How To Make Mac Partition Main Boot Drive

Hi. Whenever I boot my computer, it always boots into XP when you don't press option. What can I do so that the Mac partition is the main boot drive? Thanks.

Hi,
while in OSX open System Preference from the Apple Top Menu, then open Startup Volume and set your OSX volume as the default startup volume.
Do the needed restart and voila
regards
Stefan

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No Recovery Partition on my 10.7.4 MacPro, how to make a USB Rec boot drive?

Hey, all.
I'm on a 2008 model Mac Pro 8-core system for work. For whatever reason it doesn't have a recovery partition. I read that if I don't have a recovery partition, I can't make a recovery USB bootable drive....so how do I make one? And no, I cannot reinstall the OS on here, that would be beyond detrimental to what's going on here. (too many details to get into)
Alternatively, can I make one with my 10.8.5 MacbookPro at home and run it here on my Lion system? Or is that no bueno? What say you, Forum?

http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/ss/Create-A-Bootable-Flash-Drive-Wi th-Os-X-Lion-Installer.htm

How to make an SSD a boot drive

I have a 2010 27" iMac (Model 11,3) I plan to upgrade my internal HDD to a 2TB model, and I would like to add a 120GB SSD. Currently I have ML on my internal drive. I have a CCC clone which I could use to colone the new HDD. If I install the SSD how would I make it the boot drive? I would not need ML on the 2TB drive, just on the SSD. I am under the impression that ML can not be installed on a bare drive, it needs either Lion or SL as a base.
Does anyone have a suggestion how I could set up the SSD?

Some users remove the optical drive and replace it with an SSD drive. Search "replace optical drive with ssd imac" for more links.
http://guides.crucial.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2390+SSD+Dual+Drive+Insta llation/632

Is it possible to use External HD as main boot drive? (Help!)

Hi all
I am about to buy a Seagate FreeAgent Pro (link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/478636-REG/SeagateST305004FPA1E3_RK_FreeAgent_Pro_500GB_eSATA.html) with 500Gb and FW400/USB2.0/eSATA. I have a Mac Mini, and its internal HD is too small for me (80Gb total for about 70Gb of data).
What I'd like to do is install OS X on the External HD and use it as my main boot drive, and perhaps the Mini's internal HD for data backup. Would that be possible/legal (I only have the install discs that came with it - my first Mac :D)? If it is complicated, could you guys explain me how to do it?
I'd also like to know whether the performance would be better or worse. The Mini's got a 5400 RPM drive, and the external is 7200 RPM and would be connected through FW400 (plus a lot of free space for now).
One last question: if it is indeed possible/legal to use the External HD as my main boot drive, would it be possible to install and boot Windows on the external HD using Boot Camp or Parallels?
Cheers
Daniel
Mac Mini 1.83 GHz Core Duo 1 GB Ram 80 GB HDD Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Performance will be worse because FW400 is considerably slower than the internal bus. For startup I would continue using the internal drive. You can use the external drive for data storage as well as off-loading any music, picture, and movie files to free up space on the internal drive. You can also partition a chunk of the external drive (80 GBs) to use as a backup partition for the internal hard drive. You can clone your internal drive to the external (partition) which will give you a bootable backup. Here's how:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.

I dont know how to make a partition help!

I dont know how to make a partition help!

Open Boot Camp Assistant, print the directions, read them carefully.
Backup your Mac before you do anything.

Main boot drive completely disappeared from Finder

Wow. This is an odd one indeed. My main boot drive is called "Leopard." I have a few other HDs, Backup, WinXP, and so on. One day, I noticed that "Leopard" was missing from the sidebar in Finder! Turns out, if I click on the sidebar icon for my whole Mac, it shows all the hard drives in the Finder window, EXCEPT "Leopard"! There's no way to get to it other than double clicking "Leopard" in the Path Bar at the bottom of a Finder window.
Anyone know how to fix this?

Can't use the desktop icon because it doesn't show up there, no matter what.
You didn't say that originally, so that's why I mentioned it. The sidebar comment was to let you know I have little to no knowledge of it. In my case, I find it intrusive, since I can't close it up like I could in Tiger.
Reading the other posts, I see you've fixed the issue. Good computing.

