drives. Many years ago you really has to insist upon having an Oxford chipset in an enclosure to guarantee booting, but for general backup use any chipset was fine.
I had an old Lacie drive I have used for file backups over the years:
Disk:
Name :
LaCie Group SA
Type :
Disk
Disk Identifier :
disk1
Media Name :
WDC WD80 0BB-00JHC0 Media
Media Type :
Generic
Connection Bus :
FireWire
Connection Type :
External
Connection ID :
58629628097197639
Partition Type :
GUID_partition_scheme
Device Tree :
/PCI0@0/PCIB@1E/FRWR@3/node@d04b560c0bf647/sbp-2@c000/@0:0
Writable :
Yes
Ejectable :
Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed :
No
Location :
External
Total Capacity :
74.5 GB (80,026,361,856 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status :
Not Supported
Disk Number :
1
Partition Number :
0
Name :
Macintosh HD
Type :
Volume
Disk Identifier :
disk1s2
Mount Point :
/Volumes/Macintosh HD 1
File System :
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Connection Bus :
FireWire
Partition Type :
Apple_HFS
Device Tree :
/PCI0@0/PCIB@1E/FRWR@3/node@d04b560c0bf647/sbp-2@c000/@0:2
Writable :
Yes
Universal Unique Identifier :
438A4768-6F2C-3A0A-96A3-AEF60B7B8815
Capacity :
44.5 GB (47,768,887,296 Bytes)
Free Space :
4.2 GB (4,464,005,120 Bytes)
Used :
40.3 GB (43,304,882,176 Bytes)
Number of Files :
432,903
Number of Folders :
97,585
Owners Enabled :
No
Can Turn Owners Off :
Yes
Can Be Formatted :
Yes
Bootable :
Yes
Supports Journaling :
Yes
Journaled :
Yes
S.M.A.R.T. Status :
Not Supported
Disk Number :
1
Partition Number :
2
I moved everything from the Lacie to the SEaget - at least is it will be useful for something!
Erased the Lacie, partitioned it to 2 partitions.
Formnatted the partition GUID as suggested. I had named the partition for the backup something cutre like 10.4.11 OS clone.
Used Disk Utility>Restore to backup/clone the environment.
During the backup, it renamed the partition Macintosh HD, which was encouraging. After waiting a very long time for the backup, I was able to try to test booting from it and received many diagnostic errors including permission type errors, some of the files in /etc did not beloing to root. I have a couple of things I am going to try but thought I'd throw it out here since you guys have kept me pointed in the right direction.
Any more ideas as to why the drive won' t boot? Did I not give the partition enough space? Is it the chipset thing?

Can OS X boot from an external hard drive's partition?

I purchased a 500GB external hard drive in hopes of: 1. creating a bootable backup copy of a freshly installed version of Snow Leopard, and 2. a backup of files which I don't want on my Macbook (ie. school files from 8 years ago).
If I divide the external hard drive into 2 partitions, can OS X still boot from a partition? I heard from somewhere that OS X can only boot a volume, but not a partition...
As usual, thank you for any help you can provide!

miceblue425 wrote:
I purchased a 500GB external hard drive in hopes of: 1. creating a bootable backup copy of a freshly installed version of Snow Leopard, and 2. a backup of files which I don't want on my Macbook (ie. school files from 8 years ago).
Yes.
If I divide the external hard drive into 2 partitions, can OS X still boot from a partition? I heard from somewhere that OS X can only boot a volume, but not a partition...
Two names for the same thing: partition = volume.
As usual, thank you for any help you can provide!
Most external HDs are bootable. But some Western Digitals won't boot a Mac. Their list of which ones should and +should not+ boot: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1787. But note the disclaimer that they don't support it +*at all.+*
For setup instructions, see #1 in Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks.

Help with making a network from my external hard drive!

I need some help making my external hard drive available to read and write in my department.
We're all using Macs (at least 10.5.8) and I cannot seem to find any literature to share or network my external hard drive with other Macs.
Please help me!
thanks

DNRPhoto wrote:
I need some help making my external hard drive available to read and write in my department.
Try this:
1) Open the Sharing panel of System Preferences.
2) If the lock at the bottom is "closed", click on it and enter your administrative password.
3) Check the box for "File Sharing.
4) Click on the plus sign below "Shared Folders".
5) Select your external drive and click the "Add" button.
6) Under "Users" set the permissions to what you want.
These instructions are based on OS X 10.6, but 10.5 should be similar.

