Summary: In this blog, we will share two methods to create a disk image-the first one using macOS Catalina’s Disk Utility and the second using a Mac data recovery application. Read on to know the steps and benefits of these methods. Also, make sure you avail the free trial version of Stellar Data Recovery application.
Disk image of an external or an inbuilt Mac storage drive is immensely helpful in recovering files in case the source drive fails or dies. You can create a disk image of your APFS or HFS drive on a larger storage medium and access it at a later point of time.
Create a Disk Image Using Disk Utility on macOS Catalina
macOS Catalina’s inbuilt Disk Utility provides an option to select a mounted storage drive be it internal or external SSD/HDD and create a disk image (.DMG) file to a location other than the source disk. The systematic steps to create a disk image of a drive using Disk Utility are as follows:
Open DiskUtility and select the storage drive from the sidebar
Go to File > New Image > Image from “DriveName”
Give a name to your disk image file and provide a destination to save the file
Click the Format popup menu, then choose your required option
If you want to limit the access of this disk image file, then click the Encryption popup menu to set a password for its access
Click Save to continue the imaging process
Click Done once the imaging process is over
That way of downloading Mac OS X updates and new apps was introduced with Snow Leopard and means that anyone with a Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or earlier can’t actually access the Mac. Want to install Mac OS X on Windows PC. Here is a guide on How to Install macOS Mojave on VMware Workstation Player in Windows 10, 7. I know macOS Catalina Final is already out there.
Disk Utility mounts the image file’s disk icon on the desktop and sidebar of Finder. You can use the mounted image file to open its content.
Create a Disk Image Using a Mac Data Recovery Utility on macOS Catalina
The third-party data recovery utility, Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac also allows you to create a disk image (.DMG) file of the inbuilt Mac storage drive/volume or an external storage device. The logical steps to create a disk image of a drive using the utility are as follows:
Step 1)Download and install Stellar Data Recovery Professional on your Mac with installed macOS Catalina (or later macOS/OSX)
Step 2) Launch the software and select RecoverData from the main interface
Step 3) Click the ‘2nd‘ icon present at the top of the interface and select CreateImage
Step 4) From the “CreateImage” screen, select a drive or a volume to create an image file
Step 5) If you wish to create an image of the entire selected storage location, click Next
Step 6) If you wish to select the range to create an image, click the AdvancedSettings
From the “SelectRangetoCreateImage” screen, drag the sliders to define the starting and ending sectors of the image file
Click Close and then click Next
Step 7) In the “CreatingMediaImagetoSave” dialog box, locate the destination where you wish to save the image file
This completes the disk imaging process using the software. Unlike Disk Utility, macOS Catalina does not mount this image file for you to access its data. Nevertheless, you can keep this newly created disk image as a backup and use it to recover data at the time of data loss.
Recover Data from a Disk Image Using the Software
The methodical steps to use the .DMG file for data recovery are as follows:
Step 1) Launch the software and select Recover Data from the main interface
Step 2) Click the ‘2nd’ icon present at the top of the interface and select Load Image
Step 3) From the “Load Image” screen, select the .DMG file or else click Add to add the image file
Step 4) Click Scan to start the recovery process
Step 5) Once the scan is over, preview and select the required files then click Recover
Step 6) Specify the save location and click Save. You can find the recovered data in the saved location. Watch the below video for the process.
Conclusion
We hope the blog helped you in understanding the practical details of how you can create a disk image file of a storage drive on macOS Catalina. By implementing Disk Utility, you can generate a disk image file and can open the automatically mounted image file from the saved location. On the contrary, by using Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac, you create a disk image file and use it to scan and recover lost, deleted, or inaccessible files. How to download chinese songs on mac.
Unlike Disk Utility, the software allows you to select the specific region of the drive for image creation. We recommend this method to recover files from a storage drive that is too big in size. For instance, if your storage drive has the data storage capacity of say 8 TB, then you need to recover data in portions. Free download the software to create an image, scan, and preview files. Register the software to save the recoverable files.
So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.
A list of all Mac OS X versions
We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.
Cheetah 10.0
Puma 10.1
Jaguar 10.2
Panther 10.3
Tiger 10.4
Leopard 10.5
Snow Leopard 10.6
Lion 10.7
Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks 10.9
Yosemite 10.10
El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12
High Sierra 10.13
Mojave 10.14
Catalina 10.15
STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation
Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.
Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:
Uninstall large unused apps
Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
Locate the biggest files on your computer:
Download Mac Os Mojave Full Installer
Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage. If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)
STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download
Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.
How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store
If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:
Click the App Store icon.
Click Purchases in the top menu.
Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
Click Download.
This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.
Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer
If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.
Purchase an older version of Mac operating system
You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.
Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6 Get an email copy of Lion 10.7 Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8
The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.
How to get macOS El Capitan download
If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:
1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD. 2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update. 3. Download El Capitan here.
“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”
If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.
But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.
After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.
STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive
The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.
Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
Select external drive as a source.
Enter your Apple ID.
Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.
Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
Connect the external drive.
Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.
Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
Mac Os X Disc Image Download
How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions
If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive. Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave
Download Mac Os Mojave Ios
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina
Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).
Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version
If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.