Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Need Help, USB Boot drive w/o OSX installer?

D

dnadrifter

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
42
0
Hi All,

I am getting a new MBP on Friday and will be putting replacing the stock HD with a SSD for the OS and applications. There will be no data settings or anything I need to migrate. I just want to put the OS as it came on the stock drive onto the new SSD.

After researching, it seems I can only make a full bootable USB thumbdrive if I have downloaded the installer from the app store. But being this is a brand new computer I didn't have to download the ML OSX installer. Is this correct?

I know I can use internet recovery, but if I don't want to because of speed or just like the idea of actually having a separate bootable drive (like the old DVDs) are there any other options?

Am I missing something....hard to believe it can be this difficult....maybe internet recovery is the way to go.

Please help.
 
dnadrifter said:
Hi All,

I am getting a new MBP on Friday and will be putting replacing the stock HD with a SSD for the OS and applications. There will be no data settings or anything I need to migrate. I just want to put the OS as it came on the stock drive onto the new SSD.

After researching, it seems I can only make a full bootable USB thumbdrive if I have downloaded the installer from the app store. But being this is a brand new computer I didn't have to download the ML OSX installer. Is this correct?

I know I can use internet recovery, but if I don't want to because of speed or just like the idea of actually having a separate bootable drive (like the old DVDs) are there any other options?

Am I missing something....hard to believe it can be this difficult....maybe internet recovery is the way to go.

Please help.
Click to expand...

If you have an external case for the HD it can be done much easier.

Put the SSD in the external, then use Carbon Copy Cloner and make a bootable drive, copy the internal to the SSD, if this is finished get the HD out and put the SSD inside the MBP and boot, that's it.
 
justperry said:
If you have an external case for the HD it can be done much easier.

Put the SSD in the external, then use Carbon Copy Cloner and make a bootable drive, copy the internal to the SSD, if this is finished get the HD out and put the SSD inside the MBP and boot, that's it.
Click to expand...

I do have an external enclosure. I have super duper which I think will do this as well....if not I could use the trial of CCC.

I guess I was thinking that somehow, doing a fresh install was better or safer than hoping everything got copied correctly? Maybe not??
 
dnadrifter said:
I do have an external enclosure. I have super duper which I think will do this as well....if not I could use the trial of CCC.

I guess I was thinking that somehow, doing a fresh install was better or safer than hoping everything got copied correctly? Maybe not??
Click to expand...

If you just started with a new MBP I would not worry and just make a bootable OS copy on the SSD, SuperDuper or CCC will both do the job, CCC is free up to version 3.4.6 and can still be found online.
 
Okay. That maybe is the best way then. Curious though, if I wanted to make a bootable USB, is there an easy way to do it in my situation?
 
dnadrifter said:
I do have an external enclosure. I have super duper which I think will do this as well....if not I could use the trial of CCC.

I guess I was thinking that somehow, doing a fresh install was better or safer than hoping everything got copied correctly? Maybe not??
Click to expand...

Superduper does not clone over the Recovery HD, so you would be better off with CCC. Like you said, the 30 day trial of the current CCC version is not crippled and will do the trick for you.

dnadrifter said:
Okay. That maybe is the best way then. Curious though, if I wanted to make a bootable USB, is there an easy way to do it in my situation?
Click to expand...

Like you mentioned earlier, you can't get ML from the App Store since you did not buy it there... but you can use this process to grab the full installer. Then use this free app along with a 8GB USB key to make your installer.
 
niteflyr said:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Scroll down to section on "Installing OS X on an external storage device".
Click to expand...

Won't this only work if I purchases the OS from the app store. If I didn't there won't be a ML OSX items there to push a button for, will there?

----------

If I purchased ML for my Mac Pro can I just make a bootable drive from that using my Mac Pro and then use it for the MBP?

Will I be missing anything like iLife, etc that may have come with the the MBP, but didn't come with the ML upgrade for my Mac Pro?
 
Internet recovery works well. You'll need a wired connection (ethernet) to recover a blank HD as there is no wifi software yet.

The Mac pro will make a bootable drive, but it may or may not install on your MBP.

Or this:

"use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."

If you can't find it then try this:

"If you completed your installation of OS X, your installer may have been removed after your successful first login to OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion. Mac App Store's Purchases page should show Install OS X as being "Installed", and disallow its download, when viewed from a computer running OS X.

