Reformat disk

I'm going to reformat my hard disk from scratch and do not want to use Time Machine, How can i re install creative Cloud, Photoshop and Lightroom?

Sign OUT of your Cloud account to release your activation, then install exactly the same way you did the first time
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/faq.html
http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/install-apps.html to install or uninstall
http://forums.adobe.com/community/download_install_setup/creative_cloud_faq
What it is http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-desktop.html
Cloud Getting Started https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud.html
-Install, update or UNinstall, and launch after installing
Oh, and BTW... Mac Time Machine and/or Migration do not work, since they miss the hidden registration file(s) which results in having to uninstall and reinstall anyway

Similar Messages

Flashing folder now disk utility cannot repair...backup files and reformat disk?

Hey,
my MacBook pro recently froze on the spinning wheel while I was using the Internet, I had to hold down the power button to shut down
Once I restarted the machine I was left on a grey screen with a flashing folder sign..I read all the articles on this that I could find online and followed the procedures until the only option left was to use disk utility from the install dvd and try to diagnose and repair the problem.
I used disk utility and found it could not repar the disk named. Disk0s2 ..which I have also read is a bad sign to start with...the log said this..
                           Verify and repair volume disk0s2
                            Checking journaled HFS plus volume
                            Invalid b-tree node size
                            The volume. Could not be verified completely
                       Disk utility could not repair this disk..backup files, reformat disk and restore backed up files
I need some advice as to that's what I should do and if there's a way for me to save my files on the mac....and more importantly how to reformat the disk properly..I've tried the YouTube tutorials and couldn't get what I was after.
Thanks to anyone who can help me with this
Thank you again for reading this
Dan

Your going to need to read the Data Recovery tip I created here
Your going to need to buy DataRescue $99 or similar to read the 1's and 0's of your files and restore them to another drive while booted from another Mac or a drive with OS X on it.
Have fun.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3172
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Reformatted disk but restore didn't work properly, had to reinstall system and now having major kext errors

Basically I had to reformat my hard drive, and in order to do that I copied all the files from it to a disk image which I then used to restore through disk utility.
Now this worked as far as individual files go, but the OS for some reason didn't copy properly. After restoring from the image, the machine started up with an infinite pinwheel and apple logo, not going anywhere, so I eventually just reinstalled snow leopard from the original installer. This is fine as far as the system itself goes, but I'm having some very annoying issues - for one, some things which I had registered have reverted to trial versions (probably just a question of moving some preference files from the backup which got overwritten, shouldn't be too hard) but far more seriously, a bunch of kext extensions aren't loading, including one which is needed to run my external wifi antenna (the internal one is banjaxed, won't connect to any network unless you're sitting beside the router at all times).
Here's the console log. Why are these kexts not working, when they worked perfectly before the reformat? Still struggling to understand why copying the entire root dir to a disk image and then restoring from that image did not, as expected, yield an identical system, and why I even had to reinstall after doing this. But more urgently, how do I get these extensions working again? Using airport isn't sustainable, I can't sit on the stairs every time I want to use the internet
12/06/2013 11:16:57
com.apple.kextd[12]
Failed to load /System/Library/Extensions/RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext - (libkern/kext) authentication failure (file ownership/permissions).
12/06/2013 11:16:57
com.apple.kextd[12]
Load com.Ralink.driver.RT2870USBWirelessDriver failed; removing personalities.
12/06/2013 11:16:58
kernel
Previous Shutdown Cause: 5
12/06/2013 11:16:58
kernel
Warning - kext com.apple.driver.AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel* and com.apple.kpi.* components; use only one style.
12/06/2013 11:16:58
kernel
Warning - kext com.apple.driver.AppleIntelGMA950 has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel* and com.apple.kpi.* components; use only one style.
12/06/2013 11:16:58
kernel
Atheros: mac 12.2 phy 8.1 radio 12.0
12/06/2013 11:16:58
bootlog[40]
BOOT_TIME: 1371032202 0
12/06/2013 11:17:03
blued[41]
Apple Bluetooth daemon started
12/06/2013 11:17:03
com.apple.SecurityServer[27]
Session 0x5fbff962 created
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Failed to load /System/Library/Extensions/BoomDevice.kext - (libkern/kext) authentication failure (file ownership/permissions).
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Load com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice failed; removing personalities.
12/06/2013 11:17:04
mDNSResponder[30]
mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-212.1 (Jul 24 2009 22:34:12) starting
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.usbmuxd[23]
usbmuxd-296.3 on Jul 25 2012 at 00:28:37, running 64 bit
12/06/2013 11:17:04
/System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow[31]
Login Window Application Started
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Failed to load /System/Library/Extensions/RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext - (libkern/kext) authentication failure (file ownership/permissions).
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Load com.Ralink.driver.RT2870USBWirelessDriver failed; removing personalities.
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Failed to load /System/Library/Extensions/BoomDevice.kext - (libkern/kext) authentication failure (file ownership/permissions).
12/06/2013 11:17:04
com.apple.kextd[12]
Load com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice failed; removing personalities.
As you can guess, Ralink USB Wireless Driver is the one I'm having trouble with, although the other error you see, BoomDevice, is one of the apps which had been registered but has reverted to trial. The errors in console made me think it was a permissions issue, but repairing permissions, despite taking half an hour and modifying tons of files, did not resolve this issue.
How do I fix this, and also out of interest, why did it happen in the first place? I imagined formatting and restoring would be far, far less complicated than this O_o
EDIT: Should point out that obviously going from 10.6.8, the reinstall reverted to 10.6, and I haven't been able to upgrade since I can't get this internet kext working. Shouldn't be a problem though since the wireless driver was for 10.6.x...

