Reinstalling OSX without a CD drive

Hey my CD drive is broken and I need to archive and install (or just reinstall since it's Snow Leopard) any suggestions on how to go about doing that?
I could buy a new CD drive too - would a third party one like by LG work just fine?
Thanks so much.

• External DVD reader via USB or FireWire
• Another Mac on the local network (wireless or Ethernet) via DVD drive sharing
• Another Mac (with snow leopard already installed) via FireWire Target disk mode
• a replacement DVD reader. Iif you deal with a Mac-centic vendor, they will make sure you get one that is Mac friendly and will read directly with Mac OS X. Otherwise, maybe not. Before 2009 these are IDE/ATA drives, 2009 and later are SATA drives.
All the ones that shipped in Macs will READ dual-Layer DVDs, even if they cannot write them. "Full Retail" Snow Leopard ships on a Dual Layer DVD.

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Reinstalling OSX on new hard drive without reinstalling other programs?

Hi,
I've been having numerous problems with Logic Pro for a while, especially with core audio overload messages with more than a few tracks of VSL (large samples).
I was advised to run Onyx, which told me my main system drive needed repair. I ran Disk Utility from the Boot disc, but this could not repair the drive.
I then tried Diskwarrior with a similar result - DW reported that it had set up the new directory but could not remove the old one due to a disk problem. When I look at the system directory it looks the same though.
I still have the problems with Logic, so I guess it's time to replace the system hard drive. I'd be grateful for help with how to go about it, in particular with avoiding reinstalling Logic and all the plugins I've installed with it if possible as this would be a massive pain.
I have a second internal drive for audio which has a reasonable amount of space on it which can be used. This is a new drive as the old hard disk also became damaged - is there any event which could have led to both disks being damaged? Or is it just coincidence?
Any help gratefully received. I'm going nuts trying to fix this problem.
Thanks
Jamie

Hi Jamie,
Two possibilities I see for what you want...
1. I've used that DiskWarrior Alias to actually clone the whole works to another drive using Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html
Though it may work to use...
Carbon copy cloner...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
But that may wipe things off the other drive if you don't know how to avoid it.
2. Install OSX fresh on the other Drive, then 1st time it boots up see if Migration Assistant can pull all your stuff over from the 1st Drive.

Satellite L300-19U - How can I reinstall Vista without working DVD drive?

Hello
I have a big problem with my notebook Toshiba Satellite L300-19U.
I did installed 1month ago Windows XP on it and now is my DVD-ROM broken, it didn't read DVD just CD's. So I can't use my Vista recovery DVD to reinstall Vista. Did anyone had the same problem?
I heard there is a partition (hiden) where the recovery is on it. How I can find this partition? And if I find her, can I boot directly from the partition to recover Vista? If no,is there a other chance to recover it?
Please help me to reinstall the Vista recovery partition!

Hi!
The hidden partition that you mean is a Windows Vista feature but you cant restore Vista with this partition. The point is that the partition is also deleted because you have installed Windows XP on it.
Restoring Vista without recovery disk is only possible if Vista is still installed on it. Then you can go in the advanced boot menu and select repair my computer. Then you can choose the Toshiba HDD recovery option. This is a feature that restores Vista from the second partition.
But as I said only possible with installed Vista.
Just one question: Why do you dont go to an authorized service provider? If your notebook is still under warranty you should get a new CD/DVD drive for free. Normally it should only take few days and then you are able to install Vista again! :)

Reinstall OSX and Reformat Hard Drive

I have an older MacBook Pro that I am trying to clean up and sell. I cannot find the original CDs that came with the computer that have the OSX install and applications on them. What I do have is a Snow Leopard install DVD but I cannot figure out how to reformat the hard drive with Snow Leopard. I'm only figuring out how to do an upgrade install which does not refomrat the hard drive.
Will it be possible for me to do reformat the drive without those original CDs? What if I upgrade to Mavericks?
Thanks!

Thanks for help. I'm looking at the Disk Utility option now after putting the Snow Leopard disk in. I'm a bit confused... If I choose erase disk, wouldn't that totally wipe the hard drive and the current OSX on the machine and NOT install a new version? Would I then need to boot from the OSX disk after erasing the hard drive to install Leopard?

