I have a macbook pro which I bought with OS X Mavericks preinstalled. I have a Mac Mini with Mountain Lion which I want to upgrade to Mavericks. But since the download size is too big, I wonder if it is possible to create an installation disc or better yet USB using the OS X Mavericks already installed in Macbook Pro and use it to install Mavericks in my Mac Mini?
MacOS – Is it possible to install OS X Mavericks from one Mac to another
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Related Solutions
PRAM Reset
On boot, hold ⌘ cmd + ⌥ alt + P + R until the second boot chime. This can fix a variety of things including problems due to recent kernel panics.
Recovery HD
On boot, hold ⌘ cmd + R to boot into the Recovery HD. If this fails, hold ⌥ alt on boot, and select Recovery from the options available.
From here, you can open Disk Utility and select Repair Disk.
Target Disk Mode
If you wish to get information from the computer, and you have another computer and some way of connecting the two, you can boot into Target Disk Mode by holding T on boot. Files can then be taken off the drive by the other computer as if it was a normal external drive.
Internet Recovery
If you have a recent backup or Target Disk Mode worked (and your Mac is post-July 2011) you can start fresh by using Internet Recovery.
Hold ⌘ cmd + ⌥ alt + R on boot to begin. A new copy of OS X will be downloaded from the internet and installed, erasing your internal drive.
According to Apple, you should not install previous versions of OS X than the version that came with your Mac. Since your Mac came with Mavericks, you should not install Mountain Lion. But if you want ML, then it may be possible with the following caveats.
Both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs ship with a certain version of Mac OS X (or Mac OS X Server) on their installation disc(s). You should not install a version of Mac OS X earlier than that which came with your Mac.
If you install an earlier (previous) version of the Mac OS X than what was included, your computer may exhibit unexpected behavior such as:
- The trackpad or mouse may not respond properly
- The computer may stop responding
- Sleep/wake issues may occur
- The display image may appear to "shrink" with black bars around it, may appear tinted, or have other issues
- Loss of built-in audio
- Loss of Bluetooth or AirPort functionality
- May not start up past the Apple logo
Source: Apple KB — Don't install a version of Mac OS X earlier than what came with your Mac
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Best Answer
You can't "install" it, but you can clone an image of the OS on your laptop using Disk Utility and save it to an external hard drive, then restore that image (also with Disk Utility) onto your Mac mini.
Even better, if you can use Target Disk Mode (requires both Macs have either Thunderbolt or FireWire), you can use the same restore feature in Disk Utility to clone directly between the drives without requiring the external media/image file.
This will of course wipe your Mac mini drive in the process and won't give you a clean install. If you're OK with that though, then it might be an option if you really can't afford the download.