Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I need to boot my intel (2008 - 10.5.2 - I THINK) iMac with a usb drive (my cd-dvd drive chewed up a VERY old CD a couple of weeks ago - don't ask). Now, my internal drive,on startup, is flashing the "question mark folder" instead of the good old apple. How do I make one? I need an answer soon, as I live in the wilds of Spain and the donkey only runs once a month. Seriously. And, THANKS!
If you have the original installer disc that came with the computer you'll be able to make a clone of that disc on a USB Flash drive, or install the operating system on the USB Flash drive. Be sure to format the flash drive HFS+ with GUID partitioning as this tip explains:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003
That will then allow you to install a bootable operating system on it, that will be faster than using the optical drive.
You'll want to get an external DVD drive first, since your DVD drive is broke. http://www.macsales.com/ sells them and will deliver them to Spain. And be patient, if you are that far out, you'll have to operate without a computer. And in the future never operate without a backup plan:
If you have the original installer disc that came with the computer you'll be able to make a clone of that disc on a USB Flash drive, or install the operating system on the USB Flash drive. Be sure to format the flash drive HFS+ with GUID partitioning as this tip explains:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003
That will then allow you to install a bootable operating system on it, that will be faster than using the optical drive.
You'll want to get an external DVD drive first, since your DVD drive is broke. http://www.macsales.com/ sells them and will deliver them to Spain. And be patient, if you are that far out, you'll have to operate without a computer. And in the future never operate without a backup plan:
Making an emergency usb start-up
