Install Mac Os El Capitan On External Drive

1. Install Mac Os El Capitan On External Drive Using
2. How To Download El Capitan
3. Mac Os El Capitan Download
4. Mac Os El Capitan 10.11 Download

However, if you have already installed Windows on one hard disk and you want to install Mac OS X on another, then just ignore Steps 3-4 of this tutorial. The process for dual-booting OS X El Capitan with Windows is pretty similar to the process for dual-booting other versions of OS X. Download OS X El Capitan. In your Mac/existing Hackintosh/virtual machine running Mac OS X, open the Mac App Store app and download the latest version of OS X El Capitan. This is a 8 GB download, so it's probably going to take a while. Once the Mac App Store app finishes downloading OS X El Capitan, an update window will pop up. This video shows you how to upgrade your MacBook Pro to a Solid State Drive SSD and goes through the process of how to create a bootable USB with OS X El Cap.

So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.

A list of all Mac OS X versions

We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:

• Uninstall large unused apps
• Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
• Locate the biggest files on your computer:

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.

How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store

If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:

1. Click the App Store icon.
2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
3. Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
4. Click Download.

This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8

The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”

If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.

After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
2. Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
3. Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
4. Select external drive as a source.
5. Enter your Apple ID.

Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.

1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
2. Connect the external drive.
3. Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.

With the release of El Capitan, Apple took the opportunity to give Disk Utility a facelift. You can still use the software to format a startup drive—it’s similar to the steps in the previous version.

Install Mac Os El Capitan On External Drive Using

This how-to goes through the steps of formatting a startup drive using Disk Utility 15 in El Capitan. If you’re using an older version of Disk Utility, the steps are here.

1. Connect your drive

How To Download El Capitan

To format an external storage device, connect it to one of the ports on your Mac. Turn the drive on, and make sure it appears in the Finder.

If you’ve already installed El Capitan and you want to format you Mac’s internal drive, you can boot into Recovery Mode to format the drive. To boot into Recovery mode, start up your Mac and hold down Command-R. You should see a window labeled OS X Utilities. (Note: if you format your Mac’s internal drive, this will erase all of the data on the drive, including your apps, file, and the operating system.)

2. Open Disk Utility

You’ll use OS X’s Disk Utility app to format the drive. Locate Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities and open it.

If you booted into Recovery mode, select Disk Utility at the bottom of the window (see below).

3. Select the storage device in Disk Utility

Disk Utility’s left pane shows the storage devices connected to your Mac. Underneath each device are the drive’s partitions. Select the device you want to format. Then click the Erase button at the top.

If the Erase button is dimmed, it means the drive you want to format is in use and you need to boot off another drive or into Recovery mode, which was described in step 1.

4. Name and Format

A dialog box will appear. You need to enter a name for your storage device.

Click the pop-up menu for Format, and you can select one of the formats. The default selection is OS X Extended (Journaled); if you want a layer of security, you can go with OS X Extended (Journaled, Encrypted), which will encrypt your storage device. (If you don’t see the Encrypted options, that’s probably because the drive you are formatting is currently not using a GUID Partition Map. Select OS X Extended (Journaled), proceed to step 5, and then come back to step 4, repeating the step but with an Encrypted option selected.)

The “Case-sensitive” formats allow for file names with capital letters to be different from lowercase letters. So, for example, three files named FILE, File, and file can exist in the same folder. You probably don’t need to use a Case-sensitive format.

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MS-DOS and ExFat are PC formats. Since we’re formatting a Mac startup drive, you can ignore these two.

5. Scheme

There’s a third selection you need to make called Scheme. For an Intel-based Mac running El Capitan, select GUID Partition Map. There are two other options you can ignore: Master Boot Record is for Windows, and Apple Partition Map is for PowerPC-based Macs (remember those?).

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When you click Erase, Disk Utility will erase the data, reformat the storage device, and mount the drive on your desktop. Click Erase when you’re ready to proceed. After a few minutes, your storage device will be ready for you to install El Capitan.