El Capitan Startup Disk

Start up from macOS Recovery

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window. Click the gear icon labeled Options, then click Continue.

Intel processor

Macintosh HD, or the MacBook internal hard drive, is basically the startup drive of most Apple computers. That means if your Mac or MacBook Pro can’t mount its startup disk, it is likely that you will experience problems, like your computer gets stuck on the login screen or it does not boot at all. Os x el capitan 10 11 final. Situations like.

Install El Capitan On The Startup Volume. In this method, you will be installing the OS X on your existing startup volume. Here you need to keep a backup of your data stored on the existing startup volume. For install the El Capitan on your startup volume, you need to create a bootable USB installer on a separate drive (USB pen drive). Since OS X El Capitan, built-in utilities like Startup Disk and Disk Utility won’t show drives mounted with third-party file system drivers anymore. With that in mind, we have introduced additional features in NTFS for Mac preference pane. You have to use NTFS for Mac’s Set as Startup option to boot from BootCamp partition.

Make sure that your Mac has a connection to the internet. Then turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘)-R until you see an Apple logo or other image.

If you're asked to select a user you know the password for, select the user, click Next, then enter their administrator password.

Reinstall macOS

Select Reinstall macOS from the utilities window in macOS Recovery, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Follow these guidelines during installation:

  • If the installer asks to unlock your disk, enter the password you use to log in to your Mac.
  • If the installer doesn't see your disk, or it says that it can't install on your computer or volume, you might need to erase your disk first.
  • If the installer offers you the choice between installing on Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD - Data, choose Macintosh HD.
  • Allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart and show a progress bar several times, and the screen might be empty for minutes at a time.

After installation is complete, your Mac might restart to a setup assistant. If you're selling, trading in, or giving away your Mac, press Command-Q to quit the assistant without completing setup. Then click Shut Down. When the new owner starts up the Mac, they can use their own information to complete setup.

Other macOS installation options

When you install macOS from Recovery, you get the current version of the most recently installed macOS, with some exceptions:

Disk
  • On an Intel-based Mac: If you use Shift-Option-Command-R during startup, you're offered the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available. If you use Option-Command-R during startup, in most cases you're offered the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac. Otherwise you're offered the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
  • If the Mac logic board was just replaced, you may be offered only the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac. If you just erased your entire startup disk, you may be offered only the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

You can also use these methods to install macOS, if the macOS is compatible with your Mac:

  • Use the App Store to download and install the latest macOS.
  • Use the App Store or a web browser to download and install an earlier macOS.
  • Use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume to create a bootable installer.

Mac operating system’s twelfth major version is the El Capitan Installer (version 10.11). All the Mac computers which don’t have the privilege to upgrade to MacOS High Sierra or the computers that need to upgrade to El Capitan first, can download this twelfth version on the computer. This is the very last version of the Mac operating system which comes under the name OS X. And it is named as ‘El Capitan’ after the formation of a rock in the Yosemite National Park. El Capitan Installer is the post version to the Yosemite, and it was built by adding up more improvements to the Yosemite. In this version of the Mac operating system, the Apple Inc. has focused on the performance, stability, and security of the computer. Anyone who is interested can download it on the Mac PC.

How to download El Capitan Installer?

If you want to upgrade to OS X El Capitan, first you have to collect gather your Mac PC and then download the El Capitan Installer. That’s what we are going to do now.

  1. Go to the App Store and open the El Capitan page there.
  2. Then you must click on the ‘Download; button on the El Capitan Page.
  3. If your Mac PC is compatible to perform this upgrade, a file named ‘Install OS X El Capitan’ will download to your Applications folder.
  4. The installer will open automatically after finishing the download process. All you have to do next is click on the ‘Continue’ button and follow the onscreen instructions.

Upgrade Mac OS Version with El Capitan Installer while Protecting your Data

El Capitan Boot Disk Download

Before executing the Upgrade, you must prepare the Mac PC for the El Capitan Update. For that, gather these requirements first.

  • The Mac PC must have at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of storage space.
  • The PC must have at least 45% of battery life.
  • Connect the Mac PC to Wi-Fi or any other internet connection.
  • The Mac Apps must be up to date with the latest versions.
  • Take backups of all your personal data and present OS of the Mac PC.

Important! It is very important to backup your important data on the Mac PC to an external storage device because it will help you to avoid the data loss issues. If any case, you forgot to backup the data, your data may be lost while executing the El Capitan Installer update. So make sure you make a backup of the device data.

