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I have two Macs. One won't start. Can I use the working machine to make a startup disk

is it possible to make a startup disk from my iMac. I have one computer working and the other one won't start.


iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Dec 9, 2020 9:39 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 9, 2020 9:00 PM

Perhaps. Is the macOS USB installer you want to make a version of macOS that will actually run on the iMac? Unfortunately Apple doesn't have an OS or hardware independent method of creating a bootable macOS USB installer. Here is an Apple article for creating a bootable macOS USB installer:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


If the Mac that won't start has had macOS 10.12.6+ installed at some point in its life, then you may be able to boot into Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) to bypass the local recovery partition to access the online macOS installer:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 9, 2020 9:00 PM in response to alicefrommorris

Perhaps. Is the macOS USB installer you want to make a version of macOS that will actually run on the iMac? Unfortunately Apple doesn't have an OS or hardware independent method of creating a bootable macOS USB installer. Here is an Apple article for creating a bootable macOS USB installer:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


If the Mac that won't start has had macOS 10.12.6+ installed at some point in its life, then you may be able to boot into Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) to bypass the local recovery partition to access the online macOS installer:

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support


I have two Macs. One won't start. Can I use the working machine to make a startup disk

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