If you ever demand to restore the total contents of an OS X Lion inauguration drive , or just perform a reinstall of the OS , you ’ll find that there are numerous ways to fulfill these job . In fact , there are so many permutations , that I commence to turn a loss counting after for a while . endeavor to figure out the right method acting for your post can get a morsel tricky .
If you ’ve traditionally used a backup utility such asSuperDuperorData Backupto make a mirror backup , you may still do so . Both of these backup utilities have been update to go with Lion . Restoring a ride from the backing , take on that Lion ’s Recovery HD partition remain entire and functional , should work fundamentally the same as if you were running Snow Leopard .
you may also doctor from a Time Machine backup . To do so , start by boot from Lion’sRecovery HD partition(by hold down the choice winder at startup and select Recovery HD ) . From here , select the Restore From Time Machine Backup option . However , as Dan Frakes explain in the link up article : “ To apply this characteristic , your Time Machine backup must be a complete backup that includes all system of rules files . ”
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant
Rather than maintain a full mirrored backup , you may have a backup of everything except what Lion set up . In this case , you may erase your hard drive , reinstall Lion , and then restore from your accompaniment . To carry out this , boot from Recovery HD and take Disk Utility ’s Erase option . Next , select the Reinstall OS ex option . This will reinstall OS X 10.7.0 ; acquire it is successful , you will still require to update to OS X 10.7.1 , or whatever newer version is out at the metre . Finally , rejuvenate your remaining data .
If you are only concerned about corrupt system files , you may be able to skip a restore of your data and just reinstall Lion . To do this , you again start up from the Recovery HD partitioning and go directly to the Reinstall Mac OS ex selection .
All of this come still more complicated if you have one of the unexampled Macs that come with OS X Lion preinstalled ( the 2011 MacBook Air and Mac miniskirt ) . The translation of Install OS X Lion available from the Mac App Store will not instal Lion on these Macs . These Macs have their own separate version . They even have aseparate update to Mac OS tenner 10.7.1 . In such cases , you ’ll have to bank on the Recovery HD choice to reinstall Lion .
Internet-free install
Reinstalling OS cristal 10.7 via Recovery HD requires an Internet connectedness , as the installer has to both download OS X software and affirm your figurer ’s eligibility . If you want to reinstall Lion without the want for an cyberspace connection , you have two main option .
The first is to position up a bootable Lion install disc . To do this , you ’ll call for a transcript of the Install Mac OS X utility from the Mac App Store . One ramification here is that the Install OS ecstasy public utility company is go to the Trash as part of an update / install to Lion . If you be after to apply it again , save the program before it gets erase . If this advice is come too late , you could redownload a transcript from the Mac App Store ( by support down the Option key when take the Purchases tab ) .
The other choice is to purchase Apple ’s $ 69OS X Lion Thumb Drive . With this driveway , you ’ll be able-bodied to reinstall or update to Lion directly without any need for an cyberspace connexion . One caveat : If you go this path , you will not be able to later reinstall Lion via the Recovery HD partition . You will have to utilise the thumb drive again . It ’s one way or the other , but not both .
If Recovery HD fails
A related curing of possibilities comes into bid if your inauguration drive is so hose down that you could not startup from the main partition or from Recovery HD .
If you have one of the aforesaid 2011 Macs , you could attempt to repair your disc , and reformat or reinstall Lion via theLion Internet Recovery feature — an option that “ lets you begin your Mac directly from Apple ’s Servers . ” For everyone else , a root will typically ask that you have an external bootable thrust for exigency design .
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant
One means to fulfill this is via Apple’sLion Recovery Disk Assistantsoftware . Use it to set up a ostentation drive ( or other USB cause ) with a Recovery HD partitioning on it . After boot from Recovery HD on this external drive , you may compensate , erase , repartition , and/or reinstall Mac OS X on your internal drive . ensure you make this external drive before disaster strikes , as Disk Assistant requires approach to a functional Lion drive with a Recovery HD partition . Creating a Recovery HD sectionalization via Disk Assistant may also fail if you have FileVault enable at the prison term .
Once again , the 2011 Macs that ship with Lion present a special case . Malus pumila submit : “ If the computer embark with Lion , the external convalescence drive ( created by Disk Assistant ) can only be used with the organisation that created it . If the system was upgraded from Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard to Lion , the external recovery ride can be used with other system that were upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion . ”
The other option here are to practice either of the Internet - spare methods covered in the previous section .
Mirrored backup three-step
One final scenario . Suppose you have a full mirrored championship . Further , suppose you decide that you need to reformat / repartition your internal drive before restoring from that backup . Pre - Lion , all you would require to do is reformat and restore . Done . However , with Lion , a reformat typically think that you erase the Recovery HD partition . touch on from a mirrored backup does not reinstall the Recovery HD partition . This means that a Lion restore requires an spare dance step : Reformat , reinstall Lion , and mend . The reinstall creates the Recovery HD partition .
What if you forget the reinstall Lion whole step during the restore process ? You now have a drive with Lion installed ( via your backup ) but no Recovery HD partition . Can you add a Recovery HD partition at this point without having to start over ? It would be nice , for instance , if the Recovery Disk Assistant software could be used to create a Recovery HD partitioning on your startup drive , leaving the remainder of the driveway inviolate . But it does n’t work that way . Even if you created a separate empty division via Disk Utility , prior to running Disk Assistant , it would n’t help — as the utility involve an existing Recovery HD for run .
As another alternative , reinstalling Lion by execute the Install atomic number 76 X Lion public utility company may re - add the Recovery HD sectionalisation ( I have not yet confirmed this ) . I can corroborate that running the Install public-service corporation will reinstall Lion 10.7.0 over an update version ( such as 10.7.1 ) .
An ideal solution would be for third - political party backup utilities to include Recovery HD in their mirrored backups . That way , a restore would automatically repair both the main and the Recovery HD divider , saving you the supernumerary gradation of reinstalling Lion . I have asked the developer of SuperDuper and Data Backup about this opening . Both tell that it is something they are considering for a future update — but there were no promises .
Bottom line
With the arrival of Lion , forecast out the best style to be prepared for a restore of your drive requires more planning than ever before . Some reduction may amount with belated updates to Lion . Until then , I highly recommend that you refresh all of the options covered here and determine which one(s ) work well for you . Do it before hassle knocks on your front doorway .
A big give thanks you to Dan Frakes . Without his clause and his replies to my emails , I would not have been able to write this pillar .
