VIDEO – How to Re-Download Mac OS X Lion & Create Bootable Install DVD & USB Thumb Drive

by Michael Sheehan on July 22, 2011

in Apple, Consumer Electronics, Fix It, General, Hardware, How To, Software, Video

Post image for VIDEO – How to Re-Download Mac OS X Lion & Create Bootable Install DVD & USB Thumb Drive

Yesterday I wrote a post “How To Re-Download Mac OS X Lion & Create a Bootable Install DVD” and it seems to be helping a lot of people out there. So, sometimes it is even more helpful to create a video that explains the process, so I quickly put one together. Also, a few users were wondering how to create a bootable USB Thumb Drive with the same installer so I have added those steps to this post.

Note: if you are looking for instructions for Mac OS X 10.8 – Mountain Lion – please see this post.

First, be sure that you read through the first post so that you understand the steps.

install_lion

Video Walk-Through

The video below, which is also available on YouTube, shows 3 items:

  1. How to re-download Mac OS X Lion
  2. How to burn a bootable Install DVD with Lion
  3. How to create a bootable Install USB Thumb Drive with Lion

Sorry for the blurry quality.

[iframe_loader width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RERQE0PAm9I?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen ]

How to Create a Bootable USB Thumb Drive

The steps are very similar to burning a bootable DVD. BE SURE that you have a large enough USB Thumb Drive (the one shown in the video and the example below was NOT large enough at 4 GB).

  1. Download the Lion installer from the App Store (see the steps on my previous post)
  2. Move the Installer out of the Applications folder (e.g., to your Desktop)
    Lion_icon
  3. Right-click on the Installer and select “Show Package Contents”
    show_package_contents
  4. Within the package, go to the “SharedSupport” folder
    shared_support_folder
  5. Copy the “InstallESD.dmg” file to your Desktop
    InstallESD
  6. Launch Disk Utility
  7. Insert your USB Thumb Drive (you can format it if you want)
    thumbdrive_large
  8. Click “Restore”
    restore
  9. Choose the “InstallESD.dmg” image
    select_restore
  10. Drag the partition on the USB drive from the left onto the Destination field and click RESTORE.
    restore_usb

That’s it! Unfortunately, I did NOT have a large enough USB Thumb Drive (mine was only 4 GBs). So be sure you have a large enough thumb drive for this (perhaps 6GB).

Be sure to share this and my previous post with others!

HTD says: I’m really enjoying Lion! How about you?

Related posts:

  1. How To Re-Download Mac OS X “Lion” & Create a Bootable Install DVD
  2. How To Create a Bootable Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) Installation DVD or USB Drive [Updated]
  3. Video & How-To Install a Hard Drive on a MacBook Pro (non-unibody): Clone & Boot Camp too!
  4. How To Upgrade an iMac G5′s Hard Drive – iFixit.com to the Rescue!
  5. How To Install a Replacement Battery into an Apple iPhone 3GS

Tagged as: App Store, Apple, Bootable DVD, Bootable USB, Fix It, How To, install, Lion, USB, Video

  • Jeff Borg

    I’ve tried this like 5 times but no matter what, my MacBook won’t detect my USB key.

    What am I doing wrong?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sandy-Personette/100000069607017 Sandy Personette

    Worked like a charm.  Thanks for the video.

  • Jenn

    Has apple stopped allowing this? I just downloaded the “rather large”  file, but cannot seem to move it from the applications folder to my desktop?!

  • http://www.hightechdad.com hightechdad

    You need to “show the package contents” and then drag THAT particular installer file out of the main installer.

  • sheep.

    @jeff Borg.
    6. Launch Disk Utility7. Insert your USB Thumb Drive (you can format it if you want)=Erase usb thumb drive first.         Hope it helps you? sheep.

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