How to boot from dvd?

Hi,
I just installed a new HD on my Macbook pro. And then I put the Leopard DVD into the drive and nothing appears on the screen.
What am I doing wrong?
JK

Didn't work. Iheld the C key down for 4 minutes. The drive is spinning for 2 minutes and then it stops. Still just a black screen.
Any other idea?

Similar Messages

How to boot from DVD & how to force eject DVD

Hi,
Just installed a new HD on my MBP. I inserted the leopard DVD and it was spinning for about 2 minutes and then nothing happned. Just black screen. Now I tried starting holding the C key down. Nothing. I tried starting holding the eject button down, no eject of the DVD. I tried holding the button below the tracklpad down, no eject of the DVD.
How to boot from a DVD?
How to force eject DVD?
What am I doing wrong?

I hope you get an answer to this as I'm sturggling to
A) start my computer as it just goes to a grey screen
B) Force Eject a DVD
Someone suggested the below on another thread, it didn't work for me but maybe it will work for you.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5869652#5869652
Re: Stuck on Grey Screen.. Won't Boot
Posted: Nov 16, 2007 1:34 PM in response to: aliray10 Reply Email
(I don't have my (no-longer booting) iBook in front of me to check this, but I think this is what I did last night....)
Boot single user -- hold down "cmd-S" immediately after you turn the computer on.
"diskutil list" will give you a list of your disks. My CD drive was disk1.
"diskutil eject disk" should eject the target disk.

How to boot from OS X DVD after hard drive upgrade with wireless keyboard

This may be a dumb question. I know that you press "c" key on a MacBook to boot from DVD. But what about a Mac Mini with wireless keyboard? Does the Mini see the keyboard when there is a NEW drive inside?
I've searched but can't find the answer.
Thanks!

I believe This will help.
It says to Hold "C" while booting to boot from the install DVD.
Hope this help.

IMac 24" Aluminium - No way to boot from DVD

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- Grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD) by EFI, when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TRIALS FOLLOWED (and all its combinations).
TRIAL 1 - Erasing EFI values on memory.
Leave the iMac disconnected from power cord a whole night for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890zc.
TRIAL 2 - Force empty memories during boot.
CMD+ALT+P+R -> Result OK (reboot)
CMD+ALT+N+V -> No effect
CMD+ALT+O+F -> No effect
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 3 - Force boot from DVD.
C while boot -> Read DVD first, but can't boot.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
TRIAL 4 - From Startup Manager, try to boot from DVD.
ALT (Option) while boot -> See cursor arrow on screen, can't see DVD as boot option.
a) Try with DVD already inside the unit.
b) Try to insert DVD once I see the cursor arrow on screen.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1383424?start=0&tstart=0
TRIAL 5 - Remove RAM memories to reset EFI to factory defaults.
- Remove all RAM from unit.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Unit beeps.
- Shutdown and fill one bank with memory.
- Wait 15 minutes for EFI memories values to be deleted.
- Boot from DVD (C key hold) -> Access DVD first, but no boot.
TRIAL 6 - Boot from external Mac (Firewire + PC fully working).
This is the only trial missing before replacing the HDD of the unit... finger crossed.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=271975
IDEAS AND CONCLUSIONS
- Any more ideas?
- How is it possible that a SW problem affects the HW in a way that can't be booted from DVD? Somethings is terribly wrong on iMac EFI design... terribly poor stability.