Partitioning the boot drive without wiping it clean

Hey all,
I was wondering if it is possible to partition the boot drive (in my case, the only drive - running a mid-2012 MBP) without wiping it clean during the process. Basically, I need a small (50/500GB) partition that I can install Fedora on so I can use my Linux dev tools while away from home.
I've seen information that says a couple things, which are either conflicting or very ambiguous as to the results.
a) I've read that Fedora can be installed via Bootcamp through use of Bootcamp's partitioning, but Bootcamp Assistant won't allow me to make a partition without a Win7 install disk. Is this a component that was removed through a version?
b) I've seen answers on here that state that partition w/o wipe works if the new partition is created using the default filestructs (Mac OS X Extended or w/e), but doesn't go into much detail after that. Are we talking Disk Utility here?
If b) is true, then can someone confirm that? This is a computer I use for work, so I'd rather not end up with a complete brick for the next few days.

@blasthash:
It's interesting to see VikingOSX' suggestion, because I'm in the process of adding a LM OS to my MBPro, so I'm going to check out VB . . . . I've done a dual boot set up before using rEFIt as boot manager, which now apparently doesn't work with Mtn Lion . . . it's now rEFInd . . . so having to figure that one out. Viking's suggestion might indeed be safer, the problem with that is then the Linux system is "virtual" rather than the boot system . . . which uses memory. In my case I only have 4GB on my MBPro.
It's very easy to partition the HD using DU . . . select the HD in the left side DU window, click the >partitions tab and select the number of partitions you want, and >click apply . . . viola . . . HD is partitioned . . . . The original boot system remains intact, and you can install or do what you will with the other partitions--the size of them is by dragging the "borders" to the size you want.
That's the easy part--of course you should do a cloned back up before you do anything--the Linux install part you could look at rEFInd's support page or search "rodbooks" and find his dual boot instructions. I did that with my dual boot set up -- using Bootcamp -- which went OK until I wanted to get a third partition, but Bootcamp had locked the HD . . . so I had to wipe the HD to get my now dual boot 10.6.8 & 10.8.5? system set up with a third partition set as "Freespace" . . . ready for a Linux OS install . . . using DU this time.
So, VikingOSX's advice is probably the easiest, possibly the safest . . . but it depends on using a lot of memory . . . it's like "Classic" . . . "you're in 10, but you're in 9" . . . as an old hippie guy said to me when I got my first G4 . . . . You'd be running Fedora within OSX and there ****might**** be a speed differential. Booted up as the root system Linux is pretty fast . . . gltichy, but fast. It takes a bit of work to get the boot manager rEFInd set up, but once that's done the installation into "Largest freespace" is usually pretty easy, I 've done a lot of Linux installs now and I mostly use the "automatic" option and let the system set it up. Point being, the other way, the dual boot "dark side" way is a tad more complicated, but more fun.
It just depends on whether you just need to do a "few things every now and again in Linux" . . . or whether you want to be able to run the full capacity of your machine using Linux . . . . Up to you . . . OSX probably still remains the best OS, but because Linux isn't perfect, it's "interesting" . . . to DIYers.
e.e.p.

Why does the default install make a partition for boot?

The installer, if one lets it prepare one's hard drive, makes a partition for boot, and formats it as a second extended filesystem. I know that people debate the need for/desirability of a partition for boot, and I do not mean to revive that debate. Rather, I am interested in knowing why the Arch developers, like the developers of some other distributions, such as Gentoo, but unlike some, such as Slackware, call for a boot partition, with ext2fs file system, on a default install. Should Arch users interpret this as a recommendation? Also, why is the partition quite a bit larger (although tiny compared to the available space on hard drives these days) than seems necessary?
Thanks.

I've looked at a couple of books and a fair number of internet posts on this, and I must say that these responses are a good deal more concise and clear than what I have come across. I did find it interesting that the Slackware on-line manual doesn't make any effort to encourage it. On the other hand, what you guys are saying sounds sensible enough.
I have both Arch and Gentoo running, sharing a boot partition, which I set at 50MB. I'm using 25% of it, which is why I ask about size - obviously not in terms of overall capacity, but in terms of need.
Why not a lot less - say, even if one is considering dual boot, 20MB? And where do numbers like 32MB come from (the Arch, and indeed Gentoo, default, also referred to by T-Dawg)? Why not use round numbers?
Does 32MB have some rational/irrational/astrological/lucky 7 connection to 64MB RAM, sort of like designating 128MB as swap instead of using numbers like 120MB or 125MB or 130MB?
As you probably know, in Gentoo this stuff is done on the command line in fdisk, and I found it quite odd to be told in their manual to tell fdisk that the boot partition should be 32MB (assuming a single operating system) and swap should be 256MB, especially since fdisk and my hard drive took these numbers with a grain of salt and conspired to adjust them to slightly different numbers complete with decimals. Arch, on default, does the same.
Then I find out that with two operating systems, I'm using about 13MB out of 50MB (or rather 49.9MB, as fdisk and my hard drive decreed)
To change the subject a bit, I think that it is a good idea that the current version of Arch .08 would create, on the default track, a /home partition. There are some nice ideas in the install dialogue, including in the section on setting up a hard drive.

