Installing OSX on separate partition

I have an external HD which I partitioned to use part of it for TM, and 12Gb for a separate install of OSX to give me a bootable drive if I ever need it. I've looked at the install disk, and it looks straight forward, but before I actually try it, I wanted to ask here if there are any pitfalls or tricks to doing this install. Also, I'd prefer not to install all the Apple apps as I don't need them for this emergency bootable disk. Is there any simple way to install OSX without installing all the apps that normally come with it? If it's very convoluted to install without them, I'll just install them.
Thanks in advance for the help.

There is always confusion on APM (Apple Partition) vs. GUID (Intel partition) for bootable disks. To install on a intel mac, yes you need to start with a GUID partition. But you can boot from an APM partition (on intel) as well if you clone the existing bootable partition to a new partition.
If you have an external drive with TM on it you can resize the TM partition and reclaim some space on it then you have two partitions. It is easier to clone your boot drive with Carbon Copy or Super Duper than reinstall it. You can always then delete stuff you don't want - but a clone is far superior to a bootable only spare partition in case you really monkey things up as you can clone the entire boot drive back.
External drives are so cheap everyone should have a bootable clone and update that clone frequently. With the paid for version of Super Duper it is very fast, updating only the changes.
So best advice is this:
Leave what you have alone, let TM have a TM drive.
Buy a cheap (preferably firewire) drive as big as your boot drive or at least as big as what you have on it now. They sell 500GB ones here for $100.
Partition it GUID - if it is brand new you may as well but it doesn't matter - the fact is that it will be FAT32 99% of the time as they are all for Windows anyway.
Get CCC or Super Duper - both are free but the paid version of Super Duper is $20 and superior the next time.
Do a Complete clone. Boot from it to be sure.
Update weekly.

Similar Messages

Installing OSX on separate HD

I have bought a new Mac Pro and would like to install OS10.5 on one of the other internal Hard Drives I have added. (Useful for testing upgrades and software before committing it to the main system) I have a 10.5.1 Family Pack Leopard DVD but understand that this will not boot the machine and so cannot be used for the install.
Can I use the install disc that came with the machine to install OSX on an existing partition of one of the other drives without re-formatting? I have data on them already.
Thanks
Dave

I would resize one of your partitions as this is for 'testing' and keep it separate.
Plus, I would clone your existing system to either that drive partition or to another disk.
Main system, test system, backup system (could be used for repairs though I favor having a small 20GB partition for running Disk Warrior and such).
Backups of a partition can also be to a Disk Utility "sparse disk image."

How to install os9 on separate partition alongside os 10.3?

Hi - I would like to know how to install os9.2.2 on a separate partition (with os10.3 on the other) so I can boot in REAL os9 (not classic) to use pro tools free which will not run on classic - (my old g3 I used this for has died) - I have recovered the hard disc contents and what I really want to do is just copy the entire 0s9 system (without having to reinstall it) to a partition - I know how to reboot the machine into os x (hold down x key during start up), but;
1) - can I boot the os 9 partition and if so how?
2) - will this work? - I remember someone telling me it was possible a few years ago, I just can't remember who -
any help greatly appreciated
Thanks!
James

Hi, l. No Aluminum Powerbook can boot into straight OS 9, so you'll have to a) use Pro Tools Free in Classic mode, b) get an older OS-9-bootable computer to run it on, c) buy the real Pro Tools to run on your top-of-the-line computer, or d) use some other application instead.
No Mac has ever been able to boot into an older OS version than the one(s) that were installed on it at the factory.
OS 8 & OS 9 hardware compatibility matrix
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25114
See Note 9 at bottom of article. There is no workaround.

Installing OSX Lion on OSX Mountain Lion Partitioned drive-Help/Advice please

I have my late 2009 27" iMac running OSX 10.8.5 Mountain Lion but need to install OSX Lion on a separate partition and would appreciate help / procedure advice as to how to do this safely.
I need to do this because I have found that running FCP7 Studio under 10.8.5 there's some missing or odd keyboard and Timeline functions that were not there under Lion and FCP7 is a valuable tool for me that I don't want compremised. I'd like to be able to run FCP7 / Lion in a separate partition on the iMac.
I have partitioned the HD and there's about 700gigs of clean space on the second partition. I also have downloaded from my account on the App Store a copy of Install Mac OS Lion to my Applications folder and I also have a copy of it on a USB Thumbdrive.
So, what do I do now to safely install the second OS without messing up everything else that's on the machine in the prime partition?
Thanks!

Ok….I managed to work it out…..Installed Lion on the second partition, working fine now.
PM

Instal Tiger and Leo on separate partitions of iBook G4 HD?

