I have an old mac install disk with tiger on it and I want to be able to boot from it. Can I do that without damaging my hard drive?
When I try to install tiger from the disk it tells me to restart my computer, and I am worried it will install it on my main drive instead of my usb.
You can boot from it, but if you continue through without stopping eventually it will try to install Tiger. However, if you want to install Tiger on a USB flash drive or HDD, then when you arrive at the screen for selecting a Target device, be sure to select the USB device before clicking on the Install button.
If the USB device has not been properly partitioned and formatted already, then be sure you do this:
Clean Install of OS X
1. Boot the computer using the Tiger Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
After DU loads select the USB drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
(Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
If you wish you can download any updates using Software Update preference panel.
Can I boot from tiger install disk without wiping my hard drive?
