Stephanie Scheidemantel

Q: Installing El Capitan

Can I download El Capitan, save it on a flash drive, and then install it later?

 

I'm upgrading to El Capitan from Snow Leopard, but I don't want to install it just yet. I read on this forum that I could save it to a flash drive and install it later, but I just tried to do that and it didn't work.  Did I miss something? I downloaded it last December and it it took hours, but then I decided against upgrading at that time and deleted it. This seems to be a very different download process now. Does anyone have any instructions on how to save it on a flash drive or some other external drive? Also, it downloaded really FAST just now -- it only took about 20 minutes or so. That seems very odd to me. I need to do a few more things on my computer before I install it, but I DON'T want to wait until the next version major version of OSX  comes out, which I hear will be soon. If anyone has any advice on how to save El Capitan on a flash drive I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.26 GHz Intel core 2 Duo, 8 GB RAM

Posted on Jul 17, 2016 11:43 PM

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Q: Installing El Capitan

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  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Jul 18, 2016 12:02 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel
    Level 6 (8,415 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2016 12:02 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel

    These are the instructions you need: Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 18, 2016 12:09 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel
    Level 10 (188,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 18, 2016 12:09 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel

    You can also use this app to make a bootable USB device

    http://liondiskmaker.com/

  • by Stephanie Scheidemantel,

    Stephanie Scheidemantel Stephanie Scheidemantel Jul 18, 2016 9:29 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2016 9:29 PM in response to lllaass

    Thank you for this link. I have downloaded it and saved it on an 8GB thumb drive which I hope to (SOON) get El Capitan saved on as well, if I can figure out how.

  • by Stephanie Scheidemantel,

    Stephanie Scheidemantel Stephanie Scheidemantel Jul 18, 2016 9:38 PM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2016 9:38 PM in response to Esquared

    Thank you for the link. I've read over this but unfortunately much of it is over my head-- it's like I'm reading English with another language I don't understand mixed in. It would be helpful if I could get instructions on how to do this that are geared toward a novice, explaining it as if I'd just been squeezed from my mother's womb yesterday. Is there another way to do this or is this the only way to copy the El Capitan installer to a thumb drive?

     

    The problem I was having was when I tried to drag "Install OS X El Capitan" from the Applications folder to the thumb drive, I kept getting an error message saying "error 0".

  • by Eau Rouge,

    Eau Rouge Eau Rouge Jul 18, 2016 11:55 PM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel
    Level 4 (2,903 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jul 18, 2016 11:55 PM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel

    Personally I don't bother with trying to make a bootable installer, can be a bit hit or miss.

    instead after downloading the full installer from the App Store, and before going through with the install

    I go to the Applications folder and look for Install Mac OS X El Capitan.app, and make a copy of this

    on a USB stick or external drive. Perhaps make a second copy for extra safety. You can delete it from the Appication folder once you are happy the copies have completed. When the time comes to install it drag back off the USB or external disc and double click to start the installation.

    Please also note that if you had downloaded an earlier version of the full installer prior to February 2016

    it's certificate is probably no longer valid, and will not install unless you set your date and time setting to a date prior to 2nd February 2016, once installed you can set the date back. Alternatively download the latest version of the full installer, which is now version 10.11.6.

  • by Stephanie Scheidemantel,

    Stephanie Scheidemantel Stephanie Scheidemantel Jul 19, 2016 9:03 PM in response to Eau Rouge
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2016 9:03 PM in response to Eau Rouge

    Thank you, Eau Rouge. What you just explained above is what I had tried to do and it didn't work. First, I no longer have the installer on my computer that I downloaded in January--I deleted it not long after downloading it.

     

    Second, when I downloaded the El Capitan Installer a few days ago, it took only 20 minutes. I assume it was the "full installer" as it stopped downloading and prompted me to press "Continue" (which I did not do), and I saw that it is indeed located in my Applications folder. How can I tell if it is the "full installer" and not a partial download?

     

    The problem I was having was when I tried to drag "Install OS X El Capitan" from the Applications folder to the thumb drive, I kept getting an error message saying "error 0". The thumb (flash) drive is 8 GB, but it has not been formatted or partitioned or anything like that. Could that be the problem?

     

    Finally, if this is indeed the "full installer" I've downloaded, can I wait a few weeks to transfer it to a thumb drive or a bootable drive before the certificate becomes invalidated? I going out of town soon and won't be able to do the actual installation until I get back, that's why I wanted to save it before I leave.

     

    Thank you for your help.

  • by Stephanie Scheidemantel,

    Stephanie Scheidemantel Stephanie Scheidemantel Jul 19, 2016 9:23 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2016 9:23 PM in response to lllaass

    Hello, I downloaded Lion Diskmaker (Diskmaker X), but I was confused about where to install it. Do I install it on my computer as the app indicates, or on the flash drive? Unfortunately there were no other instructions that came with it, and my email to the maker has gone unanswered. If you can specify for me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

  • by Eau Rouge,

    Eau Rouge Eau Rouge Jul 19, 2016 10:31 PM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel
    Level 4 (2,903 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jul 19, 2016 10:31 PM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel

    If it only took 20 minutes to download the El Capitan installer that is very quick. To check whether it is the full installer, navigate to it in, and check how big it is, should be 6.21GBs.

    As for your USB thumb drive it does need to be formatted.

    Once you have got the full installer, and you don't go ahead and install it, it will stay in your Application folder, once you install it it deletes itself from that location. You can move it to anywhere else on your Mac, or keep a copy on your formatted USB or external drive. The certificate attached to it should last a few years, Apple made the mistake of

    attaching certificates to earlier versions of Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan that expired in Feb 2016, so people like me had to download them again.

    So download it, check it is 6.21GBs, copy it and keep. It is handy to keep this for the future incase you need to reinstall the system, for whatever reason. It is easier and quicker to install than going through internet recovery.

    Oh and always back up.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 06.07.53.png

  • by lllaass,Solvedanswer

    lllaass lllaass Jul 20, 2016 12:36 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel
    Level 10 (188,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 20, 2016 12:36 AM in response to Stephanie Scheidemantel

    You install Diskmaker on your computer.

    When you run Diskmaker, it will automatically scan your startup disk and look for possible OSX installers that are available to create a bootable USB install media.

    Stephanie Scheidemantel wrote:

     

    Hello, I downloaded Lion Diskmaker (Diskmaker X), but I was confused about where to install it. Do I install it on my computer as the app indicates, or on the flash drive? Unfortunately there were no other instructions that came with it, and my email to the maker has gone unanswered. If you can specify for me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

  • by Stephanie Scheidemantel,

    Stephanie Scheidemantel Stephanie Scheidemantel Jul 20, 2016 2:14 PM in response to Eau Rouge
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 20, 2016 2:14 PM in response to Eau Rouge

    Eau Rouge, thank you so much for the clarification. I checked the El Capitan installer I downloaded, and yes it is the full installer-- it says it's 6.22 GB. And I will format the flash drive before I move it there. Thank you again.