Disk Utility has been trying to make a partition on hard drive for a long time

Disk Utility has been trying to make a partition on hard drive for a long time, I want to make 2nd partition and install the Snow Leopard on 2nd disk,
Lion is very slow on my Early 2011 MBP.

I am using MBP early 2011 with Osx Lion,
Lion was slow for me and I have no external HD to backup my files,
Than I want to make 2 partititon of my internal HD to backup my files to it, and also want to install Snow Leopard to that new partition using the CDs comes with my MBP.
After that.
I was using Disk Utility to partition my MBP to install Snow Leopard to my second part. While partitioning my Disk Utility did not complete and wouldn't continue the process, I waited about 30 minutes to see if it fix itself, so I cancelled it and restart the Mac, upon rebooting I opened Disk Utility to try again and I noticed I lost 400 gigabytes of space. I tried to "Erasing Free Space" but after a couple of minutes it finished and the same problem 400 GBs of lost space.
Is there a way to fix this and regain my lost hard drive space?

How to make gmail the main post?

How to make gmail the main post?

Add it into the mail application - it will automatically become your default email
Or are you asking to for it to be your main email on the Apple ID?
http://iforgot.apple.com/appleid
You can change it there

How to get mac to recognize thumb drive?

how to get mac to recognize thumb drive?

Launch the Disk Utility application. Does the thumb drive appear in the list of volumes on the left side? If not, try using a different USB port. If the issue still occurs then try restarting the system. If the thumb drive appears in Disk Utility check out how it is formatted. Do you have data on it that you need? If it can be erased try formatting it with Disk Utility using the Mac OS Extended (journaled) format. If the thumb drive will be used in a Mac and PC environment then take a look at this article for additional information on choosing the right format.
http://www.macyourself.com/2012/03/11/how-to-format-a-drive-for-mac-and-pc-compa tibility/

How to make Vista partition on the HDD as first one with Recovery CD

Hello,
i want to format and recover the information to my "Vista" (C://) partition, which is the first. But when i choose the option "Format and recover to an existing first partition on your hard disk(without RE)" the computer began to recover to "Partition Type: windows NT NTFS (ID: 07)" which size is only 1.50 GB.
In the middle of the process it shows "not enough space on a disk"
Question: how to make "vista" partition the first one? What is "the first partition" in the second option of formating and recovering the system?
Thank You for Your answers

Hi
You can obtain from your friends (I am sure someone has it) Microsoft WXP installations CD and install OS on C partition. On Toshiba download page you will find chipset and all necessary drivers to make WXP running properly. When finished connect external HDD or USB memory stick and copy all your data there. you can also install Nero demo version and create data CD or DVD. It is lot of work but if you have time you can do this without any problems.
Other way connect your HDD as external one to other PC and copy all your important data. Sorry but I do not see other solution.

How can I upgrade my Mac G5's boot drive?

Hi,
I have a PowerMac G5 running 10.5.8... and just bought a new internal 1TB SATA I would like use as my new boot drive.
What's the most simple method to do so?
I have a copy of Data Rescue 3 that has a "clone" feature -- which I tried. It worked, but the new drive's system partition map is reduced to the size of the old (smaller) drive. I used Disk Utility to try to increase the volume scheme up to the new capacity, but it gives me an error saying "MediaKit reports partition (map) to small." and won't increase the size.
Suggestions?
Thanks,
Carl

I have no idea what you've done with Data Rescue, but it isn't a system clone. Here's what you need to do:
A. Prep the new drive:
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your 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. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
B. Repair the Old Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X 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. Now restart normally.
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.
C. Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
2. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
3. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
4. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
5. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new hard drive.
Source means the old boot drive.
Last, use Startup Disk preferences to select the new drive as the permanent startup drive, then click on the Restart button.

How do I Partition Yosemite Boot Drive Using BCA?

