
- #MAC INTERNET RECOVERY HOW TO#
- #MAC INTERNET RECOVERY MAC OS#
- #MAC INTERNET RECOVERY INSTALL#
- #MAC INTERNET RECOVERY DOWNLOAD#
So not everyone will get this useful feature. In addition, if your drive has a non-standard partition scheme-for example, if it’s part of a RAID, or if you partitioned the drive using Boot Camp Assistant and then tweaked the drive’s partitions later-the installer won’t be able to create Recovery HD.
#MAC INTERNET RECOVERY MAC OS#
For starters, as Apple explains, the drive must be formatted with a GUID partition scheme and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, and it must be at least 13GB in size. (If the drive was previously running Lion and already has a Recovery HD partition, the Mountain Lion installer simply updates the partition’s contents.) I say “attempts” because the installer is not always successful.
#MAC INTERNET RECOVERY INSTALL#
When you install Mountain Lion on a drive, the installer automatically attempts to repartition that drive to create the invisible Recovery HD partition. Why you might not have a Recovery HD partition Separate from-but closely related to-OS X Recovery is a feature called Internet Recovery, which provides similar features even if your Mac’s drive is damaged or has been replaced. Also, because the Recovery HD volume is read-only, you can’t, say, copy your favorite third-party disk utility onto it to make that utility available in recovery mode. In other words, recovery mode won’t save you from every problem, and it’s no substitute for having a reliable, regularly updated backup. Of course, because the Recovery HD partition is actually part of your Mac’s internal drive or SSD, if that drive is having hardware problems, or partition-map problems, the recovery partition itself may be inaccessible. In fact, because Recovery HD is a separate partition-and one that’s invisible even to Disk Utility-recovery mode would be available at startup even if you were to erase your Mac’s startup drive.

The idea behind recovery mode is that if you ever have problems with your Mac’s startup volume, you can boot from Recovery HD and perform some basic troubleshooting procedures without the need for an OS X installation DVD or thumb drive, or a separate bootable drive. (It was called Lion Recovery under Lion.) When you install Mountain Lion or Lion, the installer creates an invisible, bootable, 650MB partition-a portion of a drive the operating system treats as a separate volume-on your startup drive called Recovery HD that includes a few essential utilities for fixing problems, restoring files, browsing the Web, and even reinstalling the operating system.

If the seller is too new or feedback to low, look elsewhere even if the price is good.A major feature that debuted in Lion (OS X 10.7) and continues in Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) is one I hope you’ll never need to use: recovery mode, officially called OS X Recovery. Just make sure you you deal with a reputable US based seller with good feedback. I have used this option before when I had to restore a Macbook, Internet speed was slightly above dial up and the closest Apple store was in the next State. This is not an official recommendation but sometimes when you are in a pinch and Options 1 and 2 are simply not feasible, it's nice to know that there's another option. Where is the name of your USB Flash Drive (don't use spaces - it makes it easier)Īfter about 10 minutes you will have a USB Flash drive to install OS X on your Mac.
#MAC INTERNET RECOVERY HOW TO#
There are many guides on how to create the USB installer so I won't belabor that point here, but the command you will need to execute in Terminal is as follows: sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/ -applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app -nointeraction

This involves using another Mac from a friend, family member or acquaintance.
#MAC INTERNET RECOVERY DOWNLOAD#
Option 2: Download and Make a USB Installer For example, if you had Mavericks before and want to go to El Capitan, you will have to recover to Mavericks then download the El Capitan Installer. Note: Internet Recovery will only install the last version you had, it won't upgrade. If you are close to an Apple Store you can go into one and download the latest OS (if you have a working Mac) or run Internet Recovery using the Apple Network. Without a recovery partition and (for whatever reason) your Internet Recovery just won't work, you are down to about 3 options to get OS X installed: Option 1: Install (or Recovery) at an Apple Store