Still struggling to understand why copying the entire root dir to a disk image and then restoring from that image did not, as expected, yield an identical system, and why I even had to reinstall after doing this.
Because there is a lot more going on under the hood than merely copying files.
The only way to do what you want is to use cloning software like Carbon Copy Cloner.
My advice is to rescue your personal files to a regular non-TimeMachine external drive, Zero erase the ENTIRE drive and install OS X fresh and update, then your programs from original sources and files from backup.
Then, make a bootable clone and you can copy that as many times as you want and each one is bootable.
Most commonly used backup methods
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Is my HD Dead? Reformat Disk Utility Error: secure disk erase failed with the error could not open disk.

Hi,
Fed up with seeing the spinning beach ball I decided to reformat my MacBook Pro...
After backing up everything on an external hard drive I put in the OSX install DVD, restarted the machine and held down 'C'.
I followed the install prcedure, clicking next a few times etc...
I then went into Utilities > Disk Utility. I chose 7-Pass to erase the Macintosh HD and set it off erasing.
I checked the process an hour in and message on screen read:
Secure disk erase failed with the error:
could not open disk
The internal hard drive no longer exists in the disk utility so I cant retry erasing it.
The only thing that appears in disk utility is the OSX install DVD.
I can't even shut down the mac as everything under the apple tab is greyed out!
I'm guessing this means my hard drive is broken right?
If anyone has any other ideas of what to try I'd really appreciate that.
How do I turn the machine off?
If my hard drive is gone then should I consider getting an SSD drive?
Any recommendations for such a drive would be great.
Hope you can help!

Did you partition the drive?
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must 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 Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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.

Why do I need to Reformat Disk for TM?

Have a new 24" IMAC, running 10.5.2. I have a hard drive that still has 400-500gigs left. When I plugged it in the first time to move images onto my IMAC, Time Machine gave me a warning that in order to use it as the back up drive I would have to reformat to extended and thus lose all my stored files. Why is that and is there a way around it? Why couldn't it just utilize existing space?
Then I figured I'd just buy another drive for Time Machine to back up. But I don't want to leave that drive connected all the time. I'd rather just plug it in and let it back up when it recognizes the disk. Will this work or is TM going to get "confused" with multiple disks being plugged and unplugged (I usually daisy chain them as well_?

question 1:
If your external drive is large enough, you can partition the drive.
To partition the external drive, what you need to do is open Disk Utility, select the external drive and go to partition. Select the size of the partition you want and make sure that it is formated correctly. Then you can have Time Machine use only one partition without erasing any of your data on the other.
Question 2:
Time Machine won't get confused and the backups are only working when the drive is connected. Besides, chaining the disks won't do anything more than make your iMac have to work a little bit harder to transfer the data from the port to the external drive. It's faster to have both connected to two different ports than chaining them.