Booting from an External Hard Drive using a different OS

I have a copy of a limited use OS for use bythe DoD. I'm supposed to burn it to CD then boot from it, but I don't have any blank CDs. I do have an external hard drive that I can partition. The limited use OS is in .ISO format. Can anyone give me a hand.
Here is a link to the OS:
http://spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm

Then, ask the developer. I haven't tried it, so have no idea what error you're getting or why you can't restore it to a partition.
Note that the user manual states:
*In order to run LPS, you must be able to boot from a CD.*
So, even if you could restore it to a partition, it won't do you any good.

I need help on how to properly use my external hard drive on the macbook pro

Whenever I try to store some files (e.g. images)
The image I've copied and pasted into the external hard drive disappears or gets deleted as well when I delete the original image from the internal hard drive, why is that?
Is it because it was just a copy of the original image that if you delete the original image the copied image in the external hard drive will get deleted as well?
So does that mean I have to put the original image in the drive or will that get lost too?
Sorry for the multiple questions,
I'm just struggling with my new external hard drive.
Model of the external hard drive: Seagate Backup plus slim portable drive 1 tb

What are you trying to accomplish here? Time Machine is used for backing up files on a regular basis but you don't have to use it. You're getting ahead of things. Have you managed to drag a file from your main drive to the new one successfully?

How do you boot from an external hard drive if...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any advice. My 24" IMAC suddenly had hard drive ****. After much investigation it has been determined that my internal hard drive has bit the dust. Instead of taking the IMAC apart and replacing the internal drive(which I know a bit about and also could get help doing)can I just replace it with an external drive and load the OS on that and boot from there? If so what exactly, step by step, would I need to do? What are the disadvantages of doing this? If this is possible it seems like an easier solution than replacing the internal drive.
Again, thanks for the help.
Bill

easybpw wrote:
can I just replace it with an external drive and load the OS on that and boot from there?
Yes, but it's not recommended for long-term use.
If so what exactly, step by step, would I need to do?
First, make sure the drive will boot a Mac. Most will, but some won't. If it's a Western Digital, check here: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1787. But note the disclaimer that they don't support it +*at all.+*
If you're reasonably sure the drive is capable of booting your Mac, you need to format it. Start up your Mac from the Install disc (insert it, and hold the "C" key while starting up). After selecting your language, select Utilities, then +Disk Utility+ from the menubar.
Select the drive, select the top line (with the make and size), click the Partition tab and select 1 Partition from the the pop-up menu under +Volume Scheme,+ unless you need more than one.
Give it a name under +Volume Information,+ and select +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ for the Format unless you're certain you need Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled). Click the Options button below the box, and select GUID (that should be the default, but make sure), and click the OK button, then Apply. That should only take a few moments. Quit Disk Utility and you’ll see the Utilities menu again.
Quit that and proceed with the installation to the new drive. When done, I think it will reboot automatically from the external; if not, start up while holding down the Option key, which will give you the +Startup Manager,+ where you can select the desired drive.

Booting from an external hard drive

I bought an external Seagate Backup Plus hard drive (3 tb) pre-formatted for Mac. I want the option of booting off that drive so I copied the System folder over using drag and drop. When I do a restart while holding the option key down, the external drive is offered as a bootable choice. However, when selected, the boot reverts back to the IMac (Intel). How do I remedy this? I am running OS 10.6.8 and the drive is connected through USB 2.0.

That does not do what you want. You cannot make a bootable system by drag and drop:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
it to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external drive. Source means the internal startup drive. The Destination drive will be erased first.
As an alternative, boot the computer from your Snow Leopard DVD, erase the target drive, then install OS X on the target.

How can I initialize an external hard drive when disk utility won't work?

Have a Seagate 300 GB external firewire drive. Formatted it for Mac. Had worked great and then one day it would not mount, got message box with choices of "initialize", "ignore" and 'eject". Clicking initialize, disk utility comes up with only the "first aid" button showing active. When I click on it nothing happens. As far as I can tgell there are no other options
Any suggestions on how I can repair this drive or recover data would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Jim

OK, I suspect First Aid may be blank since Disk Utility "sees" the device but does not think there's anything on it.
1. How about if you select the drive and then click the Erase tab?
2. Also, what happens if you connect the drive, select Ignore, then open Disk Utility? Does the drive show up?
3. What's your objective here? Do you want to try to recover data from the drive, or simply erase it? If you're looking to recover data from the drive, see my "Data Recovery" FAQ.
4. Do you know what happened before the problem arose? For example, was there a power outage or was the cable or drive suddenly disconnected before the drive was Ejected? Any of these events can result in the drive's partition map being corrupted, leading to the kind of problems you're seeing.
5. Did you build this FireWire drive? That is, buy and enclosure, buy a drive, and install the latter in the former? If so, have you checked the connections?
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Help please: how to boot from clone/external hard drive because "disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved"?

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