Hi. Is it safe to instal OSX Tiger & OSX Leopard on two separate partitions of the same harddrive of an iBook G4 1.33Ghz 1.5RAM 12" Combo , and boot up using whichever OS is desired by selecting the "start up disc" in the preference pane? I just have a few apps which don't run on Leo, but I'd like to use Leo for my daily stuff like email, browsing, ical and others. I bought the Leo upgrade, but haven't upgraded yet. I just don't want to jeopardize hardware and/or OSs by using both, although only either or, but still on the same hard drive. No clue if there could be any kind of interference.
Thanks a lot!!!
M

Honestly, I haven't found a definite general statement how Leopard runs on the latest G4 iBooks. Some say it's smooth, others say it's not good.
I wouldn't expect anything else. If you ask about which OS, which email client, which browser, which editor, etc. you are going to have differing opinions. You just need to review those and make your own determination on the benefits and risks.

How do I Install OSX to an External Drive Partition?

I have an external FW800 drive that I've made two partitions on. One partition I want to install OSX to, for external booting; the other partition is just for storage. I'm trying to use the SNL install disk but It's not installing, it just stalls out. I must be doing something wrong.
Thanks,
John

Is the external drive prepped correctly?
Drive Preparation
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. 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 then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the 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 drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.
When formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the OS X installation.
Or you can clone your current system to the partition:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

I am trying make a flash drive bootable so i can install OSX Mountain lion it BUT it has MBR partition on it how can i remove this partition

I am trying make a flash drive bootable so i can install OSX Mountain lion it BUT it has MBR partition on it how can i remove this partition
Regards
Warren

Drive Preparation
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. 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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the 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 Security 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 drive size.

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

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

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

I have an iMac mid-2010 running Snow Leopard. Is it possible to install Mavericks and Windows 8 on separate partitions while keeping Snow Leopard?

I have an iMac mid-2010 running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. Is it possible to install Mavericks and Windows 8 on separate partitions while keeping Snow Leopard? If so, can you describe the steps?

That should not be a problem as long as there is enough room on each partition for each OS.
You would:
Use Disk Utility to partition your HD
Download the Mavericks installer and install it on one of the open partitions (when you run the installer from your 10.6.8 partition, it will ask you where you want to put Mavericks, and you will specify one of the open partitions).
Use Boot Camp to install Windows on another of the open partitions. Mac Basics: Using Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp

Advice please on Installing OSX Lion on a Partition for FCP7

Always best to ask for advice before messing with the Mac!
I have OSX 10.8.5 Mountain Lion installed on my late 2009 27" iMac, I installed that after a recent complete drive failure thinking that a more up to date OS would be a good idea, in part it was but my most valuable application FCP 7 Studio behaves oddly now especially with key commands and some timeline functions are screwy. So I want to install OSX Lion on a partition on the HD and run FCP7 on that partition. FCP 7 behaved just fine under Lion.
I have made a 700 gig partition on the iMac's HD, and I do have an installation copy of OSX Lion that I downloaded from my App Store account. That is at the moment on my regular iMac's Mountain Lion partition in the Applications folder. I also have a copy of it on an external drive.
So my question is how can I install Lion on the newly created partition, and do so safely? What are the procedures for this?
I have my FCP 7 Studio disks so I will be able to reinstall that on the new Lion partition afterwards.
I'd appreciate any step by step help or pointers to where I can find those instructions. Having messed up with the iMac last month I am nervous about just diving into this without " professional help"!
Many thanks,
PM

Ok, worked it out myself….all's well now.
PM

Can't install OSX on firewire drive?!?

I have a brand new Mac Mini (specs below) and just purchased an OWC Ministack v2 for extra USB and Firewire ports, with a Hitachi 250GB drive in it.
It's in 1394 mode, hooked up to the Mini, which recognizes it as a firewire drive. I'm able to copy files to it and open them fine, drive passes all tests.
When I insert the Install Disc 1 that came with the Mac Mini, I run the installer, which boots up from the disc and askes for the destination. It sees the firewire drive, but says that I cannot install OSX on that volume.
My question is, does the installer only allow you to install OSX on the Mini drive itself?!? Or is there something wrong with my drive? Anything I can do to get around this?
I have a separate Tiger install CD, but the Mini can't run the installer (presumably because it's pre-Universal Binary?).
THANKS a ton for your feedback, much appreciated.

