6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard

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BUSINESS > COMPUTER SKILLS

How to Create a Bootable USB Drive

With OS X Snow Leopard
by Andrew Kunesh 16 Jul 2014
Di culty: Intermediate Length: Long Languages: English

Computer Skills Snow Leopard OS X USB Drives Disk Utility

Even though OS X Snow Leopard has been around for quite a few years, it remains
a favorite for some Mac users with legacy software support. Additionally, some
older Macs stopped receiving updates after Snow Leopard, forcing IT
departments to continue support.

Because of this, it's important to keep a bootable Snow Leopard install disk
around if you have a Snow Leopard machine or manage them. However, there is
no automatic way to create this drive on your Mac, so I'll show you how to do so in
this tutorial.

Note: Before starting this tutorial, ensure that you have a USB drive with at least
8GB of storage as well as a Snow Leopard retail DVD or disk image. Grey DVDs
that were included with a Mac at the time of purchase cannot be used to make

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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard

USB boot drives as they do not include drivers for Macs other than the computer it
was shipped with.

Creating a Snow Leopard USB Boot Drive

Using Disk Utility
Start by launchingDisk Utilityon the Mac. To do this, you can either search for the
application in Spotlight or nd it in theApplications folder. Locate the USB drive
on the left-hand side of the window and click on its name, not its partition.

Partitioning and restoring the USB drive.

Format the USB drive

Click thePartitiontab
Under thePartition Layoutheader click on the1 Partition option in the drop-
down menu
Click theFormat drop-down menu and selectMac OS Extended (Journaled).

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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard

Bear in mind that this will erase all data from the USB drive, so backup any
important les before proceeding.

To format the USB drive drive, click theApplybutton in the lower right-hand
corner of the Disk Utility window.

Snow Leopard DVD or Disk Image

Locate a Snow Leopard disk image or DVD on the Mac
If you're using a disk image, mount it to the desktop
In the Disk Utility window, click theRestoretab in the USB drive's menu

Restoring the Mac OS X install DVD to the USB drive.

In the center of the window you'll see two boxes: one labeledSourceand
anotherDestination.

Drag-and-drop the USB drive's partition into theDestinationbox

Drag-and-droptheMac OS X Install Drivedisk into theSourcebox
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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard

At the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and click theRestorebutton

Disk Utility will restore the OS X Install DVD or disk image to the USB drive; this
process may take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on how quick
the Mac is.

Using The Snow Leopard USB Drive

Now that you've created a Snow Leopard USB drive, let's use it to install OS X
Snow Leopard as well as access Terminal, Disk Utility, and other OS X utilities.

Power down the Mac and reboot while holding theOptionkey

Select theOS X Install DVDfrom the boot menu using the arrow keys on the
Mac's keyboard
Select the language you'd like to use when prompted

Installing OS X Snow Leopard

To install OS X Snow Leopard from the USB drive, you'll need to reformat the
Mac's hard drive. To do this, look towards the top of the screen and click
onUtilitiesfrom the top menu and then clickDisk Utilityfrom the drop-down
menu.

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Formatting the Mac's hard drive using Disk Utility.

Formatting The Mac's Hard Drive

Click onthe Mac's hard drive name

Click theErasetab
SelectMac OS Extended (Journaled)from theFormatdrop-down menu
Name the drive whatever you'd like

Please note that all data on the Mac's hard drive will be erased, so backup all
important les before proceeding.

Press theErasebutton to format the Mac's hard drive

Starting The Snow Leopard Installer

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Quit Disk Utility by pressingCommand-Qon the keyboard

Press theContinuebutton
From the center of the window, select the Mac's hard drive
Press the Installbutton

OS X Snow Leopard may take a bit of time to install depending on the Mac's
hardware. Upon completion, the Mac will restart and prompt you to create an
account.

Disk Utilities on the Snow Leopard USB Drive

Additionally, you can access Disk Utility, Terminal, Safari (to access Apple help
articles. not general browsing) and other Mac utilities from the Snow Leopard
USB drive.

Boot the Mac to the USB drive using the steps shown above and click on
theUtilitiesbutton from the top bar. You can access all available utilities from this
drop-down menu.

It's nice to have these utilities available to use from the USB drive, especially Disk
Utility.For example, if you believe your hard drive has died or is corrupted, you can
boot your Mac from the USB drive and use Disk Utility to check the the hard
drive's SMART status and repair said drive.

OS X Snow Leopard USB Drive, Completed

In this tutorial, I've shown you how to create a bootable OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
USB drive. You can now use the USB drive to upgrade, maintain and restore Macs
to OS X 10.6.

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Andrew Kunesh
Andrew Kunesh is a writer, IT professional, student, cyclist and coffee
enthusiast from Chicago.

andrewkunesh

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37 Comments Tuts+ Hub

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curta_suppelex 2 years ago

After I power down and reboot my MacBook Pro, and then select the Boot Disc, the
computer just freezes. Any tips for this?
11 Reply Share

Saanu Mohammed a month ago

Hello Guys, I did everything as told in the tutorial but when I start to install the Mac OS X
Snow Leopard it told me that "Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer" and I try
everything in my powers but still won't let me.
Reply Share

Michael Scott 7 months ago

You say, "Note: Before starting this tutorial, ensure that you have a USB
drive with at least 8GB of storage as well as a Snow Leopard retail DVD
or disk image"......but I don't HAVE a copy of the retail disk(s) because I uploaded
online.
What do I do now?
I can't believe that I can't make a bootable USB stick on a RUNNING Macbook that
simply needs a few repairs made to the OS.
Thanks for any help.
Reply Share
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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard

Ed Galdamez a year ago

Mr. IT professional forgot to mention the different schema for booting up ppc an or intel
based macs
Reply Share