How Can I Reinstall OSX Without Messing Up Bootcamp?

I have my iMac harddrive partitioned with a Windows and Mountain Lion drive, and the M.L partition has begun to slow down and it's also got quite cluttered and so I want to do a fresh install. How do I do this without messing up the Windows drive because last time i tried to do it I could not boot into the Windows drive afterwards and had to reformat the drive.
I have the Mountain Lion installer on a thumb drive.
Thanks.

cool, i'll use buy it then)
so basically:
1. create new partition from macosx
2. install boot runner
3. reboot
3. launch linux cd
4. when installing linux should be no problem creating swap partition and others coz linux rock

How do I uninstall and reinstall PS5 without a CD Drive?

I just got a new computer and did a migration from one computer to another but it didn't install correctly. I need to reinstall but I don't have a CD port. Where do I go to download and use my serial code again?

Downloads available:
Suites and Programs: CC 2014 | CC | CS6 | CS5.5 | CS5 | CS4 | CS3
Acrobat: XI, X | 9,8 | 9 standard
Premiere Elements: 13 | 12 | 11, 10 | 9, 8, 7
Photoshop Elements: 13 |12 | 11, 10 | 9,8,7
Lightroom: 5.7.1| 5 | 4 | 3
Captivate: 8 | 7 | 6 | 5
Contribute: CS5 | CS4, CS3
Download and installation help for Adobe links
Download and installation help for Prodesigntools links are listed on most linked pages. They are critical; especially steps 1, 2 and 3. If you click a link that does not have those steps listed, open a second window using the Lightroom 3 link to see those 'Important Instructions'.

Reinstalling OSX without media

I don't need to yet as only just bought the machine. But unlike my previous macpro my new imac has no CD drive or media.
I read through the community and cannot find the info. Can anyone point me to the directions to clean install. I want to know before I hit an issue.
On a sepearte issue, I was thinking of formatting my old laptop, do I need to download lion then mountain lion or can I skip lion? I have the original discs for this machine... or can I follow a quicker route?
Steve L

You can skip Lion and go from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion if you old laptop meets requirements for Mountain Lion.
Computer Compatibility - Apple
More options for reinstallation.
Bootable Drive - Install
Bootable Drive - Install (2)
Bootable Drive DVD or USB Flash Drive – Lion Diskmaker

Reinstalling osx without power adaptor

i went in to the apple store and had them do an erase-install. the store closed before it could finish, so i just took it home to finish it myself. when i got home though, i did not have my power adaptor with me, so i finished the installation on battery power. is this bad?

It is not a good practice to do so. Should your battery lose sufficient power, your OS installation my halt and become corrupted.
If you installing any substantial update, is is a good idea to have both an 'unbreakable' power source (such as your power adapter plugged into an uninterruptible power supply) and a relatively 'unbreakable' network link (such as an ethernet cable plugged into your router or gateway, which is itself plugged into an uninterruptible power supply, right?)

Reinstalling lion without wiping drive

i need to reinstall lion without wiping my drive because i haven't made a backup yet. how do i do this?
thanks.
carl

Can't you first make the backup?
Reinstalling Lion
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. Alterhatively, 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.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

How backup User and reinstall osx only

My MacBook Pro (06 / 2009) running OSX 10.9 Mavericks didnt want to open completly this morning. 6 hrs later i havnt fix it. Reading and trying.
-- How to make a backup now ?
I want to save some création of mine. Last backup was 1 Month old on timemachine on external USB drive.
-- How to reinstall OSX without deleting my User files and maybe my applications Adobe ?
I have Osx 10.9 Mavericks on machine from free Apple update download. But computer came with 10.5.7 when order from Apple. Also bought 10.6 Snow Léopard on CD.
-- What i have done so far
Reboot. Reset. Pram. Safe mode.
Single user #reboot
Single user # /sbin/fsck -FN
Restart from installation CD to disk utility to verify disk
Results : nothing
Disk0s2: i/o error
Invalid sibling link. The volume needs to ne repaired.

