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Reinstall OS from recovery partition to new HD?

M

macmesser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
921
198
Long Island, NY USA
My Macbook 09 is having some drive trouble and I will need to reformat and do a clean install. Unfortunately I can't find the system software disk which came with it and I'm wondering if I can boot from the recovery partition, do a clean install on an external HD, then boot from the external HD and install the OS on the original HD after reformatting it. Is this possible?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
macmesser said:
My Macbook 09 is having some drive trouble and I will need to reformat and do a clean install. Unfortunately I can't find the system software disk which came with it
Click to expand...
You can order replacement discs for your model by calling Apple (800-767-2775 in the US).
macmesser said:
I'm wondering if I can boot from the recovery partition, do a clean install on an external HD, then boot from the external HD and install the OS on the original HD after reformatting it. Is this possible?
Click to expand...
You don't need to use an external drive to do a clean install.

OS X: About OS X Recovery
How to Clean Install OS X Mountain Lion
Apple - OS X Recovery restores your Mac with a few clicks.
Hands on with Mountain Lion's OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
macmesser said:
My Macbook 09 is having some drive trouble and I will need to reformat and do a clean install. Unfortunately I can't find the system software disk which came with it and I'm wondering if I can boot from the recovery partition, do a clean install on an external HD, then boot from the external HD and install the OS on the original HD after reformatting it. Is this possible?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

From your comment about the recovery partition, it sounds like you have upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion? If that is the case just redownload the OS from the App Store then use this free app with a 8GB USB key to make an OS installer. You can do the same thing by making a 8GB partition on your external drive and using that as the OS installer.

You can option key boot to the installer then erase the drive and reinstall. When you erase the drive make sure you select the drive name (like Seagate 1TB or whatever) and not just Macintosh HD.

If you have not upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion, you don't have a Recovery HD partition and you can ignore everything I just said. :D
 
M

macmesser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
921
198
Long Island, NY USA
GGJstudios said:
You can order replacement discs for your model by calling Apple (800-767-2775 in the US).

You don't need to use an external drive to do a clean install.

OS X: About OS X Recovery
How to Clean Install OS X Mountain Lion
Apple - OS X Recovery restores your Mac with a few clicks.
Hands on with Mountain Lion's OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery
Click to expand...

Thanks for the excellent information and the links. This should work for me as I'm running 10.7.4.

----------
Weaselboy said:
From your comment about the recovery partition, it sounds like you have upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion? If that is the case just redownload the OS from the App Store then use this free app with a 8GB USB key to make an OS installer. You can do the same thing by making a 8GB partition on your external drive and using that as the OS installer.

You can option key boot to the installer then erase the drive and reinstall. When you erase the drive make sure you select the drive name (like Seagate 1TB or whatever) and not just Macintosh HD.

If you have not upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion, you don't have a Recovery HD partition and you can ignore everything I just said. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will definitely try what you suggest. My boot partition might be a problem as it will not mount and can't be verified or repaired by disk utility or any of the others I've tried. However, the recovery partition will boot so maybe this will work if I can get an internet connection after booting.
 
M

macmesser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
921
198
Long Island, NY USA
Weaselboy said:
From your comment about the recovery partition, it sounds like you have upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion? If that is the case just redownload the OS from the App Store then use this free app with a 8GB USB key to make an OS installer. You can do the same thing by making a 8GB partition on your external drive and using that as the OS installer.

You can option key boot to the installer then erase the drive and reinstall. When you erase the drive make sure you select the drive name (like Seagate 1TB or whatever) and not just Macintosh HD.

If you have not upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion, you don't have a Recovery HD partition and you can ignore everything I just said. :D
Click to expand...

Trying this now but I'm not sure I understand the process you describe. I've booted from the recovery partition and connected to my LAN. I downloaded Lion Diskmaker to my Mac Pro and copied it to an 8GB thumb drive. Since I have booted from the recovery partition (the startup volume does not mount) there is no way for me to copy it to the MacBooks HD. I'm thinking I need to do a reinstall, copy the Lion Diskmaker app to my HD and run it, choosing the USB thumb drive to create the installer. Burning the DVD would be a very similar process chosen from within Lion Diskmaker. Basically correct?
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
macmesser said:
Trying this now but I'm not sure I understand the process you describe. I've booted from the recovery partition and connected to my LAN. I downloaded Lion Diskmaker to my Mac Pro and copied it to an 8GB thumb drive. Since I have booted from the recovery partition (the startup volume does not mount) there is no way for me to copy it to the MacBooks HD. I'm thinking I need to do a reinstall, copy the Lion Diskmaker app to my HD and run it, choosing the USB thumb drive to create the installer. Burning the DVD would be a very similar process chosen from within Lion Diskmaker. Basically correct?
Click to expand...