Aye that was certainly the reason behind the problems I recently had when I was setting up an external drive with my Intel MacBook Pro.
After much testing and a little searching via Google, it would seem that Disk Utility was formatting the drive as an Apple Partition Map (APM) partition rather than a GUID Partition Table (GPT) that is necessary to use an external drive as a startup drive for an Intel Mac.
iFelix

How to install Mavericks on MBR partition (or make GUID)

I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro running OSX Mountain Lion, and on a separate partition, I have bootcamp running Windows 8. I went to install Mavericks today, and I was greeted with an error message saying that I could not install Mavericks on my Macintosh HD partition (or any other partition) because they are all MBR partition map schemes instead of GUID.
I really don't want to delete either my Macintosh HD or my Windows partition in order to make my hard drive have a GUID scheme, and googling this issue, I've only found out how to do this by backing up my computer and resotring it, which again, I don't really want to do because I always end up losing data that I want to keep.
As a note, I am using rEFInd, and previously rEFIt, in order to boot my Windows partition easier since it makes a pseudo MBR (hybrid MBR/GUID). I think the problem may be that rEFInd made my disk "think" that it is an MBR partition in order to make Windows boot, when in reality, it's GUID. I have no clue how to fix this though. From what I know, I don't believe OSX will even run or install on an MBR partition, so why it says my Macintosh HD is an MBR partition, I have no clue.

Winclone 3 will clone the Windows partition.
I don't know why you think you need rEFInd or rEFId (not being updated), since Windows 7 and 8 are GUID aware and supported with bootcamp. Just hold the option/alt key down for Startup Manager, no third party EFI firmware program needed.
If you had a triple boot system with Linux or Windows XP, then I could understand why.
My advice is to clone both OS X and BootCamp Win 8 to external drives, uninstall the EFI software or preferably erase the entire drive, reset the NVRAM, reinstall OS X, then reverse clone OS X (while booted from the clone), then setup Bootcamp and then Winclone that back on.
Only by erasing the ENTIRE disk0 can the GUID be reset.

I have a late 2009 iMac. I installed OSX 10.8.4 and want to go back to Snow Leopard. I have a 1.5TB external HD. Are there any issues I need to know about or tips I need to know before doing this? Thanks.

I have a late 2009 iMac. I installed OSX 10.8.4 and want to go back to Snow Leopard. I have a 3TB external HD. Are there any issues I need to know about or tips I need to know before doing this? Thanks.

Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
      loads select your language and click on the Continue
      button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
      Utilities menu.
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 then click on the OK button. Click on
      the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups made while on Snow Leopard, then you may do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion/Mountain Lion files.

Installing OSX along with OS 9

I just got a computer with OS9 (it was given to me ). I would like to upgrade it to OSX Panther but I was wondering if I would lose all the applications that were already installed on OS9. Is there a way to have both operating systems? How does all of that work? I would like to install OSX by itself, but will do whatever to keep my old applications!
Thanks for any help!

You won't lose the OS 9 applications when you install OS X. However, the "classic" apps will not operate with OS X.
You need to check if your Mac requires a firmware (Boot ROM version) update. Mac OS X: Available firmware updates
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117 If an update is required, the update must be installed (using OS 9) BEFORE you install OS X. Before you install OS X, you need to update (free from Apple) OS 9 to 9.2.2.
You can install OS X on the same hard drive with OS 9.
Or you can create separate partitions - one for OS 9 & one for OS X. I have my G4 set up this way.
Here's the *OS 10.3 Panther requirements*
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106163
Suggest you buy the book by David Pogue - Mac OS X The Missing Manual Panther Edition.
Includes everything you need to know about installing OS X, using OS X & maintaining OS X.
 Cheers, Tom

Cant install osx 10.0 on my imac g3

Hi guys ive been trying all day to install osx 10 on my imac as i put a bigger hard drive in there and formated it useing the partition thing on the osx 10 disc after i do that i go to install but it wont pass the part where it asks where u want to install the software to but for some reason the hard drive is greyed out both my partitions are the same but i can instal mac os 9.2.1 with no problems any ideas as this is my first mac and i must say its a pain cause i cant use it at the moment

Apple Imac G3:
The problem you are experiencing is explained in the article Mac OS X: Disk Appears Dimmed (or "Grayed Out") in the Installer.
A couple of observations, if you don't mind. I note that you are trying to install OS X 10.0. I suggest that you don't even bother to install anything lesss than 10.2.2 or later. Earlier versions of OS X were essentially Beta versions, and will not perform as well. Your iMac will support up to Panther (10.3.9) natively, and with the help of XPostFacto you can install and run Tiger (10.4x). You can purchase universal installers from applerescue.
The 8 GB rule requires that you install OS X on the first 8 GB of the HDD. This can be a problem if you intend to use OS X for most of your computing needs, as you will have to have some things on a separate partition from your OS and Applications. Apparently there is a workaround that may enable you to install OS X on a larger partition. (Hold it, a minute guys!) Take a look at this thread to seek what I am talking about. Admittedly, the thread refers to a different computer, but if the WallStreet, why not an iMac?
Good luck.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

Installing OSX on separate partition

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