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So I have a 2007 MacBook Pro and when I was trying to upgrade to El Capitan it wouldn’t work and so then I used windows TransMac and made a bootable drive but it won’t pop up on my MacBook Pro can someone please help?
MacBook Pro
Would not spend your time using TransMac to make a Bootable Installer of any version of OS X / macOS
It just will not work regardless of what the Internet or some Users on these Forums purport it does.
To perform this action will require booting from a Bootable Installer.
The Bootable Installer can Only be performed on an Apple Computer
This will have to be performed from a Qualifying Computer to run the version of macOS to be made on the Bootable Installer. Example : Bootable Installer of Big Sur would have to be done on a computer that Qualifies to run Big Sur.
Notation: If the computer being used to perform this action is Too New or Too Old to qualify to run the version of macOS - this computer can not be used.
Alternative is, to gain access to a Qualifying Apple Computer from a family member, friend or associate.
Would not spend your time using TransMac to make a Bootable Installer of any version of OS X / macOS
It just will not work regardless of what the Internet or some Users on these Forums purport it does.
To perform this action will require booting from a Bootable Installer.
The Bootable Installer can Only be performed on an Apple Computer
This will have to be performed from a Qualifying Computer to run the version of macOS to be made on the Bootable Installer. Example : Bootable Installer of Big Sur would have to be done on a computer that Qualifies to run Big Sur.
Notation: If the computer being used to perform this action is Too New or Too Old to qualify to run the version of macOS - this computer can not be used.
Alternative is, to gain access to a Qualifying Apple Computer from a family member, friend or associate.
Assuming your laptop is compatible with macOS 10.11 El Capitan, then you will need access to a Qualifying Mac in order to create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article:
How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
A Qualifying Mac for macOS 10.11 is usually most Macs from 2008 to 2015. The following article shows which versions of macOS are compatible with various Apple hardware:
https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility
You can get the exact model of your Mac by clicking the Apple menu and selecting "About This Mac".
FYI, you can try booting your current 2007 Mac into Safe Mode to try running the macOS 10.11 installer in case you have some third party software installed which is interfering with the normal operation of macOS. Typical culprits are anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, and third party security software .... none of which are needed on a Mac.
Does your 2007 laptop boot normally or into Safe Mode? If so, then you should be able to create a bootable macOS USB 10.11 USB installer using the instructions in the Apple article I linked earlier. This assumes your 2007 laptop is indeed compatible with macOS 10.11. Make sure to read the instructions carefully since macOS 10.11 requires multiple steps to extract the contents of the mounted .dmg archive file by running the .pkg app contained within it which will extract the installer to the Applications folder so the Terminal commands can be used for creating a bootable macOS USB installer.
FYI, TransMac is known not to work for creating a bootable macOS USB installer these days. At least I have not seen any recent posts over the last few years where anyone reported success with TransMac. Apple has changed their macOS installers several times so many instructions online no longer apply.
USB Boot Not Working