Reformatted disk but nothing appears in Mac OS X Installer

Hello,
Please help. I am stuck in a situation where I have erased the disk on my iBook G3 but the Mac OS 10.2 Installer doesn't recognize any destination disk or volume on the iBook so I can't reinstall the Mac OS.
Background: I formerly had Mac OS 10.3.9 installed on my iBook, which worked fine for many months. I then began having repeated startup issues that neither Disk Utility, Norton Disk Doctor, nor Disk Warrior could fully fix. The startup screen either had flashing folder/question mark, or Apple logo with spinning gear wheel that never stopped, or circle with line through it. Sometimes I would get thrown into the Unix command line window.
After all suggested solutions failed I tried re-installing Panther from the update CDs but it wouldn't work because it couldn't find an earlier version of the Mac OS on the destination disk. I then tried an Archive and Install with the original Jaguar CDs that came with the iBook. This didn't work and I still had a startup screen showing an Apple logo with spinning gear wheel that never stops.
I then did a backup of all my important data by starting up in Classic (somehow that still worked) and copying the data over a wireless network to my desktop G3.
I then started up the iBook with the Jaguar CD and used the DU on the CD to erase the iBook hard drive and tried to install a new copy of Jaguar but when the Installer gets to the Select Destination Disk screen there are no disks to select from.
I have tried running DU numerous times to repair the Disk but it reports "Underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)"
Please help.
Thanks,
Bob

Deb,
Thank you very much for jumping in to help me. So far things have not gone well but I'm still trying.
To answer your question first, I don't (or didn't) have any partitions on the iBook. Before I erased the disk I was able to access Classic by starting up with the Mac 9.2.1 install disk and then selecting Mac 9.2.2 (Classic) from the startup contol panel.However, I am able to run the WipeInfo, Disk Warrior and DU from their respective bootable CDs.
I ran the cycle you suggested multiple times and found that WipeInfo didn't do anything, but eventually multiple reformatting with DU and multiple times with DW brought me to a clean disk that could be seen by the 10.2 Installer. The installer ran for over an hour and it seemed that everything was being installed from Disk 1 and then almost at the end of the progress bar the Installer quit with a message about not being able to finish the installation.
So I tried again but found the disk was once again not recognized by the Installer. so I did more erasing/reformating, running disk repair on DU, and trying to build a new directory with DW. At first I kept getting the message in DW "unexpected error while writing the replacement directory" and it would say I neded to try again. With DU I got messages about "invalid B-tree node size, catalog fiile entry not found for extent, keys out of order", etc etc..-- all different errors at different trys
Somehow by going back and forth between DU and DW I finally got a clean disk recognized by the Installer and tried again. This time the Installer completed the Installation and said Mac OS successfully installed. But then it automatically rebooted and booted up with the Disk 1 install screen again. I never had a prompt to insert Disk 2. When I ejected the Disk 1 install CD and tried to reboot the machine it went back to the flashing folder/question mark screen.
I was ready to give up but tried the cycle once again. At first the errors seemed really scary-- neither DU or DW could even read the disk - but after multiple reformatting, repair, and rebuilding I seem to have a disk that can be seen by the Installer on the Select Destination screen.
I haven't tried another Installation attempt because I wanted to first get your advice. Shouldn't the computer be giving me a prompt to insert Disk 2 of 3 at some point? What option should I choose for the installation? Should it be "install Mac OS X for the first time"? Do I need to partition the iBook with an 8 GB partition? The iBook was never partitioned before but maybe a re-installation requires a partition? don't know.
Is all this just a sign that my hard drive is totally toast? Funny thing is that I also ran the Apple Hardware Test CD that came with the iBook and my machine passes all the hardware tests, including mass storage.
Thanks,
Bob

Reformat Disk to Run Boot Camp. How?