Capitan

Os X El Capitan Startup Disk Full

How to use El Capitan Installer for a Clean Install?

01. El Capitan Clean Install on Empty Volume with El Capitan Installer

This is the easiest method for the clean install. Here, you can install the OS X El Capitan Installer onto an empty volume, or you can use a storage space that has the content which no longer needed and don’t mind removing. What it matters here is that you don’t use the current startup volume as the destination here. What makes this method easier is the fact that it is possible to perform this clean install while booted from the current startup drive. You don’t need a special, custom-made startup environment for the empty volume clean install. All you have to do is, start up the installer and go.

02. El Capitan Clean Install on Startup Volume with El Capitan Installer

This is the most common method of the two. Usually, the clean install process deletes the contents of the destination drive. Therefore, if you choose the startup drive method to perform the clean install of El Capitan Installer, you have to follow some extra steps as well.

  • First, you have to create a bootable USB flash drive that has the Installer of OS X El Capitan.
  • Then erase the startup drive.
  • After then, start the clean install process.

How to Create El Capitan Installer with USB?

Requirements

  • The USB flash drive must be at least 8GB
  • El Capitan Installer must be on the Mac PC’s Applications folder.

El Capitan Bootable Usb

Process

  • Plug the USB drive into the Mac PC with the Installer of the El Capitan on it.
  • Rename the USB driver using an easy to remember and use name. (For the ease of the steps ahead, I will rename it as ‘ElCaptIns’)
  • Be sure that the Installer of the El Capitan named ‘Install OS X El Capitan.app’ is in its default location (Applications folder).
  • Select and copy the text of the below-mentioned terminal command.
    • sudo/Applications/InstallOSXElCapitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/ElCaptIns --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
  • Now you can launch the terminal in the Applications/Utilities/
  • In this step, it deletes the data in the destination drive. So make sure it doesn’t contain any valuable data and paste the copied command into the terminal, then press ‘Return’.
  • When the windows prompted, enter the admin level account password of yours and press to Return.
  • Then a message telling “To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/ElCaptIns. If you wish to continue, type (Y) then press return:” will emerge. You can type ‘Y’ and press to return to continue. You are already set if you don’t see this message.

USB installer and El Capitan Installer in Apple Store

El Capitan Installer is only available in the Mac App Store. So you can only download it from the App Store. By the way, having a USB installer to perform the El Capitan is a good idea. Because having a copy of the OS version in a separate device ensures that you always have a backup plan to install it or re-install it on the PC. When you have the USB installer with the El Capitan Installer in it, you no longer need the internet connection or the access to the Mac App Store to perform the upgrade.

What is createinstallmedia?

“createinstallmedia” is a unix program hidden inside the OS X Installer which is provided by the Apple Inc. to create a bootable installer drive. createinstallmedia is the ideal and the easier to use tool if you are comfortable to use the terminal. This is only available for the OS versions of Lion (OS X 10.7) and above.



System and Hardware Requirements for El Capitan Installer

System Requirements

  • iMac models from mid 2007 or later
  • MacBook models from late 2008 or later
  • MacBook Pro models from mid 2007 or later
  • MacBook Air models from late 2008 or later
  • Mac mini models from early 2009 or later
  • Mac Pro models from early 2008 or later
  • Xserve models from early 2009

Hardware Requirements

  • OS X v10.6.8 or later
  • 2GB of memory
  • 8.8GB of available storage
  • Some features require an Apple ID (terms apply)
  • Some features require a compatible Internet service provider (fees may apply)

FAQs:-

01. What is the best method to install El Capitan?

You can either use the default method to upgrade install or clean install methods to get El Capitan Installer but, without any doubt, Clean Install is the best method to upgrade your Mac OS. I hope all the above facts prove that.

02. How to save previous data when upgrading the OS X?

Simply, take a backup by using the Time Machine.

  1. Open the Time Machine app.
  2. Click on the ‘Select Backup Disk’.
  3. Select the external drive or internal location where you want to save the files.
  4. Click on the ‘On’ to turn on the Time Machine.
  5. Click on the Arrow Clock icon in the Finder Bar at the top of your screen and select ‘Backup Now’.

Make El Capitan Install Usb

03. Is it secure to install El Capitan without Apple Store?

How To Make Bootable El Capitan

No, it is not safe to get El Capitan Installer outsider of the Apple Store. It is only safe to get this OS upgrade from the Mac App Store. Besides, there is no such external place to get this OS upgrade. I have provided the steps to install El Capitan in the above of this site. Just follow those steps and upgrade your Mac PC to the El Capitan.