Install El Capitan On External Drive

Depending on what version of Mac OS X is on the computer right now, you can try to use Recovery Mode (Command + R on boot) to reinstall. A better option may be to use a USB installer drive for El Capitan or whatever version you are hoping to reinstall. Most of the Mac models can install and run OS X El Capitan, but in some devices, you can't use full features of this OS due to hardware limitations. For instance, you can't use AirDrop on your Mac if you don't have a WiFi network compatible with PAN.

Before you begin, make sure that you backup all of your important data such as music, photos etc. Onto an external drive as a clean install of OS X El Capitan will wipe everything off. Hi there, i recommend a software called 'OmniDiskSweeper' which is available for free. As you install this program you can run it and find out what are all the things that are taking your space from your hard drive and you can navigate through the.

Install El Capitan On External Drive
  1. I've installed EL CAPITAN on an external SSD without any problem and without using TRIM because my SSD is connected on USB3 plug. ( TRIM doesn't run with USB3 connected SSD). I'm on Imac end 2013. My internal HD is now used to save automatically all my datas with CCC ( but I've also a backup with Time Machine). I'm on EL CAPITAN 10.11.4 ( Beta ).
  2. May 13, 2021 Download: OS X El Capitan This will be downloaded as a disk image called InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, which has the name InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder.

Contents

If you made an USB thumbdrive installer for it, or have a working Mac capable of running El Capitan and with a FireWire or Thunderbolt port, you can install that directly. If not, you'll need to install the computer's original OS from Apple's Internet Recovery system(press the Option, Command, and R keys at startup), and then upgrade. Just before you install the new Mac OS X El Capitan, you must perform few tasks to ensure that your Mac will be ready for the installation of the software: Check Your Mac - Check whether your Mac will be able to run the new OS X 10.11. Your Mac will reboot, and in a few moments you can begin using your new, freshly installed (and ideally trouble-free) copy of OS X El Capitan. If, on the other hand, you’re installing El Capitan on a hard disk for the first time, you still have one last step to complete. After your Mac reboots, the Setup Assistant window appears. Tag gameselementary p.e. games.

2. El Capitan Features
3. El Capitan Download & Install
4. OS X 10.11 Problems
5. Mac OS X 10.11 Tips
6. Software for OS X 10.11
7. Compare OS

Mac OS X El Capitan can be downloaded directly from the Apple website. The Beta version of the OS is available but the final version will be made available towards the Autumn season of 2015 as speculated by many Apple users. You can use your older Mac OS with the new El Capitan, all you have to do is to create a different partition for the new El Capitan if you have the Yosemite already installed. There are few steps you should consider in downloading the latest El Capitan and these are as follow.

Install Os X El Capitan On New Hard Drive

Part 1. Preparing Mac Device for the Installation of Mac OS X El Capitan

Both Mavericks and Yosemite are easier to download and install on Mac devices, however, this is not the case with Mac OS X El Capitan. Just before you install the new Mac OS X El Capitan, you must perform few tasks to ensure that your Mac will be ready for the installation of the software:

  • Check Your Mac - Check whether your Mac will be able to run the new OS X 10.11. Apple has provided a list of the Mac supported by the new Mac OS X El Capitan and if you are already running the Mavericks or Yosemite, the same lists may also apply to the El Capitan. You can also check this list on the “Will your Mac run Mac OS X” article on Apple website.
  • Create Enough Space - Check that your Mac has sufficient RAM to run the software. You wouldn’t run into any hitches if your Mac device is listed on the acceptable Mac devices for Mac OS X El Capitan. Apple recommend that you have a minimum RAM of 2G, however, a minimum of 4G space of RAM is highly recommended. You will also need to delete some unnecessary files to create more space for the installation of El Capitan.
  • Check Hard Drive Space - Make sure you have sufficient hard drive space for the installation of Mac OS X El Capitan. Yosemite will normally require a Hard drive space of up to 5GB , but the new El Capitan will require between 15g and 20gb of space on your hard drive for successful download and installation.
  • Register - Register to access the Mac Apple store. You need to upgrade your Mac and get access to Mac Apple store for a small fee in order to get the most out of your Mac OS X El Capitan.
  • Updates - Make sure your third party Apps are updated before installing Mac OS X El Capitan. You can simply launch App store and click on “Updates” on the tool bar if you want to update the apps you bought from Apple store. For other third party apps, you may need some manual updates from manufacturer websites to complete such updates.
  • Backup Your Mac - Perform a backup before downloading and installing Mac OS X El Capitan- you need to protect your important documents and files, thus you may have to back them up somewhere before starting the download and installation process.