To redownload the installer on a computer running OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion, press and hold the Option key while you click the Purchases tab. If the button to the right of the Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion item doesn't change to "Install" and allow you to download OS X, use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."
 
Last edited:
niteflyr said:
Or this:

"use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."

If you can't find it then try this:

"If you completed your installation of OS X, your installer may have been removed after your successful first login to OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion. Mac App Store's Purchases page should show Install OS X as being "Installed", and disallow its download, when viewed from a computer running OS X.

To redownload the installer on a computer running OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion, press and hold the Option key while you click the Purchases tab. If the button to the right of the Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion item doesn't change to "Install" and allow you to download OS X, use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."
Click to expand...

Is this on the mac pro or the new MBP. I guess I didnt think it would work on the new MBP.

I am now leaning toward just using internet recovery via ethernet. It seems this is apples preferred route since it is built in. I can wait a few hours I guess.
 
dnadrifter said:
Is this on the mac pro or the new MBP. I guess I didnt think it would work on the new MBP.

I am now leaning toward just using internet recovery via ethernet. It seems this is apples preferred route since it is built in. I can wait a few hours I guess.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant the new MBP. If you have a good internet connection speed, IR doesn't really take all that long. Not hours.
 
niteflyr said:
Internet recovery works well. You'll need a wired connection (ethernet) to recover a blank HD as there is no wifi software yet.

The Mac pro will make a bootable drive, but it may or may not install on your MBP.

Or this:

"use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."

If you can't find it then try this:

"If you completed your installation of OS X, your installer may have been removed after your successful first login to OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion. Mac App Store's Purchases page should show Install OS X as being "Installed", and disallow its download, when viewed from a computer running OS X.

To redownload the installer on a computer running OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion, press and hold the Option key while you click the Purchases tab. If the button to the right of the Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion item doesn't change to "Install" and allow you to download OS X, use Spotlight to search for "Install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion" on your computer."
Click to expand...

This doesn't work as there is no OSX in purchases even if the option key is held. In addition, spotlight search doesn't turn up an installer.

I can make a recovery OSX on an USB drive using recovery assistant, but it is only 1 GB so it isn't the full OS. I can boot from the USB drive but my guess is that it is going to access the internet to get the full OS. When I hit option on startup I get options of using the regular hard drive, OSX recovery (in the firmware I guess) and OSX recovery (USB I created).

I will probably just choose one of the recoveries when I put the SSD in and let it and the internet do its thing overnight. I don't get my new SSD until tomorrow anyway due to the way shipping worked out around the holidays, so I probably wouldn't have enough time to do the entire thing in the evening after work anyway.
 
dnadrifter said:
This doesn't work as there is no OSX in purchases even if the option key is held. In addition, spotlight search doesn't turn up an installer.
Click to expand...

Command + r will bring up Internet recovery if your HDD is blank. It will download the version of OSX that the computer shipped with.
 
runebinder said:
Ah right. Well enterprise shouldn't be a factor in home use, and it's pointless using WEP, may as well leave your network unsecured.
Click to expand...

My Verizon installed router is WEP I see. I guess that was my issue. I had to connect an ethernet cable to the router to get IR to work for me. How is WEP insecure and should I switch to WPA/WPA2?
 
niteflyr said:
My Verizon installed router is WEP I see. I guess that was my issue. I had to connect an ethernet cable to the router to get IR to work for me. How is WEP insecure and should I switch to WPA/WPA2?
Click to expand...

WEP is the oldest of the security types and can be broken in seconds (do a Google for how to crack WEP and you'll see a huge amount of tutorial articles and videos showing you how to do it).

Every network device has an IP address including your router, to find out what it is go to System Preferences> Network> Advanced> TCP/IP. The router address should look something like 192.168.1.1.

Type this number into your browser address bar and hit enter, you should then get asked for a username and password for the router. If Verison have supplied the router it is going to be a generic one, you should be able to find it through Google.

Once in you can change the settings, what it looks like depends on the router but it should have a section for wireless and usually the option to change the security type is in there.

This should be of some more specific help: http://www22.verizon.com/support/re...rnet/networking/setup/questionsone/123890.htm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back