Dear all:
Thank you for having this forum fully working.
My iMac 24" Aluminium (november 2008) can't boot, completely frozen, although all HW are perfectly working.
I'll try to explain the issue best I can.
SYMPTOMS
- After a chime... grey screen of death without Apple's logo.
- No bootable devices detected (either HDD or DVD), when you hold ALT (Option) while booting.
- No way to force boot from DVD.
CAUSE OF PROBLEMS
a) HDD has 3 partitions created by DiskUtils:
/dev/disk0s2= Mac OS(HFS+)
/dev/disk0s3= Linux DVD Installer (FAT32)
/dev/disk0s4= User Data(HFS+).
b) rEFIt installed and fully working on the system ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/ )
c) Linux DVD installer partition was filled this way:
dd if=/path/to/linux.iso of=/dev/disk0s3
As you can see, there are no HW errors at all, everything was perfectly working before dumping the Linux iso into FAT partition.
TEST BED
In the process of dealing with iMac booting problems I organized a test bed which allow to detect where the booting is failing:
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memory to factory defaults.
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device.
STAGE 3 - Reinstall iMac firmware.
STAGE 4 - Hardware intervention.
Before running the test bed:
a) Unplug all devices except USB keyboard (no wireless keyboard, no mouse... you can plug an USB mouse once you see the graphical user interface up and running).
b) Combination of keys available on booting:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
STAGE 0 - Setting initial boot memory conditions
This bundle of tests must be executed before any test of next stages.
TEST 0.1 - Erasing booting memory values.
Leave the iMac disconnected from all wires (especially power cord) for 15 minutes for memories to loose their values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JId524890....
TEST 0.2- Resetting PRAM memory.
a) Press Power button
b) Press CMD+ALT+P+R keys while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Hold these keys until you hear 3 chimes (3 reboots).
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379.
STAGE 1 - Reset NVRAM memories to factory defaults.
TEST 1.1 - Validate machine with Apple's Hardware Test.
=> Detect Hardware errors with Apple's Hardware Test
a) Original Apple's Installation DVD on the machine
Installation DVD should show something like this
DISC 1
Mac OS version 10.5.4
AHT version 3A152
Disc version 1.1
2Z691-6304-A
To use Apple Hardware Test, hold down the D key as the computer starts up.
b) Holding Down D key as the computer starts up
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509.
=> Hardware OK: continue with Stages 1, 2 and 3
=> Hardware Failure: jump to Stage 4 (skip Stages 1, 2 and 3)
=> Unable to run Apple's Hardware Test: jump to Stage 3, firmware restoration
TEST 1.2 - Change RAM Configuration: amount or disposition.
a) Open RAM Slot
b) Extract RAM stick from Slot.
c) If you only have one RAM stick, reintroduce it in the unused empty slot of memory.
TEST 1.3 - Resetting PRAM memory.
Please check TEST 0.2
STAGE 2 - Booting from external device
TEST 2.1 - Boot from DVD.
a) Introduce Apple's Mac OS original DVD on the unit.
b) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
=> Force DVD as Booting Device.
c) Press power button.
d) Press C key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the C key until you see the MacOS installer window.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager with DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
f) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
=> If still no boot from DVD: StartUp Manager without DVD inside the machine.
c) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
d) Press F12 key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
e) Keep hold the F12 key until DVD is spelled from the iMac.
f) Run StartUp Manager again (see steps above) .
g) Insert Apple's Mac OS DVD on machine while StarUp Manager is running.
h) From StartUp Manager, choose DVD as booting option.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/138...
TEST 2.2 - Firewire cable and Target Mode: run installer from external Mac.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p...
TEST 2.3 - Remote Installation.
You can run this test twice: remote installation from PC and MAC.
=> Remote Installation Server on PC/MAC:
a) Mac OS DVD on PC/MAC optical drive
b) Install Network Client (just run setup.exe from DVD and follow the steps until everything is installed).
c) Keep open a window saying... machine is ready for Remote Install.
=> Physical Direct Network Connection between Remote Installation Server and iMac
a) Unplug power cord from iMac for 15 minutes.
b) Connect to the Server Machine this way:
Option 1.- Crossover Ethernet wire direct connection,
Option 2.- Using an Ethernet switch with no additional devices plugged to the switch.
=> StartUp Manager on Client
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press power button.
c) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
e) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6450
TEST 2.4 - NetInstall.
=> Prepare NetInstall Mac OS NetBoot Server
Option 1 - Using Mac OS X Server
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4178
Option 2 - Using Linux Server
https://docs.math.osu.edu/linux/how-tos/...
=> Force Boot from the Network
a) Run Test 0.1 and Test 0.2
b) Press Power Button.
c) Press N key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
d) Keep hold the N key until you see the Mac OS X Installation screen.
=> If no NetBoot after 15 minutes: NetBoot from StartUp Manager
a) Keep hold Power Button 10 seconds to reboot the machine.
b) Press ALT key while black screen, before you hear the chime.
c) Keep hold the ALT key until you see the StartUp Manager.
d) From StartUp Manager, choose NetInstall as booting option.
TEST 2.5 - Apple's Mac OS Installer/Reparation from External USB HardDrive.
Very unlikely to work.
=> Create Bootable OS X USB device
a) Format HDD with GUID partition.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7247
b) Fill the partition with the Mac OS X installer (only the version your iMac came with, no newer, no older).
=> Boot iMac from USB device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1948
STAGE 3 - Reinstall/Repair iMac Firmware
TEST 3.1 - Using Firmware Reinstallation CD.
a) Download and burn Firmware Restoration CD for your iMac
iMac 8,1: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24012
b) From power off state, press the power button and continue to hold it down until the "Sleep" LED blinks rapidly three times, then slowly three times, then rapidly three more times... this could be chimes, instead of LED blinks! Keep the power button pressed down.
c) Insert the Firmware Restoration CD you have burned into the iMac's CD drive, then release the power button.
d) Monitor the "Progress Bar" beneath the Apple logo as the restoration process updates your iMac's firmware, taking care not to disconnect the power, shut down your computer or restart your computer (otherwise, you will have to start over). The iMac will restart automatically once the firmware restoration is complete.
TEST 3.2 - Using Apple's Propietary Software.
Contact Apple's Technical Support to know the price.
STAGE 4 - Hardware Intervention
TEST 4.1 - Replace the faulty Hardware on your own.
a) To detect faulty Hardware, please run Test 1.1
b) Replace the Hardware following those instructions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6E2_Xqa...
TEST 4.2 - Contact Apple's Technical Support.

