Now your bootable USB disk is ready. Remove it from the system. Step 7: Checking your newly created bootable USB disk. Once you have completed the mammoth task of creating a live USB of USB in Mac OS X, it is time to test your efforts. Plugin the bootable USB and reboot the system. Creating a bootable installer disk lets you install Yosemite on multiple Macs and also makes a handy emergency drive. On an external hard drive or USB thumb. IDG You can use Disk Utility's. Create a bootable USB Flash Drive using the Diskpart utility. A user may want to create a bootable USB flash drive which has a larger partition than the maximum 2Gb created using the Dell Diagnostic Distribution Package (DDDP), see Article How to Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive using Dell Diagnostic Deployment Package (DDDP). To create the installation media, here's what you'll need: A PC with a reliable internet connection. The download time will vary, depending on your internet connection. A USB flash drive or DVD. A blank USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of space, or a blank DVD (and DVD burner).
Launch Disk Utility (press Command + spacebar and start to type Disk Utility). Before this next step, note: if you are running High Sierra or later you will need to click on the View drop down.
Disk Utility User Guide
You can use Disk Utility to create a disk image, which is a file that contains other files and folders.
Note: You can burn information to a CD or DVD using the Burn command in the Finder. See Burn CDs and DVDs.
Create a blank disk image for storage
You can create an empty disk image, add data to it, then use it to create disks, CDs, or DVDs.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image > Blank Image.
Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.
This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
In the Name field, enter the name for the disk image.
This is the name that appears on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar, after you open the disk image.
In the Size field, enter a size for the disk image.
Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose the format for the disk:
If the disk image will be used with a Mac that has a solid state drive (SSD) and uses macOS 10.13 or later, choose APFS or APFS (Case-sensitive).
If the disk image will be used with a Mac with macOS 10.12 or earlier, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).
If the disk image will be used with a Mac or Windows computer and is 32 GB or less, choose MS-DOS (FAT); if it's over 32 GB, choose ExFAT.
To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
Click the Partitions pop-up menu, then choose a partition layout.
Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
Sparse bundle disk image: Same as a sparse disk image (below), but the directory data for the image is stored differently. Uses the .sparsebundle file extension.
Sparse disk image: Creates an expandable file that shrinks and grows as needed. No additional space is used. Uses the .sparseimage file extension.
Read/write disk image: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it's created. Uses the .dmg file extension.
DVD/CD master: Changes the size of the image to 177 MB (CD 8 cm). Uses the .cdr file extension.
Click Save, then click Done.
Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
In the Finder, copy your files to the mounted disk image, then eject it.
Restore the disk image to a disk.
For more information about disk image types, see the manual (man) page for hdiutil.
Create a disk image from a disk or connected device
You can create a disk image that includes the data and free space on a physical disk or connected device, such as a USB device. For example, if a USB device or volume is 80 GB with 10 GB of data, the disk image will be 80 GB in size and include data and free space. You can then restore that disk image to another volume.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, select a disk, volume, or connected device in the sidebar.
Choose File > New Image, then choose 'Image from [device name].'
Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.
This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
Read-only: The disk image can't be written to, and is quicker to create and open.
Compressed: Compresses data, so the disk image is smaller than the original data. The disk image is read-only.
Read/write: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it's created.
DVD/CD master: Can be used with third-party apps. It includes a copy of all sectors of the disk image, whether they're used or not. When you use a master disk image to create other DVDs or CDs, all data is copied exactly.
To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
Click Save, then click Done.
Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
Important: Don't create a disk image of a disk that you believe to be failing or that contains corrupted information. The disk image may not serve as a reliable backup.
For technical information about creating a restore disk image, see the Apple Software Restore (ASR) manual (man) page.
Create a disk image from a folder or connected device
You can create a disk image that contains the contents of a folder or connected device, such as a USB device. This method doesn't copy a device's free space to the disk image. For example, if a USB device or volume is 80 GB with 10 GB of data, the disk image will be 10 GB in size and include only data, not free space. You can then restore that disk image to another volume.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image, then choose Image from Folder.
Select the folder or connected device in the dialog that appears, then click Open.
Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.
This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
Read-only: The disk image can't be written to, and is quicker to create and open.
Compressed: Compresses data, so the disk image is smaller than the original data. The disk image is read-only.
Read/write: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it's created.
DVD/CD master: Can be used with third-party apps. It includes a copy of all sectors of the disk image, whether they're used or not. When you use a master disk image to create other DVDs or CDs, all data is copied exactly.
Hybrid image (HFS+/ISO/UDF): This disk image is a combination of disk image formats and can be used with different file system standards, such as HFS, ISO, and UDF.
Click Save, then click Done.
Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
For technical information about creating a restore disk image, see the Apple Software Restore (ASR) manual (man) page.
Create a secure disk image
If you have confidential documents that you don't want others to see without your permission, you can put them in an encrypted disk image.
Note: If you want to protect the contents of the system disk, turn on FileVault using the FileVault pane of Security & Privacy Preferences.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image > Blank Image.
Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.
This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
In the Name field, enter the name for the disk image.
This is the name that appears on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar, after you open the disk image.
In the Size field, enter a size for the disk image.
Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a format:
If you're using the encrypted disk image with a Mac computer using macOS 10.13 or later, choose APFS or APFS (Case-sensitive).
