This was written for Intel Mac... it may not work on PPC Mac.

This guide will help you make a bootable USB / FireWire drive with recovery tools and the ability to install your bundled Mac OS X from the external drive.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any lost files, damaged hardware, or any other damage resulting from the use of this tutorial; back up any important files just in case. Use of this guide is at your own discretion.

Part 1

1. Get the required items:

2. Download the tools:

3. Install the tools:

4. Make the USB/Firewire drive bootable:

Note: This involves formatting... make sure you have backup of all files on another drive.

  1. Plug in the external drive and turn it on
  2. Open Disk Utility
  3. Select the drive you have inserted in the list on the left side
    (Select the actual device not the mounted volume)
  4. Select the Partition tab
  5. Click the Options... button
  6. Select GUID Partition Table and click OK
  7. Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and click Partition
  8. Once it is all done the external volume should now be partitioned correctly for booting

5. Install PortableOSX:

  1. Run PortableOSX from where you extracted it.
  2. Insert your Mac OS X Install DVD
    (Disc 1 if you got a 2 disc set)
  3. Drag the mounted volume you want to install to the PortableOSXwindow
  4. press the return key
  5. Drag the mounted Mac OS X Install DVD to the PortableOSX window
  6. press the return key
  7. Let the file copy finish
    (its gonna take a while)
  8. Restart and hold Option to select and boot to your USB/Firewire drive
    (First boot will be slow)

6. Configure your Rescue / Install Drive:

  1. Do updates to make sure the OS X install is safe and stable
  2. Install any drivers you need
    (Mighty Mouse, Cordless Keyboard)
  3. Create DMG files of your Mac OS X Install dvd/dvds
    (Only needed if you want to install from your external drive)
  4. Create Aliases of the DMG file/files on the desktop
  5. Copy any apps from your internal mac drive to the Applications folder on the external drive
    (it is recommended that you copy a browser over.. handy for troubleshooting)
  6. Customize the the install to the way you like it
    (I put the most common utilities and such on my dock)

7. Installing Mac OS X from USB/FireWire drive:

  1. Mount the Mac OS X Install DVD dmg file
    (both if you got the 2 DVD set)
  2. Open the mounted Mac OS X Install DVD
    (Disc 1 if you got 2 DVD set)
  3. Browse to /System/Installation/Packages on the DVD
  4. Open OSInstall.mpkg to start the install when you need it
    (Lets hope you never need it.. but at least it will be faster than the DVD/DVDs)

Part 2

1. Get the required items:

2. Download the tools:

3. Using SuperDuper!:

  1. Plug in the external drive and turn it on
  2. Drag SuperDuper! from the mounted DMG to the Applications on your bootable drive
  3. Make a folder labeled Backup Images in the root of your backup drive
  4. Restart your Mac and hold the Option key and select your USB/FireWire drive
  5. Browse to the Applications folder and open SuperDuper!
  6. Select your boot drive in the Copy dropdown
  7. In the to drop down select Disk Image...
  8. Browse to the Backup Images folder you made in the root of the backup drive
  9. Type a name for the backup in the Save As: field
  10. Click the Save button
  11. Select the backup script of your choice in the using field
  12. Click the Options...button and configure any options that you prefer to set
  13. Click Copy Now
  14. Enter your admin password

If I made any mistakes please send a message and let me know.


Use of this article in whole or part is forbidden by law. Should you wish to use this article please contact the author for permission.

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