Mac Mini won't boot from dvd

I just picked up a used Mac Mini and the previous owner didn't wipe the hard drive. He did include the original install disks in the package, though. I inserted the install disk & it says that OS X Tiger can't be installed on the mini (currently it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8). I tried to boot from DVD but if I hold down the c key, nothing happens and it boots to the HD like normal. If I hold down the option key, the only boot option shown is the HD. I don't get any request for a password, so this mini doesn't appear to have a firmware password set. The DVD drive appears to be functioning fine since it can read the DVD - I just can't boot from it. If I use the Startup disk utility the only option shown once again is the HD. I even tried upgrading to Mavericks, but get an error message that it can't be installed on this mini (I checked the requirements and this machine meets them - running 10.6.8, at least 2 Gig ram, 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo, 60 Gigs free space on the drive.......
I want to do a clean install but am at a loss on how to do so. Any suggestions?

I inserted the install disk & it says that OS X Tiger can't be installed on the mini (currently it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8).
You can't install an older version of OS X on top of a newer version. You would have to erase the disk first.
I tried to boot from DVD but if I hold down the c key, nothing happens and it boots to the HD like normal.
Make sure you're using disk# 1 of 2 of the two gray disk set., and that you hold the C key down for enough time, the boot process from the DVD is much slower than from a hard drive. However, since you have Snow Leopard installed now, there is no point in trying to install Tiger, unless he didn't give you his Admin password; you wouldn't be able to add yourself as a new user or delete his user name without knowing the admin password.
If you did get Tiger installed, then you would have to buy a copy of Snow Leopard on DVD.
I checked the requirements and this machine meets them - running 10.6.8, at least 2 Gig ram, 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo, 60 Gigs free space on the drive.......
Those aren't the complete requirements. It has to be an Early 2009 MacMini, Model Identifier number 3.1, to be compatible with Mavericks. Click on the Apple Menu's, "About This Mac," More Information, then System Report, to locate that information.

