How to create a Mac Boot Disk

There are many reasons why you may want to create a boot disk for OS X Lion. We show you how to create a boot disk in this guide.

The Lion installer is a standard runnable file. Due to this, you can just copy this installer package to an external hard drive or USB thumb drive for later use.

Burning a Boot Disk to a DVD

You may want to burn the installation package to DVD instead of just having it on an external hard drive. The disk image can also be burnt to a DVD to make it more portable.

The Lion download is a standard compiled package. Locate the OS X Lion installer and right-click on it. You can view the components/files that make up the installer by right clicking and then selecting the 'show package contents' option on the drop down menu that pops up.

Now you should be viewing the exposed contents/files that make up the installer. Go to Contents -> Shared Support and try to locate the file called InstallESD.dmg.

Now, drag the file onto your desktop.

Launch the Disk Utility. To locate this feature, go to Applications -> Utilities. You can also access the feature through spotlight.

Next, you will want to burn a copy of the installation code to an optical media. You can do this by clicking on 'burn' on the Disk Utility toolbar.

When asked to "insert a DVD-R and locate the disk image on your desktop", insert the DVD and direct the Utility to the image you dragged earlier to your desktop.

USB Thumb Drive Boot Disk

Another thing you can do is to pick up the Apple Lion installer package, available in Apple Stores, on USB thumb drive. This is the most efficient method to prevent all the technical steps mentioned in this post. There are a huge percentage of Mac users who prefer to upgrade via the Internet than through the USB thumb drive. Therefore, the method discussed above for creating a DVD is still very much relevant.

The USB stick version of Lion OS X has an advantage over the online download or DVD because it is easier to store and transport.

Importance of Backups

In addition to creating a boot disk, it is always a great idea to back up your data. Before updating your computer, no matter what operating system it is running on, it is always a good idea to make a complete system backup as well. When backing up, you should always make a backup of all user data, files, and folders. You can never tell or predict when something will go wrong and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, all your files are gone. Creating regular backups will keep you from having to worry about this.

To make a backup in Mac OS X, you can use the Time Machine. The Time Machine can be used to recover a corrupt Lion install as well. You just have to make sure you close and exit all applications before making backups.

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-By Dominic

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