If you're using the encrypted disk image with a Mac computer using macOS 10.12 or earlier, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).
Click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
Enter and re-enter a password to unlock the disk image, then click Choose.
WARNING: If you forget this password, you won't be able to open the disk image and view any of the files.
Use the default settings for the rest of the options:
Click the Partitions pop-up menu, then choose Single partition - GUID Partition Map.
Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose 'read/write' disk image.
Click Save, then click Done.
Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
In the Finder , copy the documents you want to protect to the disk image.
If you want to erase the original documents so they can't be recovered, drag them to the Trash, then choose Finder > Empty Trash.
When you're finished using the documents on the secure disk image, be sure to eject the disk image. As long as it's available on your desktop, anyone with access to your computer can use the documents on it.
To access the data in a disk image, double-click it. It appears on your desktop, and you can add, remove, and edit files on it just as you would with a disk.
Bootable Usb Disk
But how do you transfer a downloaded disk image to a USB flash drive? In this article, we provide three solutions to help you create a bootable Linux USB flash drive on Linux, Windows, macOS, and even Android.
Create a Bootable Linux USB with Etcher (Linux, Windows, macOS)
Written in Electron, Etcher is a cross-platform open source utility for flashing disk images to USB drives and memory cards. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux and provides an approachable graphical user interface that reduces the process of creating a bootable Linux USB to just three simple steps.
Unlike other similar software tools, Etcher prevents users from accidentally wiping their entire hard drives, which is something you'll definitely appreciate if you've never created a bootable USB before and understandably feel anxious about the process.
To create a bootable Linux USB with Etcher:
1. Download Etcher from its official website.
- Etcher offers precompiled binaries for Linux, Windows, and macOS).
2. Launch Etcher.
3. Select the ISO file you want to flash to your USB drive.
4. Specify the target USB drive if the correct drive is not selected already.
5. Click the Flash! button and wait for the process to finish.
- You may be asked to enter the admin password.
Create a Bootable Linux USB with dd (Linux, macOS)
dd is a command-line utility for Unix-like operating systems whose primary purpose is to read/write data from/to device files, such as USB flash drives. Because dd is bundled in GNU coreutils, you can find it on virtually all Linux distributions, as well as on macOS.
To create a bootable Linux USB with dd:
- Open your favorite terminal emulator.
- Issue the following command (replace /dev/sdx with your drive and path/to/ubuntu.iso with the actual path to the ISO file you want to flash):
- Wait for dd to finish.
The version of dd included in GNU coreutils doesn't provide any progress indication. If you'd like some reassurance that the transfer is progressing as it should, you can use the following command (replace dd-pid with the process-id of dd, which you can find using htop):
dd for windows
There's actually a version of dd for Windows that provides all the functionality you need to transfer an ISO file to a USB flash drive. To install it:
- Download the latest version from its official website.
- Extract the downloaded archive to a new folder on your hard drive.
- Open Command Prompt and navigate to the folder with dd for Windows.
- Use dd for Windows just like you would the version included in GNU coreutils.
Unfortunately, dd for Windows was last updated in 2010, and many users have reported issues when using the utility in Windows 10. Considering that dd for Windows doesn't even support data conversion, such as byte order swapping and conversion to and from the ASCII and EBCDIC text encodings, you're probably better off using either Etcher or Rufus, which we describe in the next chapter.
Create a Bootable Linux USB with Rufus (Windows)
Before the release of Etcher in 2016, Rufus was the best way to create a bootable Linux USB in Windows. This bootable USB flash drive creator is much faster than all of its Windows competitors, and it can create live USB drives for systems with both BIOS and UEFI. Rufus has been translated into several dozen languages, and it's compatible with Windows 7 and newer, both 32- and 64-bit.
To create a bootable Linux USB with Rufus:
- Download Rufus from its official website.
- You can choose between an installer and a portable version.
- Install it if you've downloaded the installer. Otherwise, you can just launch it.
- Select the target USB device.
- Click the SELECT button next to the boot selection dropdown menu and specify the ISO file you want to flash.
- Choose the correct partition scheme for your system.
- Click the START button.
- Wait for Rufus to finish.
In addition to creating live Linux USB flash drives, Rufus can also flash Windows disk images.
Bootable Usb Disk Repair Utility
Create a Bootable Linux USB with EtchDroid (Android)
The last utility we want to describe is called EtchDroid, and its purpose is to write OS images to USB drives on Android smartphones and tablets.
Why would you want to use your Android device to create a bootable Linux USB? Well, imagine you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and your laptop stops working after a botched system update. Without another computer to use, your only option on how to create a bootable Linux USB to fix the issue is your Android device, and that's where EtchDroid comes in.
Make Bootable Usb Disk Utility Windows 7
To create a bootable Linux USB with EtchDroid:
- Download EtchDroid from Google Play or F-Droid.
- Connect a USB flash drive to your Android device using a USB OTG adapter.
- Launch EtchDroid and select the Write raw image or ISO option.
- Select your ISO image.
- Select the USB flash drive.
- Tap Write to write the image to the USB flash drive.
EtchDroid has been tested with Ubuntu and its derivatives, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux, and Raspberry PI SD card images. It doesn't work with Windows, macOS, and old GNU/Linux distros. Support for Windows installation ISO files is on the developer's to-do list.