Yep... you are a bit sideways there. :)

Here is what you do. Open the App Store app and look in your purchases list for Lion or Mountain Lion (whichever you are on) and click to redownload. That will put the 4.7GB installer in your Applications folder. Stop right there and do not proceed with the install. Now run the Lion Diskmaker app you downloaded earlier and it will find the 4.7GB installer and make your USB key installer frm the 8GB USB key you have plugged in.

Okay... so now you have successfully made your installer key. Restart the computer with the USB key still in and hold down the option key as it starts. This will bring up a boot menu. Choose the USB key as the boot source.

Once the installer screen comes up run Disk Utility and select the drive name (like Seagate 500GB or whatever) and erase the disk as Mac OS Extended format. Quit Disk Utility and click install. Have a beer while you wait for it to finish.

As implied, this will wipe all data and apps on your drive and give you a clean start... so make sure you have backed up any data first.
 
M

macmesser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
921
198
Long Island, NY USA
Weaselboy said:
Yep... you are a bit sideways there. :)

Here is what you do. Open the App Store app and look in your purchases list for Lion or Mountain Lion (whichever you are on) and click to redownload. That will put the 4.7GB installer in your Applications folder. Stop right there and do not proceed with the install. Now run the Lion Diskmaker app you downloaded earlier and it will find the 4.7GB installer and make your USB key installer frm the 8GB USB key you have plugged in.

Okay... so now you have successfully made your installer key. Restart the computer with the USB key still in and hold down the option key as it starts. This will bring up a boot menu. Choose the USB key as the boot source.

Once the installer screen comes up run Disk Utility and select the drive name (like Seagate 500GB or whatever) and erase the disk as Mac OS Extended format. Quit Disk Utility and click install. Have a beer while you wait for it to finish.

As implied, this will wipe all data and apps on your drive and give you a clean start... so make sure you have backed up any data first.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Becoming clear. Is there a way to get to the app store and to run Lion Diskmaker from the recovery partition? I'm using two computers; my Mac Pro to download Lion Diskmaker and my MacBook for fixing. The MacBook only boots from the recovery partition, although the boot partition is structurally OK. I'm in the middle of an install download now so I don't want to cancel unless I can continue as you describe. I can always repeat the process booting from my main partition to make the installer key after my in-progress install completes.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
macmesser said:
Thanks. Becoming clear. Is there a way to get to the app store and to run Lion Diskmaker from the recovery partition? I'm using two computers; my Mac Pro to download Lion Diskmaker and my MacBook for fixing. The MacBook only boots from the recovery partition, although the boot partition is structurally OK. I'm in the middle of an install download now so I don't want to cancel unless I can continue as you describe. I can always repeat the process booting from my main partition to make the installer key after my in-progress install completes.
Click to expand...

When you run the installer, it deletes itself after the install is done.

What OS version do you have on the Pro? If you have at least 10.6.8 you can just run the AppStore app from there and login under the same AppleID and DL the installer app on the Pro then use the Lion Disk Maker app on the pro to make the USB key. Then move the key over to the MacBook and boot to it.
 
M

macmesser

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
921
198
Long Island, NY USA
Weaselboy said:
When you run the installer, it deletes itself after the install is done.

What OS version do you have on the Pro? If you have at least 10.6.8 you can just run the AppStore app from there and login under the same AppleID and DL the installer app on the Pro then use the Lion Disk Maker app on the pro to make the USB key. Then move the key over to the MacBook and boot to it.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I do have 10.6.8 on the Pro. The MacBook chimed and the installation just started. LOL! I will create the key on my Mac Pro and use it on my MacBook after dinner as I don't know if it's a good idea to cancel an ongoing install. I didn't realize the AppStore would allow the Mac Pro to download the Lion installer. Should go smoothly from here on in.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
macmesser said:
Thanks! I do have 10.6.8 on the Pro. The MacBook chimed and the installation just started. LOL! I will create the key on my Mac Pro and use it on my MacBook after dinner as I don't know if it's a good idea to cancel an ongoing install. I didn't realize the AppStore would allow the Mac Pro to download the Lion installer. Should go smoothly from here on in.
Click to expand...

Yep... you should be good. I agree, don't cancel that install midway. Cheers!
 
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