Install, Boot, and Run Mac OS X From an External Hard Drive

Mac OS X can be fully installed onto an external hard drive, using a couple of easy to follow steps. This can be extremely useful for developers, who often times want to test different versions of Mac OS or need multiple testing environments. However, this can also be useful for anyone at all who simply wants to have another copy of Mac OS X to use. 
Before we get started, the objective of this tutorial is to install a full fledged copy of Mac OS X onto an external hard drive; NOT to install Mac OS X onto your computer using an external hard drive, although the process is similar. When finished, you will be able to boot into a full version of Mac OS that is stored and ran off of an external hard drive. You will also be able to boot into the normal OS X on your computer as well.

Start off by launching disk utility, using the path Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

With Disk Utility open and active on your computer, it is now time to connect your external hard drive (which you will be using to store OS X) to your computer. This can be either a USB or Firewire external hard drive.
Once connected, your external hard drive will show up in the left-hand side devices windows of Disk Utility. Click to select your actual hard drive. In our example, we have named the hard drive Mac OS X, but the actual hard drive is 250.06 GB WDC WD25 0…

Click the Partition tab to view current schemes for your external hard drive. You can choose to partition the drive anyway that you’d like, but for our tutorial, we will be using a one partition drive, because the drive will be used solely to hold OS X. To select your partition scheme, click the Volume Scheme: drop down menu and select the number of partitions from the list.
After you have done that, click the Options… button, located near the bottom of the Disk Utility window.

A drop down menu will appear, prompting you to choose a partition scheme. Choose the option GUID Partition Table and click the OK button.

Finally, enter a name for your Partition and make sure that Format is set to OS X (Journaled). You can also enter a custom allocation size for the partition if you would like. For this tutorial, we are using one partition, so we will use the entire drive. Click the Apply button to save changes.

A drop down menu will appear, asking you to confirm that you want to partition the hard drive. Click the Partition button.

Once the drive finishes partitioning and formatting, you can begin installing Mac OS X. Insert a Mac OS X installation CD/DVD into the SuperDrive on your computer. For this demonstration, we will be using an OEM 10.6 Snow Leopard disc.

Double click on Mac OS X Install DVD, or your particular CD/DVD icon to enter setup. Once the Mac OS X Install DVD setup window opens, select the option Install Mac OS X.

Click Continue to proceed past the first install screen.

Read over the licensing agreement and click the Agree button. On the next screen, click the Show All Disks… button.

The external hard drive should now be available for selection. Click to select it, and click the Install button.

You will be prompted once again, to confirm installation. Click the Install button from the drop down prompt. Mac OS X will begin installing onto the external hard drive.
*Once you click the Install button, you will be prompted to exit all other applications that are running. OS X will also shut down, and switch to the external hard drive in order to install Mac OS X. Bookmark this page now, so that you can jump back to it once OS X finishes installing.*

Once Mac OS X finishes installing, you will have successfully completed this tutorial. Next, you may need to know how to choose a startup disk, which will allow you to switch between your primary install of OS X (the one on your computer), and the OS X install on the external hard drive.
You can choose a startup disk when Mac OS X first starts up, or when you first power on your computer. Once you hear the chime sound, before the Apple logo appears, hold down the option button on your keyboard. Hold it for approximately 5 seconds, and then release. Mac OS X will allow you to choose a device to boot from. From here, you can choose your internal or external hard drive.

Convert Video Formats on Mac or PC the Easy Way

Most video converters are limited. Either they only convert videos you already downloaded from YouTube or another video hosting service, or they only work with specified formats. Few converters serve both Mac and PC users and all video types.
WonTube is different. It works with both Mac and PC and can convert most any type of video to any format you like—all without even downloading the video from the Internet.

From WonTube’s site, choose Windows or Mac format to download the software.

Once downloaded, run the install file. Follow the prompts for installing the software. When the installation is finished, run the software.
You can add videos to WonTube many ways. If you have already downloaded or ripped a video, simply drag the file into the open white space towards the bottom of the screen. If you have not yet downloaded the video, navigate to the video’s page and copy the URL, then click Paste URL from within WonTube.

Your video will appear in the list in the middle of the screen. You can add multiple videos and convert them all at the same time.

On the right side of the screen, click the Select Output button.

Select the output type you want. WonTube supports virtually any device and file type. Click OK when finished.

When you are finished making your selections, click Convert. After a few minutes, your videos will have converted and will be saved to your computer.

WonTube is very useful for saving online videos to formats compatible with mobile devices. YouTube videos downloaded and converted to MP4’s play beautifully on iPhone 4s. Besides videos, you can also download video soundtracks as MP3’s. This is definitely a piece of software we will continue to use, if for no other reason than its simplicity.

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Upgrade and Clean Install Guide

I recently upgraded my MacBook Pro to OS X 10.8 and have documented the process for any of our site visitors or subscribers who may be upgrading to Mountain Lion in the future.

Before you upgrade or install

• You must be running either Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or 10.7 Lion to directly upgrade to Mountain Lion.
• If you’re not currently running 10.6 or 10.7, you may clean install lion if your Mac computer will support it. For compatible Macs, see our article on Mountain Lion requirements.
• Make sure your computer is connected to power, if using a MacBook, Pro or Air.
• Perform a software update prior to installing Lion to assure that you have the latest software. Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen and select Software Update… from the context menu.