Part 2. Installing Mac OS X El Capitan Safely on Your Mac Device

Install Mac Os X El Capitan On New Hard Drive

You can install or upgrade to Mac OS X El Capitan as a dual boot partition. You may be able to download a test version if you register for the OS X Seed program from Apple, and you can also provide a feedback to Apple in order for the company to update the software before it is finally released. You can follow these instructions to install the Beta version of Mac OS X El Capitan. It is strictly recommended that you perform a backup before you begin this process. It is important you keep in mind that Mac OS X El Capitan is still in a Beta format, thus , not all your apps or programs will work on it.

  1. Visit the Apple Beta software program page and log unto the page using your Apple ID. Simply click on “Enroll your Mac”.
  2. Click on the download link that shows up, and enter the personal redemption code given to you.
  3. Open the downloaded Mac OS X El Capitan software and preview the file in the Applications folder. Click “Continue” and then select “Agree”.
  4. Click on “Install” and then enter your admin password. You're all set!

Part 3. Installing Mac OS X El Capitan Safely on an External Drive

Install El Capitan On External Drive

You don’t have to install Mac OS X El Capitan on your Mac device, you can also install it on an external hard drive, most especially when you want to access the OS quickly. You can consider Thunderbolt drives which are similar to the internal drives on Mac, or you can simply use the USB 3.0 external drive if you don’t have the Thunderbolt on your Mac. You will have to format an external drive before installing Mac OS X El Capitan, this will help to install the Mac OS X El Capitan safely on the hard drive and at the same time the configuration of your device will not be changed.

Step 1. Launch Disk UtilityInstall el capitan on external drive

Connect the external drive to your Mac device and make sure it is detected. Launch the Disk Utility tool ( go to “Utilities” and you will find it there). Choose the drive- it is located at the side bar.

Step 2. Partition

Simply click on “Partition”. Make sure the partition layout reads “1 partition”. Name the partition. You can use a name like “Mac OS X El Capitan”. Click on “Options” and ensure that the Guide partition table is chosen, and then click on “Ok”.

Install El Capitan On External Disk

Step 3. Options

Install Os X El Capitan On External Drive

Click “Apply'. Open the preview file from your Mac’s application folder. Click on “Continue”. Click on the “Agree” button.

Step 4. Open

Click on “Show all disks”. Simply highlight the “External Hard Drive” on which you have just install the Mac OS X El Capitan

Step 5. Install

Click on “Install”, and enter the admin password.

  1. Download El Capitan installation from the App store. It might complain that you already have it installed but download it anyway. It will be downloaded to /Applications and be named Install OS X El Capitan.app
  2. Create a bootable image from the El Capitan installer on a USB stick larger than 6GB. In a terminal run:

where MyVolume is the name of your USB stick. Change this to match the name of your USB stick.

Play Music From Usb Drive

  1. Physically install SSD into the target laptop.
  2. Insert the El Capitan USB stick into the target laptop and power up. (This might take a while.)
  3. When the menu finally turns up, choose Disk Utility and format the SSD as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a unique name.
  4. Once complete, exit from Disk Utility and return the main menu.
  5. Choose to Install OS X on the formatted SSD.
  6. Follow the prompts until El Capitan is installed.

Here’s link to a video on how to physically install the SSD as well as run the software installation.

Installer

Download From Usb

Install El Capitan On External Drive

If you’d rather install Yosemite on the SSD then follow the How to Install Yosemite on a New SSD guide.