How to boot from USB flash drive - Portege R500

Hi,
I have a Portege R500 running Windows XP, brought about 2 years ago, and recently contracted a worm virus that has infected some of the start up files as the minute I log in it logs out again, even in safe mode! Quickest way I can think of sorting it is to reformat it with the XP recovery disc and reinstall windows.
Problem!! The CD/DVD drive on the laptop stopped working a while ago, have tried pretty much everything in the thread on this site but had no luck.
So my plan was to boot from a USB flash drive and do it that way. However in the boot settings I only have the options of HDD / FDD / CD-ROM / LAN, neither of these will work. Does anyone know how to boot from USB flash drives?
Any help would be really appreciated

Hi
As far as I know it should be possible to boot from USB FDD
Im not sure if you would be able to boot from USB flash drive but its definitely worth a try
Generally you could try to press F12 button when notebook powers up.
Then a boot menu should appear on the display and you should see all bootable devices.
PS: As far as I know the USB booting was available in ToshibaHWSetup (Toshiba tool which changes the BIOS settings in windows OS.) Therefore I assume booting from USB should be possible.
Greets

My 27" iMac Freezes, Won't boot from DVD

My iMac has started to freeze up every few minutes. Every so often, it becomes unresponsive; the mouse cursor still moves (sometimes it turns into a beach ball), but I can't click or type anything. Whenever this happens, the hard drive begins to churn as if it's reading or writing something big. This usually lasts only about thirty seconds to a minute, but it's happening with frustrating regularity.
I've been trying to troubleshoot this for a few days, now. I'll walk you through the steps I've tried so far.
I ran a check on the hard drive with Disk Utility. This came back with a message about the files/directories not matching up with their expected counts. The solution it suggested was to boot from a Snow Leopard disc and let Disk Utility run a Repair Disk while the startup drive is not mounted. It was at this point that I realized that I couldn't boot from the dvd. Whether holding 'C' or 'Option', when it tries to boot from the disc, it gets to the Apple logo and then hangs.
I kept researching and found a workaround; boot into Single User Mode and perform fsck, which fixed the Disk Utility error, but did not solve the freezes/noises, and I still can't boot from the dvd.
Any ideas?

Thank you for your prompt response.
Well, I'm not sure if I explained it clearly. Holding the Option key does indeed bring up a list of bootable devices. The problem arises when control is passed to the Snow Leopard disc. The Apple logo flashes, I can hear the optical drive being accessed, but then it locks up.
I should also clarify that it's not the disc that came with the iMac. I just moved and can't find the original disc, so I borrowed my neighbor's (which came from a Macbook he bought after mine (which I bought last year)). I am under the impression that Macs can't boot from discs that are older than the version of OS X that they shipped with. I wouldn't think that's the issue, here, as his came out later than mine, but I've still got a lot to learn about life in the Appleverse.
My data should be safe--I've got an up to date Time Machine backup on an external drive. The performance issues aside, I'm really looking to understand the underlying problem(s) here.
So, one option is that the RAM might be bad. I can test that by swapping out each DIMM and checking if the problem is resolved. One thing I don't understand, though, is why bad RAM would manifest as the hard drive being accessed. Is there a definitive way to test the logic board, as there is for testing RAM?
Also, I keep thinking of other little syptoms which may or may not be related.
Recap of Symptoms:
Magic Mouse occasionally loses its magic (right click, multitouch, etc.) and needs to be turned off and on.
Free disk space fluctuates by as much as eight gigs (without my intervention).
System stalls (accompanied by HD access sounds) multiple times per hour.
Can't boot from dvds (though, this could be a version problem).
**Fixed: Disk Utility Verify Disk error.
I do understand that this might be a hardware error, and I certainly know how much trouble that sort of thing is to find/fix. I'm definitely willing to open the case and swap out DIMMs and drives, but not until I've exhausted my software solution options. *crosses fingers*

Boot from dvd

how to get the pc to boot from dvd drive

Please post your full product Number
#2
Please Do Not post your s/n

No display when boot from DVD

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
30" Cinema HD Display
When I attempt to boot from DVD to run the Hardware Test, the display does not light up. The monitor's power light is on but the display is black.
What might cause this? How can I work around it?
Dual G5 2.7 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 4 GB RAM

Ah well, as is often the case, shortly after I posted the question the situation changed...
I tried booting from the DVD one more time. This time I left the DVD in the machine and used "Restart" instead of a cold restart. It booted fine. Yeah! I guess the monitor stayed in sync or something.
So the Hardware Test was run, terminated normally and reported no errors. Which is good news.