I am trying to load boot camp and partition my hard drive but everytime I set it to partition I get this warning:
"The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved.
Back up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again."
I have tried to do this by using the Erase function in Disk Utility but the options to select format are dulled so I can't click them. I have repaired the Disk permitions and have tried to repair the disk but this options is also dulled and can't be selected. I have tried doing this in both Safe Mode and in normal mode But non of this works.
Looking on the discussion board it has been suggested that you need to restart the computer with the installer DVD and doing that way. I don't know if I've missed something or if I just have a mental black because I haven't had to do this in a while, but how do you do this reformat?
Any help would be appreciated
Kim

That's the thing I've restarted the computer with the install disk and I don't get any options to choose languages. All that happens is that the file for the install disk opens as though I were to install Lepard. I've done this and opened disk utility but Volume Format is still dulled in the Erase tab.
Is this what you meant? Or do I have to restart while holding down a key or something? I'm really sorry to sound neady but everything I try is not working would you be able to make the instructions step by step and very specific.
Kim

Won't let me reformat disk

I am trying to wipe the Hard disk clean, but when I go to diskutility, the erase area is grayed out and won't let me do a complete reformat. Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
Mark

Whilst it may not be your fault I am afraid it appears that your post is on a forum which is not the best for your OS. It will save the time of the unpaid volunteers here, and may resolve your issue faster, if you could examine the list below and see if there is a more appropriate forum to which you could direct your question.
OS X 10.9 Mavericks
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
OS X 10.7 Lion
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
OS X 10.5 Leopard
OS X 10.4 Tiger
OS X 10.3 and earlier
OS 9, OS 8 & System 7
OS X Technologies
OS X Server
iPad
iPhone
iPod
Other

How to set up without reformatting disk?

Hi There, When I try to run Boo Camp Assistant on my Macbook 10.5.6 It tells me that it "The disk cannot be partitioned because some files could not be moved...use Disk utility to formate as a single Mac OS extended (Journaled) Volume, restore your information to the disk and try Boot Camp Assistant again" I'm nervous about doing that. Is there any safer work around? Thank you, Joanna.

Hi,
if you trust iDefrag http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php enough, you might wanna buy.
But the backup/restore approach is usually cheaper and IMHO more trusty.
Regards
Stefan

How to reformat disk "like new" ("unformat" a disk)?

I used SoftRAID 5 to format an external disk. (I'm not sure why I did this, but there you are). The disk is mounted on an eSATA docking station with a Thunderbolt-eSATA converter. It turns out that formatting an unformatted disk using SoftRAID results in a disk that is subtly different than one formatted by Disk Utility. Some of these differences are only noticeable with 3d party apps, but two that can be seen with Apple's programs are
The SoftRAID Icon is shown next to the disk in Disk Utility in place of the standard orange disk icon.
Time Machine does not recognize this disk as an ejectable disk, and assumes it should back it up unless you tell it otherwise. (Time Machine's default behavior appears to be to try to back up all "internal" disks and no "external" disks unless told otherwise.
It is actually issues with the 3-party apps that are bothering me, but describing them would just be a distraction in this question. FWIW, I see exactly the same issues with a Thunderbolt RAID that I formatted through SoftRAID (items 1 and 2 above apply).
I can't seem to get rid of the SoftRAID low-level format using Disk Utility—no matter what options I choose, the SoftRAID icon is retained.
I think what I would like to do is return the disk to the state it was in when I bought it—an "unformatted" disk—and then format it using Disk Utility. Any thoughts on how to achieve this? I tried using the diskutil command line interface, but it didn't seem to help.

I tried a recipe supplied by the developers of SoftRAID, but it didn't work. I was finally able to get rid of the SoftRAID format by adding this disk to a RAID (using Disk Utility) and then erasing it. There were a lot of steps in between, some of which were very confusing, but the problem is solved in case anyone else needs to do this.

IMac won't launch, disk utility says I cannot repair my Macintosh HD, back up files, reformat the disk and restore backed up files. How do I do all that? Help!

iMac won't start up, disk utility tried to repair disk it shows "keys out of order" error message in red and advises me to back up files, reformat disk and restore backed up files. I have no idea how to back up and restore etc... Help! Please!