Emerald Mines! a year ago

You dont NEED to erase the disk. I did not erase the disk and completed the install
Reply Share

Thomas Tomchak a year ago

Awesome. I needed this refresher, it's been so long since I've done this. Decided to
rebuild an old MacPro 1,1 and this did the trick. Thanks!
Reply Share

Luc Marleau a year ago

Hi Guys, it will not let me drag the mounted disk (using an image le) to the source box,
any suggestions?
Reply Share

Justin a year ago

What if your running el capitan? How would you do this? it doesn't have the same disk
utility as older versions of OSX thanks for the help in advance.
Reply Share

HenryCT > Justin a year ago

There is a restore in ElCapitans disk utility under Edit.
Reply Share

Pedro Solorzano a year ago

Hi, I have El Capitan in a new Mac but trying to x an old Mac with Snow Leopard. There
is no such restore option in Disk Utils of El Capitan, how can I create the bootable? I
have the dmg for Snow Leopard.. Thanks
Reply Share

> Pedro Solorzano a year ago

you have to do it on an older mac or via terminal
Reply Share

Pedro Solorzano >

a year ago
Great thanks!! Can you please let me know how can I do it with the
terminal??
Reply Share

> Pedro Solorzano a year ago

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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard
> Pedro Solorzano a year ago

https://support.apple.com/e... yw
Reply Share

Pedro Solorzano >

a year ago
there is no create install media for snow leopard, that was the
issue in the rst place. Thanks anyway for your help!
Reply Share

Pedro Solorzano > Pedro Solorzano a year ago

any one? please help, I dont have the restore option in Disk Utilities, is there a
way to do this from command line?
Reply Share

dave-0 > Pedro Solorzano a year ago

the restore option in el capitan is hidden in the edit menu. select the
partition and in the menu go to edit -> restore
1 Reply Share

Emerald Mines! > Pedro Solorzano a year ago

Its better off you just get the 10.9 version of disk utility
El captians removed all of it features
Reply Share

John B a year ago

Make sure when formatting the USB Flash Drive: In the step where you are partitioning
the USB Drive Select Partition 1, then at the bottom of the box you will see ( + and -) to
the right of these select the options and choose the GUID option before continuing to
apply the settings. This is the only way your Mac will fully run the USB Drive correctly as
a boot disk. -This step isn't listed here. I had to do everything all over again...
Reply Share

Amit Yadav > John B 9 months ago

I tried doing this but still its asking me that you can not install this verizon on your
system. its not even allowing me to start the disk utility on this meachine.
Reply Share

S E 2 years ago
I tried this 3 times. All times when I tried to boot from the USB ash drive, The computer
(already running Snow Leopard) just gave me three low pitched tones, then a pause, and
the three tones again, over and over. Tried with 2 different USB drives (an 8 GB and a 16
GB). I needed this because a friends ofce has six computers all running 10.6.8. One of
the iMacs has a faulty CD drive so I cannot repair her disc nor can I boot from a Tech
Tool Pro CD. I was, however, able to successfully make a self booting USB drive with the
Tech Tool Pro Disc that I own. All of this was done with a MacBook Pro which came with
Snow Leopard installed.
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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard installed.
Reply Share

Anthony baca > S E 2 years ago

Why not use an External USB Drive, I am in the same boat with you (CD drive
does not work)
Reply Share

Dstaart 2 years ago

@Bedders

I had the same problem. You need to install the version of Snow leopard WITHOUT any
update's. Have you tried that?
Reply Share

Bedders 2 years ago

Ive got OS Leopard 10.5.8 and I wanted o upgrade it to snow Leopard and I have
checked my macbook conguration and all is good..... but when I boot my USB with OS
Snow Leopard installation on it... it will say I can not instal this OS onto this computer.....
and I dont know what else I can do I have tried everything...
Can anyone please help me???
Reply Share

R.J. MacReady 2 years ago

it always freezes when I tried installing OSX using a usb drive
Reply Share

Anwar Yunes 2 years ago

Thank you!!
Reply Share

Hind Al-merekhi 2 years ago

Excellent tutorial :) Thank you very much!
Reply Share

Sonja Froneman 2 years ago

Brilliant! Thanks so much!
Reply Share

Felipe Andrs 2 years ago

This works perfectly!
Thanks :D
Reply Share

Matthew Smith 2 years ago

Macbook Air won't read the system install dongle... it starts
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6/16/2017 How to Create a Bootable USB Drive With OS X Snow Leopard
Macbook Air won't read the system install dongle... it starts to but then the apple turns
into a no-go sign and it hangs there. Suggestions appreciated! Thanks
Reply Share

Scott Onigman 2 years ago

Is there a way to do this without erasing the content of the hard drive?
Reply Share

dshaw > Scott Onigman 2 years ago

no u have to partition the disk...partition=delete everything (start from new)
Reply Share

Raf Rizk 3 years ago

thanks
Reply Share

miguelitosss SS 3 years ago

Great, works ne, thanks :)
Reply Share

Bob 2 years ago

I get this error when trying to install by USB : You need to restart your computer. Hold
down the power button until it turns off, then press the power button again. Can I have
help to x my problem
Reply Share

Emerald Mines! > Bob a year ago

that install dvd youve got doesent work properly
Reply Share

alison 2 years ago

I had to disconnect hard drive and boot fron usb. I've tried disk utilities and option at
start up but can't nd usb as boot option so when I put hard drive back in, I can't repair;
it just white screens again. Any advice pls?
Reply Share

Amit Yadav > alison 9 months ago

i am getting everything to reach to the install, but when i start the install from
boot able disk then its gives me a error.
I am not sure if i have to upgrade my 10.5 to a some version for me to work on
installing the 10.6 version
Reply Share

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