Qosmio F30-140 - Cannot boot from DVD Drive

Dears,
I faced problem in DVD drive, I can't boot from it... actually, it didn't see and CD or DVD when I insert it...
So how can boot from it to reinstall windows?????? Or how can I use external USB DVD to boot from it???
I have F30-140, with updated BIOS...
please neeeeeeed help..

Hi
Sounds like CD/DVD drive has developed a hardware problem.
Usually you should be able to boor from ODD by pressing C button immediately after the notebook was powered up.
You can also press F12 at the beginning. This would enable the boot menu on the screen.
There you can choose ODD as boot source
If this will not function, then the ODD could be defect.
PS: I doubt the BIOS supports booting from USB CD/DVD drive...

Not booting from DVD

Hi,
I have an issue with my macbook pro and booting from DVD.
When I try to boot from the DVD it starts reading and after a few minutes I hear the driver stops and only a gray screen with the apple logo in the screen .
I have tried two snow leopard disk and the original disk that came with the macbook pro.
I can boot into the operating system , repair permissions , verify disk and disk utility does not find any problem .
I also tried with a usb dvd and the same symptom, after a minute it stops reading the dvd .
Do you have any Idea what can be the problem ?
Thanks

I seem to be having the same problem. How long should it take to boot from the DVD? We have inserted the original DVD that came with the machine, and I can hear the machine reading from it, but it's been 10 mins and no boot up.
The install DVD is v. 10.6.3 and the current version of the OS on the MacBook is 10.6.6
Also, please can somebody indicate how to create a bootable DVD, and if I start up from that, can I then insert the 10.6.3 disc to run DiskFirstAid or equivalent?
Message was edited by: GGG332
Message was edited by: GGG332

1) How to Boot from SAN for T4-1 Server with Solaris 11.1 OS on the disk? 2) How to SMI Label/Format a disk while OS Installation in Solaris 11.1?

FYI....boot from SAN is required for physical server (T4-1) (not OVM).
1) How to Boot from SAN for T4-1 Server with Solaris 11.1 OS on the disk?
The SAN disks allocated are visible in ok prompt. below is the output.
(0) ok show—disks
a) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@f/pci@0/usb@0, 2/hub@2/hub@3/storage@2/disk
b) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci€a/SUNW, ezalxs@0, l/fp@0, 0/disk
e) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@a/SUNW, ealxs@0/fp@0, 0/disk
d) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@8/SUNW, emlxs@0, l/fp@0, 0/disk
e) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@8/SUNW,enlxs@0/fp@0,0/disk
f) /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@4/scsi@0/disk
g) /pci@400/pci@1/pci@0/pci@4/scsi@0/disk
h) /iscsi—hba/disk
q) NO SELECTION
valid choice: a. . .h, q to quit c
/pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@a/SUNW, ealxs@0/fp@0, 0/disk has been selected.
Type “Y ( Control—Y ) to insert it in the command line.
e.g. ok nvalias mydev “Y
for creating devalias mydev for /pci@400/pci@2/pci@0/pci@a/SUNW,emlxs@0/fp@0,0/disk
(0) ok set—sfs—boot
set—sfs—boot ?
We tried selecting a disk and applying sfs-boot at ok prompt.
Can you please help me providing detailed pre-requesites/steps/procedure to implement this and to start boot from SAN.
2) How to SMI Label/Format a disk while OS Installation in Solaris 11.1?
As we know that ZFS is the default filesystem in Solaris 11.
We have seen in the Oracle documentation that for rpool below are recommended:
- A disk that is intended for a ZFS root pool must be created with an SMI label, not an EFI label.
- Create root pools with slices by using the s* identifier.
- ZFS applies an EFI label when you create a storage pool with whole disks.
- In general, you should create a disk slice with the bulk of disk space in slice 0.
I have seen the solution that using format -e, we change the labelling but all the data will be lost, whats the way to apply a SMI Label/Format on a rpool disks while OS Installation itself.
Please provide me the steps to SMI Label a disk while installaing Solaris 11.1 OS.