Get an external drive of sufficient capacity to hold everything on your internal drive.
Partition and format the external drive.
Drive Partition and Format
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 Apply 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.
Clone your internal drive to the external drive.
Clone Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     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 backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Boot from the external drive.
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
      "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the external disk icon from which you want to boot.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
Reformat the internal drive and install OS X.
Install or Reinstall Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
      the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.
Open Startup Disk preferences and set the internal drive as the startup volume, then click on the Restart button.
Restore your data from your external drive backup.

Apps won't launch after disk reformat

I recently deactivated my Creative Cloud apps on my primary machine because I needed reformat the startup partition. After the reformat everytime I try to launch an app I'm asked to sign in, after the thank you screen the app will not launch (with the exception of Photoshop). Everything works fine on my secondary laptop.
I'm on OSX 10.6.8. Also, I use Retrospect to clone my system back to the reformatted disk. I'm suspicious that that might be the cause, but I'm also worried about making things worse if I try to reinstall a new system.

Installing a new system fixed the problem

HT4718 No 1. I can not activate Filevault : FileVault can't be turned on for the disk "Macintosh HD". Some disk formats don't support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted

I have TWO PROBLEMS
No 1. I can not activate FileVault. It displyas as follows :
FileVault can’t be turned on for the disk “Macintosh HD”.
Some disk formats don’t support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted disk.
No 2. I can not activate Find My Mac service. It displays as follows :
Find My Mac requires a recovery partition
Some configurations, such as software or hardware RAID, do not support a recovery partition and can't be used with find my mac

Restart holding down the option/alt key and see if you have a Recovery Volume.
Recovery Partition – Recreate Without Reinstalling
Recovery Partition – Recreate Without Reinstalling (Requires Installer)
Recovery Drive – Restore Missing
Recovery Disk Assistant

Time Machine - I had to reformat its external disk - how do I start TM again?

MacBook Pro - 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
OS X 10.6.8
Time Machine backups to directly-connected external disk - La Cie 2 TB
I got Time Machine error messages saying it could not complete the backup. I followed advice at the Pondini TM website. I turned TM off. The problem was corruption on the external drive. Disk Utility could not fix it - invalid sibling link. I decided to abandon the existing backups and did disk erase, writing zeros to it. Took two attempts, the second attempt running for 15-odd hours. The disk has got one partition, GUID, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) - this is stuff I don't really understand.
I can't see how to tell Time Machine to forget about the old backups and start up again from scratch on the newly reformatted disk. I can't find this task explicitly covered in the Pondini website.

When you erased the data that was reflected in System Preferences > Time Machine.
Glad your backup is working. You might want to consider adding a clone backup to your drive. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection.
Both of these applications can be used to create a clone.
SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/
CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

FileVault 2 Disk Format?

I have a 1.8 GHz Intel Core I7 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD running OS X 10.9.1 (recently re-imaged). My hard drive has a single partition formatted in Mac OS (Extended Journaled).
When I tried to encrypt the SSD using FileVault, I received the following error message:
FileVault can’t be turned on for the disk “Macintosh HD”.
Some disk formats don’t support the recovery partition required by encryption. To use encryption, reinstall this version of Mac OS X on a reformatted disk.
All help greatly appreciated!!

Thanks, Kappy! Carbon Copy Cloner did the trick. Although you were reserved in your answer (e.g., "you might give this a try"), Carbon Copy Cloner CAN retrospectively create a Recovery HD partition on a volume AS LONG AS YOU HAVE ANOTHER VOLUME WITH A VALID Recovery HD partition. (At least I think this is a limitation.)
Background: I had an external drive with my system and user directories. I wanted to copy that to the internal drive of a new Mac. To do that I used SuperDuper!. However, when I went to FileVault 2 the internal drive, it told me it couldn't, which I realized right away was because the SuperDuper! (a) clobbered the existing Recovery HD partition on the internal drive when SuperDuper! erased that drive and (b) didn't clone a replacement Recovery HD partition from the external drive.
Thanks to your tip, I used Carbon Copy Cloner. I booted up from the external drive, launched Carbon Copy Cloner, went to Window → Disk Center, selected the internal drive and then the Recovery HD tab. I clicked on "Create…" and it worked! (I could then boot up from the internal drive and successfully turn on FileVault 2.)
I never would have guessed that CCC had this capability, so tons of thanks to you for taking the time to post your suggestion.

Reformat disk

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