I replaced the HD in my Mid 2010 27" IMac to achieve greater storage. The replacement went fine with no issues, and I then installed Yosemite (10.10.1) from scratch using the latest version of Diskmaker and installing the install version of Yosemite on to a USB thumb drive. The replacement drive is a 4.0Gb drive with no prior installations on it.
Everything has gone fine, and OSX Yosemite seemingly works great.
But I need to install Boot Camp and a fresh version of Windows 7, 64bit SP1, and it just won't work at the partition step before I ever get to the Windows installation.
When I use BCA I downloaded the drivers without a hitch, but when I go to the next step I encounter the error message, "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS extended volume or already partitioned by Boot camp Assistant for installing Windows".
I have found a number of references to this error message, but none seem to describe my situation with a new, clean, install of Mavericks.
I have a bootable backup (via Carbon Copy Cloner), and have loaded current Yosemite compatible versions of Partition Magic and TechTools onto the external bootable drive, but cannot see any problems with the drive.
Before I progress any further with installing apps on to the new drive and I still have a clean Yosemite installation on the new HD, I want to resolve the issue since Windows 7 via Boot Camp (and not via virtual software!) is essential. The prior smaller HD had a Windows 7 Boot Camp installation that worked fine.
Options that might work:
1. Boot to the external drive, and create an MS-DOS partition manually using Disk Utilities, and then try to use that partition for Windows using BCA.
2. Use low level partitioning software or terminal mode to erase the small hidden OSX restore partition, which may be why BCA thinks I have more than one partition on the boot drive. This notion shows up in some of the threads on this web site, but why would Apple allow this problem since all installations of Yosemite presumably have the hidden restore partition?
3. My new 4Gb hard drive is a hybrid SSD/HD (ST4000DX001), but this type of drive seems to be the norm now, and I do not see where this would be a problem.
4. Erase the new drive, and install a clean version of the original OSX, (Lion, I believe for the mid 2010 27" IMac) using the internet and the Cmd-R command, subsequently updating the original OSX version to Yosemite after creating a Boot Camp partition (although I don't know if BCA would work from the original version of OSX for this machine. I really don't want to do this because of the time required for the internet download, but it would take me to the original OSX image which came with the machine.
I have no issues with my Yosemite installation, and backup is not a problem since my goal was to create a clean installation of OSX uncluttered with legacy apps.
I would be grateful for any experienced suggestions, or hypotheses as to the nature of the problem.
Thanks!!!!

You can use an external disk for store files and for Time Machine, but you have to create a second volume.
To create volumes on the external disk, use Disk Utility. See > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html I recommend you to put as much space as you can for the Time Machine volume, because backups consume a lot and Time Machine starts deleting backups when the external disk is full

Preparing a new SSD to take over as main boot drive

Hi,
I've just installed a new SSD in my 2011 Mac mini, and my aim is to make sure I set it up properly first time around to take over boot duties from the default 500GB HDD. The SSD is currently completely blank, without even a partition scheme.
I ran:
diskutil list
in the Terminal and noticed that the 500GB HDD has 5 partitions:
1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB
2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            80.0 GB
3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB
4:                  Apple_HFS Internal Storage        337.8 GB
5:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                81.2 GB
If the SSD is going to take over the main duties of the 500GB HDD, it looks like I'm going to have to endow it with the following partitions:
1:                        EFI
2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD
3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD
I'm not sure how to properly go about giving the new SSD the EFI partition or Recovery HD. The main OS I can clone quite easily with Carbon Copy Cloner, however. Can someone advise?
The second thing is that I want to encrypt the new OS partition. I've done this before on another drive, and follow the less-common (though equally supported method) of encrypting the new volume as HFS (Encrypted) before copying the old OS onto it. The main bonus of this on an SSD is that it doesn't interfere with the SSD's drive maintenance routines; copying the OS onto an unencrypted volume and then turning on FileVault 2, on the other hand, does. The other benefit is that I have a unique boot password that takes me to the Login screen, as opposed to using a user's password that then boots me straight into that user's account.
The problem is that I want to use Boot Camp later, but I don't know how that works if the main OS X partition is encrypted. Can the Boot Camp Assistant still shrink the drive and create the Windows partition as needed?
In the end, the plan is to have the following:
SSD:
1:          EFI
2:          Boot Recovery HD
3:          OS X (HFS Encrypted)
4:          Windows 7 (NTFS)
HDD:
1:          Windows Swap (NTFS)
2:          OS X Extra Storage (HFS)
Thanks!

I think the easy (maybe only) way to get the recovery partition is to format as a single partition, and install (Mountain) Lion on it.
Here is what I plan to do in a similar situation (MBP in my case), except that I DON'T want to encrypt - I am not sure how that would fit in the plan, but here goes:
1) partition SSD as one partition, GUID partition table;
2) install ML; in the appropriate step of the installation, select "I want to transfer from another mac or hard disk";
3) when prompted, select the internal HD as the source to import from. This will Migrate everything, or maybe just users and documents (I haven't decided yet)
4) use Bootcamp assistant to create the win partition and subsequently install win 7 (this one I probably won't do, but I am not sure)
5) Reformat the HD as desired

How To Make Mac Partition Main Boot Drive

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