1. Purchase and download Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Launch the Mac AppStore on your computer by clicking the Apple logo and selecting App Store… from the context menu.
With the Mac AppStore open and active on screen, find the Mac OS X Mountain Lion app in the AppStore by performing a search, although it may be featured on the home screen.

Click the price below the Mountain Lion App listing and it will change to Buy App. Click the Buy App button to purchase Mountain Lion.
Next, Apple will prompt you to sign-in to your account, in which you may be required to verify your billing info. Proceed to sign in, verify your billing info, etc…


After that is complete and the purchase has been made, the operating system download will begin immediately. You can view the progress of the download at anytime by using the Launchpad app on your Mac.

The download will very likely not be quick, as the Mountain Lion installer is a 4.37GB file. I downloaded Mountain Lion the same day it was released, so Apple download servers were extremely busy and the download took a very long time. I started the download at 4:28 and it finished at 6:48, so it took 2 hours and 20 minutes to download, using a high-speed cable internet connection.
After the download completes, the Mac OS X Installer will automatically launch and prompt you to begin installing Mountain Lion.

However, don’t install the software yet. Let’s get the $20.00 USD software purchase that you just made backed up before we proceed with the installation (the installer deletes itself upon upgrade).

2. Backup, Create a bootable USB drive or Disc of Mountain Lion

With 10.8 successfully downloaded, navigate to the path Finder > Applications and locate the Mountain Lion installer. Right-click the installer app and select show package contents from the context menu.
From here, Finder will open the actual directory of the app. Navigate the path Contents > SharedSupport and locate the file InstallESD.dmg
Next, open up disk utility in a new window, using Launchpad or by navigating the path Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Drag the InstallESD.dmg file into the left-side drives list within Disk Utility. You can now begin backing up Lion using a DVD or USB drive.
2a. To Burn a Backup/Recovery Disc –
Select the DMG file within Disk Utility by single clicking it. Click the Burn button to begin creating your Mountain Lion install DVD (dual-layer DVD or Blu-ray disc required). Once the burn has finished, eject the disc from your Mac and store it in a safe place. This disc can be used to reinstall Mountain Lion, should you need to in the future.
OR
2b. To create a bootable USB Drive –

• Insert the USB drive and select it in the sidebar in Disk Utility. Select the Partition tab, select 1 Partition from the dropdown menu and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format type.
• Click the Options button and choose GUID Partition Table, this will make the drive bootable and formatted correctly for the Mac. Click Apply to format, which will completely erase the drive.
• Next, click the Restore tab and choose the DMG file as your source and the USB drive as the destination. Click the Apply button to backup the installer to bootable USB drive.

OR SAVE THE INSTALLER
2c. To save the installer file and make it bootable at another time (quickest) -
Connect an external hard drive or high capacity USB drive to your Mac. Navigate the path Finder > Applications and locate the Mountain Lion installer app. It will be an app represented by a picture of a Mountain Lion. Drag the entire app to your external hard drive or USB drive to copy it. Eject the drive.
At this point, you have successfully downloaded Mountain Lion and backed up the installer file.

3. Upgrade or Clean Install Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Finally, it’s time to actually begin install of the new operating system!
3a. Upgrade Install from Snow Leopard or Lion -
Launch the Mountain Lion app that you downloaded from the AppStore by navigating the path Finder > Applications. Once the app launches, you will be prompted with the upgrade steps:




Follow the on-screen prompts to upgrade to Mountain Lion. Your computer will reboot and the upgrade process will begin.
The estimated upgrade install time for Mountain Lion is 34 minutes, although it may go quicker or slower depending on your hard drive speed. For example, I have a SSD installed on my MacBook, so it took closer to 15 minutes.
Once the installation is complete, your computer will restart one more time and boot back up. Once you sign in, you will be using 10.8 Mountain Lion; because this method is an upgrade, all of your existing apps and documents will be on your Mac computer.
OR
3b. Clean Install Mountain Lion -
If you’re not currently running Snow Leopard or Lion as an operating system, but have a Mac that is capable of running Mountain Lion, you will want to perform a clean install. The process is as follows:

• Close out of any apps or other open documents and save your work.
• Connect a bootable USB drive or DVD Disc containing the Mountain Lion installer to your Mac computer. We described how to create both above (2a, 2b).
• Restart your computer. Once it begins to boot back up, hold down the option key on the keyboard to choose a boot device.
• Select either the USB drive or Disc as the boot source.
• Click the Continue button on the first initial Welcome… screen.
• (optional) Hover your mouse over the top of the screen and navigate the path Utilities > Disk Utility.
• (optional) Use Disk Utility to erase any existing Mac OS X installations if you so choose. This will completely wipe your hard drive of all data! Format to OS X Extended (journaled) and exit Disk Utility.
• Complete the on-screen prompts to finish clean installing Mountain Lion.

Quick tip: If you performed a clean install, your Mac computer will finish installing Mountain Lion and will restart with Mountain Lion ready for use. However, you will be missing all of your iLife apps such as iPhoto and iMovie. Insert the Applications disc that came with your Mac computer to regain these programs.

Summary

That’s basically all there is to it. The Mac OS X Mountain Lion install process is quite straightforward, but by following today’s tutorial, you will have made sure that you took all of the necessary steps to complete a successful upgrade or clean install.