How to Make a Bootable Mac OS X Lion USB Install Key [Video]
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Posted July 21, 2011 at 9:15pm by iClarified
These are instructions on how to make a bootable Mac OS X Lion USB install key.
Step One Connect a 8GB or larger USB key to your computer then launch the Mac App Store from your dock.
Step Two Click the Purchased tab at top of the window the hold down the Option key and click the Purchased tab again.
**If you have not yet installed Lion then you can follow these instructions to buy it and begin downloading.
Step Three Press the Install button for OS X Lion and wait while the operating system downloads. If the LaunchPad appears press the Escape key.
Step Four Once the download has completed the Mac OS X Lion Installer will launch. Select Quit from the Install Mac OS X Lion to exit the installer.
Step Five Click to launch a new Finder window from your dock.
Step Six Navigate to the Applications folder and right click the new "Install Mac OS X Lion" icon then select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu.
Step Seven Double click the Contents folder.
Step Eight Then double click the SharedSupport folder
Step Nine Locate the InstallESD.dmg file then open a new Finder window by pressing Command + N on your keyboard.
Step Ten Navigate to your Applications:Utilities folder then double click Disk Utility to launch the application
Step Eleven Select your USB thumb drive from the list on the left and click the Partition tab.
Step Twelve Set the Partition Layout to 1 Partition, set the Name to OS X Lion, and set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then click the Options button.
Step Thirteen Choose GUID Partition Table from the popup window then click the OK button.
Step Fourteen Next click the Apply button to save your changes.
When asked to confirm click the Partition button.
Step Fifteen Once the USB drive has been partitioned correctly, select the new OS X Lion partition from the list on the left and click the Restore tab.
Step Sixteen Drag the InstallESD.dmg file we located earlier from the Finder window into the Source field. Then drag the OS X Lion partition from the list on the left into the Destination field.
Step Seventeen Click the Restore button then click the Erase button from the confirmation popup to begin building your install key.
Another popup will appear asking you to log in. Enter your administrative username and password then click OK.
Step Eighteen When the restore is complete the Mac OS X Lion USB Install Key will be mounted and it will be ready to use.
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Hi,
As Apple have decided not to give with new laptops USB thumb drives for installation of OS X Lion (as they did with Snow Leopard), since people on the go might not have access to high speed internet when the system crashes, plenty of tutorials have surfaced about "How to Make a Bootable Mac OS X Lion USB Install Key"
Such as
https://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=16149
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389178,00.asp
These all assume you have upgraded to Lion from Snow Leopard thus purchasing the Lion on the App Store.
Any ideas what people who have purchased brand new Mabooks do? As the system comes preloaded with the OS X Lion and it's not considered purchased on the App store.
I think Apple's new policy to charge customers $69 for this thumb drive is wrong and outrageous since the price of the laptop includes a license for the OS!