I suspect it's a bad idea to boot from your Snow Léopard disk (even with the accent) to try to repair Mavericks.
You could see if your hard drive will mount on another Mac in Target mode: How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode , then you could backup your créations.
I would not backup anything more than your essential documents. If you restore system files, you will probably restore the problem.
If you haven't already: Boot into your recovery partition (restart, hold down ⌘R until you see the Apple logo), and use Disk Utility to repair your hard drive. Repair permissions too while you're there. OS X: About OS X Recovery
then restart.
if that doesn't work, you could try the recovery partition again and reinstall Mavericks over your current installation.
If you can't boot into your recovery partition, then try to boot into internet recovery: Hands on with Mountain Lion's OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery | Macworld , and use Disk Utility to repair your HD. similarly, if that doesn't work, you could try to erase your HD from internet recovery and reinstall Mavericks.
if that won't work, you could try TechTool, which can occasionally fix a problem that Disk Utility can't. Techtool Pro 7
if that doesn't work, then your HD is probably failing and needs to be replaced.

Reinstall OSX Partition?

Can I reinstall OSX without effecting my Windows installation?

I believe you can as long as you don't have any errors from your windows installation. If you have applecare you can download techtool deluxe. Just add your serial number from you mac and you can download it. It will give you all info about your mac if anything is wrong. From experience. My bootcamp installation was corrupt and i had to delete my windows partition and had to reinstall my os x after combining os x with the deleted partition space of bootcamp. Do you use time machine? Well it may not matter you may want a fresh start. Just pop in the mac os x install disk and check. That is your best bet. It'll let you know if it can or not.
Message was edited by: Apollo Kid

Reinstalling lion WITOUT wiping the drive

i need to reinstall lion without wiping the drive because i have no back up. how do i do this?
thanks
carl

Lion? You posted in the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard forum... ??

Reinstall OSX Mountain Lion but still access Backup

Mountain Lion has become unstable on my Solid State Harddrive (Corsair CSSD F120GB) and I'm plannng to erase and start from scratch.   Had problem before with doing this and then being unable to access my Time Machine backup.    Permissions issue.   I'm aware that I don't need to erase but after two years, I'd like to have a clean slate and try something new.   Just don't want to lose access to my docs and pictures.
Plan right now is to boot into recovery mode (option key during boot), go into Disk Util and choose erase. Then back into Reinstal OSX.   Same hard drive but fresh copy of OSX.   Will I be able to access backup in Time Machine?

No reason why not if you use the same username and password for the admin account.
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
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: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion 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.
However, Time Machine will consider this a new device so it will want to make a new backup. Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help getting Time Machine to continue using the old backup.

Reinstall osx server 10.3 on an xserve G5 without vga card.

Reinstall osx server 10.3 on an xserve G5 without vga card. How can i software restore the server without a vga card?

"How can i software restore the server "
If you mean restore as in reloading an existing config from a disk image. If you have a bootable diskimage on an external drive of your xserve, and if you have another Mac you may be able to boot the xserve in targeted disk mode and just use disk utility on the second Mac to restore the image from the external drive to the internal drive of the xserve. Restore without erase works the best for this...sometimes you will get a copy error on the last file...not sure what the error really means...but it does not seem to be a real issue.

My 2009 MacBook Pro keeps restarting even after I wiped the hard drive and reinstalled OSX.

About a month ago, my laptop started to randomly turn off: I would be using either Chrome, Photoshop (the free CS2 version available from Adobe's website) or Powerpoint, and the screen would go blank. I would then have to hold the power button for a while until the little light at the front of the computer would flicker and it would restart. I brought it to the Mac Store where they tested it and said it looked fine. They suggested I erase my hard drive and reinstall OSX as a precaution.
Fast forward a month, I have been very busy with work and hadn't been able to fix this problem. It wasn't that bad, only once every couple of days, sometimes more, sometimes less, I could work despite this problem.
Then, I installed OSX Mavericks. The installation started in the morning, but, like an idiot, I paused it to go to work. Later on, I completed the installation, it looked fine, but then all day long my laptop would suddenly restart and go to a grey screen that said in multiple languages "Your laptop restarted because of a problem, press any button to continue the restart." A computer technician friend of mine checked it out and said it was probably due to the badly installed OSX and suggested that I erase my hard drive and reinstall OSX.
I backed up all my files, erased the hard drive and reinstalled OSX. Everything looked fine.
Then it happened again.
Any ideas of why this is happening?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Reinstalling OSX without a CD drive

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