Whether your Mac is functioning well or not, it is advisable to create a bootable emergency drive. This emergency drive as known as OS X Recovery Disk can help you reinstall the operating system, restore a backup, etc. In this article, you will be learning how to create Mac recovery hard drive.
Previously on OS X, you could have used the installation DVD to fix problems. However, the OS X Mountain Lion is sold on the App Store as a digital download with no physical disk. Creating your own bootable OS X USB drive is very easy. You can carry your emergency recovery hard drive in your pocket.
Creating an emergency USB Drive is your safest bet because the device is contained and kept separately from your mac computer. To create your Mac Recovery hard drive, follow the steps below;
- Connect a hard drive or USB drive to your mac computer. If the drive is larger than 1 GB, it is best to consider partitioning it to make a 1 GB partition for recovery.
- Now, open the Recovery Disk assistant application. You can get it on the Apple website for free.
- Next, accept the license agreement.
- Select the disk and click on “Continue”.
- Now, authenticate with your administrator username and password.
- The Recovery Disk Assistant will create the disk. The process takes up to five minutes to complete.
- Once the process is complete, click on “Quit”.
Your recovery hard drive is invisible when it’s connected to your computer, even with the Finder, it won’t display. But when a disaster comes up, the disk will be waiting for your signal.
How To Backup Mac Hard Drive In Recovery Mode
Backing up your Mac is very important, not only does it create backup folders and files, but it also provides a place for you to reboot in case your computer stops working. Or maybe you bought a new mac.
The easiest way to use and back up Mac hard drive in recovery mode is using Time Machine. Time Machine is Apple’s method for backing up your computer. It is fast, reliable, and easy to use and also keeps your device backed up routinely.
To backup your Mac hard drive in Recovery mode, use the guidelines below;
- In the Disk Drill of your computer, choose the location of lost files and click on “Search for lost data”.
- Once the data scan is complete, review the results and select files or folders you’d like to restore, and click “Recover”.
Now, here is how to restore the backup on your mac in recovery mode;
- Make sure that your backup disk is connected and restart your Mac.
- Hold down Command + R to enter the Recovery Mode.
- Then release the keys once the Apple Logo is shown on your Mac.
- Now, from the Utility Disk, select “Restore from Time Machine Backup”. Then click “Continue”.
- Enter your admin password when prompted and click Continue.
- Select the backup you’d like to restore and choose the destination of the backup.
- Finally, click on “Restore” and then restart the Mac.
There are other methods you can use to back up files on your Mac computer, but the above is the easiest and fastest way.
What To Do When Mac Hard Drive Is Full
If your mac hard drive is full, you can free up space using any of the options below;
- Empty your computer trash and downloads folder.
- Delete old backups
- Uninstall apps you no longer use.
- Search and remove duplicate files from your mac.
- Clean up the system files that are not useful.
- Upload or export the large files on your computer.
You can free up storage space on your mac computer by optimizing your storage. With the options above, you can free up space on your device.
Conclusion
There you have the guidelines on how to create mac recovery hard drive. Additionally, we included the steps to use and restore backup on Mac and what to do when the mac is full. We hope you find the guidelines in this article helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you Create a recovery drive?
Yes, you can create a recovery drive on your computer.
Is A recovery drive the same as a boot disk?
Well, a recovery drive and a boot disk are different things. A recovery drive is a copy of the operating system, while a boot drive is an operating system.
How many times can you use a recovery drive?
You can use your recovery drive as many times as you could possibly need to reset the factory to its original configuration.
Can I create a recovery drive from another computer?
You can make a recovery disk using a CD/DVD disk or USB flash drive on Windows from another computer.
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