ubisum
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Formatting computer and installing El Capitan

Hello everyone.
Since I needed to complete my thesis, I was forced to create a Linux partition on my Mac, with the addition of a boot loader.

Since I experienced some problems in updating my MacOs version (sometimes boot loader was not loaded when computer was turned on and MacOs started automatically), I stopped updating software at version 10.10.1 (Yosemite).
Now that my thesis is complete, I'd like to format completely my computer, removing Linux partition and giving all disk space back to MacOs. At the same time, I'd like to update operating system to latest version of El Capitan.
What's the right procedure to obtain all this?

 

Thanks for support.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jun 18, 2016 2:59 AM

by mende1,Solvedanswer
mende1 mende1
Level 10 (93,329 points)
Desktops
A:

I suggest you to download the OS X El Capitan installer, put it in a flash drive, make a backup of your files and use the flash drive to format the drive and install OS X El Capitan.

 

  1. Open the Mac App Store and download OS X El Capitan. The installer will show up when the download finishes, so close it.
  2. Download DiskMaker X and use it to create a bootable USB drive with the installer. You need at least a 8 GB flash drive.
  3. If you haven't done this already, make a backup of your files onto an external drive with Time Machine -> Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support
  4. Hold down the Alt key while your Mac is starting up, choose your USB drive as the boot drive and wait while the OS X El Capitan installer interface loads up.
  5. Open Disk Utility, choose your internal drive at the top of the sidebar and format it. Remember to format the new partition with "OS X Extended (Journaled)" as format.
  6. Close Disk Utility and reinstall OS X.
  7. During the initial startup, OS X will ask you to restore a backup if you have one. Plug the external drive with the backup and follow the steps. It will let you restore only the files you choose.

Posted on Jul 2, 2016 3:55 AM

Close
ubisum

Q: Formatting computer and installing El Capitan

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by mende1,Solvedanswer

    mende1 mende1 Jul 2, 2016 3:55 AM in response to ubisum
    Level 10 (93,329 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 2, 2016 3:55 AM in response to ubisum

    I suggest you to download the OS X El Capitan installer, put it in a flash drive, make a backup of your files and use the flash drive to format the drive and install OS X El Capitan.

     

    1. Open the Mac App Store and download OS X El Capitan. The installer will show up when the download finishes, so close it.
    2. Download DiskMaker X and use it to create a bootable USB drive with the installer. You need at least a 8 GB flash drive.
    3. If you haven't done this already, make a backup of your files onto an external drive with Time Machine -> Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support
    4. Hold down the Alt key while your Mac is starting up, choose your USB drive as the boot drive and wait while the OS X El Capitan installer interface loads up.
    5. Open Disk Utility, choose your internal drive at the top of the sidebar and format it. Remember to format the new partition with "OS X Extended (Journaled)" as format.
    6. Close Disk Utility and reinstall OS X.
    7. During the initial startup, OS X will ask you to restore a backup if you have one. Plug the external drive with the backup and follow the steps. It will let you restore only the files you choose.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Jul 2, 2016 3:55 AM in response to ubisum
    Level 7 (25,392 points)
    Jul 2, 2016 3:55 AM in response to ubisum

    One way to do it would be to use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your current OS X drive.  Then boot from the clone, repartition & reformat the computer's hard drive, and once reformatted just clone from the external booted drive back onto the computer' so drive.  That way your current OS X is intact with everything you have now.  Then just open the Mac Store and download eL Capitan and upgrade.

     

    I'm also just curious why you needed a Linux partition?  OS X Is UNIX.  It's been a very many years since I have been unable to do anything I do in Linux in OS X (and I administer and use several Linux boxes daily, including a ROCKS cluster, and have done so for years, but also have used OS X since the very initial public beta).  And with projects like HomeBrew, MacPorts and Fink, you've even got pretty good package management for Linux packages in OS X.