Create Mac bootable disc using professional Cloning app

A bootable Disc is nothing but an optical bootable media that helps you troubleshoot several problems that lead to inaccessibility of the entire Mac system. For this, all you need to do is just boot your Mac with this media and make necessary renovations or reinstall Mac OS X if required.

While working on Mac, you might have come across many issues, a few of which even make your Mac system unable to boot. In case your Mac is unable to boot, there might be some problem in its boot volume that requires to be repaired instantly. In order to repair Mac boot volume, you must have a secondary bootable media (such as a bootable disc or a bootable drive). However, Mac Lion (OS X 10.7) and Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) users are unable to perform any such operation, as they are not shipped Mac OS X boot disc along with their Mac machines. Instead, they need to download Mac OS X installer app from online Mac App Store after purchasing it.

Even though these Mac installers are available as download packages, one cannot go online and download an installer app every time when it is required. You might be thinking that why one would have to download the same installer app every time when it is required, as he can keep this installer for henceforth usage after downloading it. However, when you download this installer app from Mac App Store, it is downloaded to the /Applications folder and it is removed automatically after being used for Mac OS X installation. In case you need this installer app again, it is no longer available. This apparently means that you would have to download it again whenever it is required.

Alternatively, a physical media (such as a bootable DVD or a USB drive) is more convenient and reliable to be used as the bootable media. Luckily, it is convenient to create Mac bootable DVD using the installer package downloaded from Mac App Store. Following is the process you lneed to track for this:

At the very first step, download the installer app to your Mac. After downloading it, go to the /Applications folder and look for this app. You can recognize it with the name Install Mac OS X <version name>.app, where version name would be Lion or Mountain Lion. When it is located, right click (or control + click) it and choose ‘Show Package Contents’ in the context menu. In this folder, navigate to Contents > Shared Support folder and look for ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file. Now, minimize this window and launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities >Disk Utility), and then drag ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file to the left pane of Disk Utility. After that, select ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file at the left and click the Burn button on the Disk Utility toolbar. When prompted, insert a blank DVD and choose or fill required options in the window that pops up, and then click Burn button. As the disc burning process is finished, a message pops up to notify the same.

Advantages of having a bootable disc

Once the bootable DVD is created, you can use this disc to boot any Mac machine that is compatible with this version of Mac OS X.

• Bootable disc facilitates repairing corrupt Mac boot volume.
• Facilitates repairing corrupt permissions of Mac boot volume
• You can even install Mac OS X with this disc.
• If the Recovery HD on your Mac Lion or Mountain Lion is not accessible, you can boot from this bootable disc.
• Eliminates the need for downloading Mac OS X installer package every time when it is required

The aforementioned process for creating a bootable Mac disc, though, is straightforward. However, you need to purchase Mac OS X installer package for this. If you download an upgraded version of Mac OS X, then you can create a bootable DVD using this process because you would not be able to boot the newer Mac with the old bootable DVD. Well, you would be glad to know that you can also create a bootable DVD from your Mac including all installed apps and data, and the process is termed as cloning.

“Hard drive cloning refers to the process that involves replicating a hard drive to another based on a certain criterion.”

Actually, this criterion includes the formal requirements for copy Mac drive. As the name of the process conveys, cloning process requires a secondary hard drive (internal or external does not matter) to be the clone drive.

• Make sure the Secondary drive is larger or at least equal as compared to the Primary drive (i.e. Mac drive or source drive).
• Both Primary and Secondary drives should be formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled).
• Both Primary and Secondary drives should be using GUID Partition Table as the Partition Map Scheme.
• The Secondary drive should be partitioned into the number of volumes equal to that on the Primary drive.

Once the aforementioned criterion is satisfied, you can initiate Mac drive cloning process. However, if you are using a new hard drive as the Secondary drive, then you will have to satisfy the aforementioned criteria first.

1. Formatting Secondary drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

As you connect the Secondary drive to your Mac, a Disk Insertion message pops up that says, “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.” This means that you have to initialize this drive. For this, click Initialize button on this message box that launches Disk Utility.

In the left pane of Disk Utility, select this (i.e. Secondary) drive and go to the Erase tab in the right pane. In the Format dropdown menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and specify a name in the Name text field, and then click Erase button to format this drive.

After formatting this drive on Mac, it is visible on the desktop with the given Name.

2. Choosing GUID Partition Table for the Secondary drive

After formatting the Secondary drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), go to the Partition tab in the right pane; make sure the Secondary drive is highlighted at the left. Now, click Options button (i.e. shown beneath the graphical view of the Secondary drive) and choose GUID Partition Table in the window that opens, and then click OK button.

Important: GUID Partition Table enables Intel-based Macs to boot from this drive, whereas Apple Partition Map enables PowerPC-based Macs to boot from this drive. Intel-based Macs can perform data read/write operations on a drive that uses Apple Partition Map, but cannot boot from it. Likewise, Power PC-based Macs can perform data read/write operations on a drive that uses GUID Partition Table, but cannot boot from it. In case you want to upgrade from a Power PC-based Mac to an Intel-based Mac or vice-versa, you will have to alter the Partition Map Scheme used for this drive.

3. Partitioning the Secondary drive

Before initiating the Mac drive cloning process, partition the Secondary drive into the number of volumes equal to that on the Primary drive. For this, click Volume Scheme drop down menu and choose the number of partitions you want to create on the Secondary drive. This partitions your Mac drive into the number of partitions you have chosen. You can also see these partitions in the graphical structure of the hard drive. 
 

For example, if you choose 5 Partitions in the Volume Scheme dropdown menu, then the Secondary drive is partitioned into 5 volumes of equal sizes that you can see in the graphical structure of the hard drive.

Therefore, click one partition and give it a name in the Name text field, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the Format dropdown menu, and specify a size (in GBs) in the Size text field beneath the Volume Information area. Likewise, give Name, Format, and Size to other Mac volumes as well. After that, click Apply button to save these changes.

Now, since the Secondary drive is ready to act as the destination drive for cloning, you can initiate the process to replicate Mac drive in the following ways:

In Disk Utility, select the Primary drive (i.e.Mac drive) in the left pane and simultaneously go to the Restore tab in the right pane. Now, drag the Primary drive to the Source field and the Secondary drive to the Destination field.

Important: If multiple hard drives are installed on your Mac, then make sure that you have chosen the right drives. Besides, since cloning process involves formatting the destination drive before copying data to it, make sure that it contains no precious file.

Apart from Disk Utility, you can also opt for a professional Mac cloning app. For this, download a professional Mac cloning app from the Internet. Based on the cloning app you choose, the steps to copy Mac drive would be changed, but the criterion remains unchanged as discussed earlier. Some advanced Mac cloning apps facilitate creating bootable DVD from your Mac boot volume, which you can use as a bootable media whenever you need to repair Mac boot volume.