Installing Mac OS X from a USB Drive

Now that we have the Mac App Store for software, iTunes for media and "iCloud" for storage/backup, the need for an optical drive has been significantly reduced. In fact, I believe Apple will soon stop shipping Mac's with an integrated Super Dive, instead offering slimmer designs or increased storage and battery life. Although this seems like a bold move, Apple have a history of pushing the boundaries when it comes to aggressively moving away from legacy components.

So how can you best prepare for this impending change? Well, it's time to dig out all your old discs and start making digital backups. For the most part this is an easy process, simply rip any media and copy any software images. However, operating systems can be a little more complicated, as they often require the disc to boot for installation.

Thankfully Mac OS X has a quick and simple system to create a USB Drive backup, which can be used on any Mac to restore your system.

First, you will need an 8GB USB 2.0 Drive and an original Mac OS X Installation Disc.

Simply insert the Disc and USB drive into a Mac running Mac OS X and open "Disk Utility". From here select the USB Drive from the left pane and click the "Restore" tab.

Next, drag the "Mac OS X Install DVD" Image from the left pane to the blank "Source" field. Do the same with the USB Drive image to the blank "Destination field" (see the example below).

Finally, make sure "Erase destination" is ticked and click "Restore". This process will take a couple of minutes and the new USB drive should automatically mount once complete.

You are now ready to use your new USB Drive to install / restore Mac OS X. To do this, restart your Mac (with the USB Drive inserted) and hold the "option key" during boot-up. You will then be presented with the option to boot from the USB Drive.