Oracle recommends below things on rpool: (thats reason wanted to apply SMI Label)
I have seen in the Oracle documentation that for rpool below are recommended:
- A disk that is intended for a ZFS root pool must be created with an SMI label, not an EFI label.
- Create root pools with slices by using the s* identifier.
- ZFS applies an EFI label when you create a storage pool with whole disks.
- In general, you should create a disk slice with the bulk of disk space in slice 0.

Reset Password - System does not boot from DVD

My System: Macbook Pro - 2Ghz Intel Core Duo - OS X - 10.6.8
Hi everyone,
i forgot my password. So i want to boot from install DVD to reset the password. Unfortunately my macbook pro does not boot from DVD (10.6.3).
I press c all the time...but sometimes the macbook pro throws the DVD out...and sometimes nothing happens.
The DVD drive is working fine...
Any other idea?
Thanks in advance.
Fabian

So when you boot holding option it shows a padlock with a password field? Is that correct?
In that case we're talking about the firmware password, which you can't reset via the install disk. There is only one way to do this, I'm not certain if one is allowed to divulge that information publicly - might want to try googling "reset firmware password"

How to Boot From an External HD

I am still pondering getting a mini - I know that I will want a much larger hard drive (since I want to use it for media and will keep tons of video and music on it). I would like to know how to boot from an external hard drive. I've searched google, the forums, and apple support, and see people mention it all the time, but can't find out how to do it, etc. Is it just like running off my normal HD but all the files are kept on the external (so I could still access files thru itunes, etc.)?
Also, I would like to get a 500GB+ drive to keep my files on, and was wondering if people had recomendations. Brands, USB 2.0 or Firewire, etc.
Apologies if this is a novice question - but I can't seem to find answers anywhere.
Thanks in advance.

Firstly, it is certainly possible to boot from an external drive, so what you plan is not only feasible, but since the external would be faster than the internal drive, also rather beneficial to the efficient running of the mini - meaning, the system will be notably faster in use.
In my view, the best option is an external firewire drive, not USB. The reason is that FW has it's own dedicated controller while USB doesn't. In effect, it means that FW data transfer speeds are stable and consistent, while USB rates vary widely, depending on what else the system is doing.
Once you have your external drive connected, the easiest way to make it bootable is to copy your existing MacOS install from the internal drive using software such as Carbon Copy Cloner (downloadable from www.versiontracker.com). This will avoid having to do a lengthy reinstall. Once MacOS is copied, then open System Preferences, and the Startup Disk preference pane, and click on the external drive icon. The next restart will then be directed to the external.
Once you have booted from the external drive, you use it just as you would an internal, and MacOS will treat it as the boot volume, including by default, placing your user account folders on it, including your documents, music etc.

Boot from DVD but cannot find hard drive now

just updated to 10.7.3, then cannot boot from hard drive. I boot from DVD and cannot find hard drive now

Did the 10.7.3 update complete the installation process?
Some updates, when being installed and applied can restart (but not fully start up) the machine a couple of times.
I'd restart your machine and give it a few uninterrupted minutes to see if it boots up normally. Depending on the specs of your iMac, the remapping of app shortcuts etc can take a little while to complete (but not an excessive amount of time).
It is unlikely the update caused your hard drive to fail.
If your iMac doesn't boot up, restart and boot into the recovery partition of Lion by holding down both the cmd & R keys while booting. This will run Lion Recovery which will allow you to repair your Hard Drive, reinstall or install a fresh copy of Lion (network access is required).
If this fails, boot from the recovery DVD and launch Disk Utility from the Tools option in the toolbar and see if your hard drive is listed in Disk Utility. If your hard drive is not listed, there is a hard drive problem and you'll need to speak to Apple Tech Support to arrange a repair.
Hope this helps

How to boot from dvd?

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