Making a USB OS backup?

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Level 1

130 points

Making a USB OS backup?

Before I upgrade to Yosemite on my mid-2012 Macbook Pro I decided to make a backup of Mavericks OS 10.9.5 on to a 16gb USB flash drive. I formatted the USB drive with the Disk Utility- Mac OS extended journaled selected. Only one partition.

I then went to the Mac App store and downloaded Marvericks again from the purchased apps. After downloading Mavericks OS 10.9.5 came up on screen and asked me to select a location for installation. I picked the USB flash drive and installation began. That process took SEVEN HOURS! I can not believe this is normal.

Once that long process was over I restarted my Macbook Pro and checked the USB flash drive. It seemed to have everything there related to the OS. Then, holding down the option key, I restarted and then selected the USB flash drive back up as my boot up drive.

Booting up off that Mavericks OS USB drive took over TEN MINUTES! I can not believe this is normal.

What do you think I did wrong? Or do you think the USB flash drive is defective?

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Apr 20, 2015 9:48 PM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Apr 20, 2015 10:24 PM in response to Steve Panther

A flash drive is not the ideal place for an operating system; exactly what are the specs of that drive? Read/write speed, make, model? USB 1, 2, or 3?

My suggestion for a well working backup would be a complete clone of your system (including all your files) on an external hard drive.

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Answer 2

Steve Panther Author

Level 1

130 points

Apr 21, 2015 9:34 AM in response to babowa

Thanks for the reply babowa.

I don't know the read and write speed but I am using this:

PNY Attaché 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive - P-FD16GATT03-GE

I already have a bootable backup (Mavericks) of my entire Macbook Pro on a WD external drive. But what I was really trying to do was download an OS 10.9.5 Mavericks installer app if, after upgrading to Yosemite, I wanted to go backwards to Mavericks OS 10.9.5.

Mavericks has been very good and stable for me. I am reluctant to upgrade to Yosemite because I don't like the trend of the Yosemite OS emulating the iOS system. I'm not a fan of iOS mostly because of its very limited ability with file management. I don't own an iPhone so I don't see a big need to have my Mac talk to my phone and vice versa but I usually upgrade OS after a while (after they shake some of the bugs out) in order to have the latest security patches. Frankly I don't give a **** about notifications.

Also, as an Apple person since 1985, I'm often asked to help friends and relatives with Apple problems and, if I don't have the latest OS, I often can't help.

So.... if I don't use a USB 2.0 (or even USB 3.0) flash drive, what is the best way to download and keep an external copy of the Mavericks installation app. (dmg)?

Thanks

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Apr 21, 2015 11:30 AM in response to Steve Panther

I checked whatever info I could find on that flash drive - and it was scant; not much there. It appears to be Windows "concentrated", but if you formatted it correctly (did you also check to make sure it is set to GUID Partition scheme? Needed to be able to boot an Intel.), it should be ok.

However, it is only USB 2 (slow) - I have a small portable external drive I use to copy over files from one machine to another; it is USB 2 and quite slow. I put on a bootable OS once and it took forever to boot from it. So, I believe your experience is quite normal. Add to that: I've tried a couple of different PNY products and they did not play nicely with my Macs, so I don't buy that brand any more.

I prefer having everything on external hard drives, so I have 4 of them - each with multiple partitions - containing not only duplicate clones of every system/OS version I've got, but also extra backups of difficult to get installers. That is where I park my OS X installer dmg's. I don't need that to boot with; since it is an installer package, I just need to be able to run it from there or simply copy it back into my Applications folder and then run it.

I am running Yosemite on my MBP; however, on my "main" iMac, I have Mavericks and will continue using that because there are several Apple apps which are no longer supported by Yosemite and I want to keep using them. I've turned off Notifications and have no need for syncing.

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Answer 4

Steve Panther Author

Level 1

130 points

Apr 21, 2015 12:30 PM in response to babowa

Once again babowa, thanks for your quick thoughtful reply.

Yes, I did correctly format the PNY flash drive with the GUID partition so I don't think that's the problem.

Therefore I have to assume the problem is USB 2.0 vs 3.0.

If I get a better brand (sandisk) 3.0 USB flash drive I'd still like to download just the OS 10.9.5 installer just in case I want reinstall that OS into my MBP.

Since I don't want to install the complete OS installed on to the 3.0 flash drive (only the installer package) do you have any idea how I can download just the package?

Thanks

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Apr 21, 2015 1:16 PM in response to Steve Panther

Here is some info on the Sandisk - note that the read speeds are higher than the write speeds:

http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/drives/extreme/

I use Sandisk SDHC cards for my cameras and, coupled with the high speed Sandisk card reader, I have no problem moving pics or video clips back and forth.

So what do you mean with "complete OS"? The full installer from the app store is +/- 5 GB and includes Apple apps (the same thing you would find on a brand new machine you just bought). That expands some during installation of course, so if you want to install it on the drive, you'll most likely need more than 16 GB capacity because - if I remember correctly - the fresh installation takes up about +/- 16 GB.

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Answer 6

Apr 21, 2015 2:00 PM in response to Steve Panther

I think the reason why it took so long is that while your goal was to make a copy of the Mavericks installer for possible later use, what you did was install Mavericks on your USB drive, which would take much long to do and then much longer to boot from. USB 2.0 is certainly going to be slower than USB 3.0, and the USB 3.0 flash drives are getting cheaper every day (Best Buy sold 256GB Flash drives for $69 for a couple of days last year). But it'll still be slower to install on and boot from than a HD or SSD.

When you download an OS installer, it typically starts up and then pauses, waiting for you to tell it what to install it on. If all you want is a backup copy, simply quit the installer and copy the file to the Flash drive.

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