Mac Os X Lion Recovery Disk Download

I have a MID 2011 Desktop. As iam not a that much relevant in MAC as i work in windows. I lost my mac osx CD. So now iam trying to install lion via internet recovery booting with Command-Option-R at the chime. It started to download via internet recovery. But could not finish it. OS X Recovery Disk Assistant lets you repair disks or reinstall OS X without the need for a physical disc. The tool allows you to create OS X Recovery on an external drive that has all of the same capabilities as the built-in OS X Recovery: reinstall Lion or Mountain Lion, repair the disk using Disk Utility, restore from a Time Machine backup, or browse the web with Safari.

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.

Mac Os X Lion Recovery Disk Download

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 10.0Puma 10.1Jaguar 10.2
Panther 10.3Tiger 10.4Leopard 10.5
Snow Leopard 10.6Lion 10.7Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks 10.9Yosemite 10.10El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12High Sierra 10.13Mojave 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.

Mac Os X Recovery Disk

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:

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:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
  4. 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.

  1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
  2. Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
  3. Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
  4. Select external drive as a source.
  5. 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.

  1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. 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.

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

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.

Every Mac running OS X Lion and later has a small (650MB) hidden recovery partition called Recovery HD located on your Mac’s internal hard drive which is reserved for common utilities such as Time Machine Backup,Terminal utility, Disk Utility, Hardware Diagnostic tool and other built in set of utilities. Jul 20, 2011 Go to the Applications folder and locate the Install Mac OS X Lion package. At this point you can either create the installation disc, or you can copy the installer to a backup location so you can create the installation disc at a later point. Right-click the installer and choose Show Package Contents.

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to install macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install macOS on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

Download macOS

  1. Download a macOS installer, such as macOS Mojave or macOS High Sierra.
    To download macOS Mojave or High Sierra for this purpose, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
  2. When the macOS installer opens, quit it without continuing installation.
  3. Find the installer in your Applications folder as a single ”Install” file, such as Install macOS Mojave.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

  1. After downloading the installer, connect the USB flash drive or other volume you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume accordingly.
    Mojave:*

    High Sierra:*
    Sierra:
    El Capitan:
  4. Press Return after typing the command.
  5. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  6. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created.
  7. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Mojave. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument. The Sierra and El Capitan commands show the proper format of this argument.

Use the bootable installer

After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it.

  1. Connect the bootable installer to a compatible Mac.
  2. Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
    Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it.
  3. Choose your language, if prompted.
  4. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
  5. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

For more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter this path in Terminal:

Mojave:

High Sierra:

Sierra:

El Capitan:

Modern versions of Mac OS X no longer need you to repair disk permissions. However, that’s not the only issue that can occur with a disk or file system. Mac OS X contains a variety of tools for repairing disk, partition, and file system errors.

These options work like chkdsk on Windows, checking for disk and file system errors and repairing them. You can perform a check from within Mac OS X, but it may sometimes be necessary to use recovery mode to fix problems. In a worst-case scenario, you may have to manually run fsck commands from a terminal in single-user mode.

Use “First Aid” in the Disk Utility

You can perform a disk health check from the Disk Utility application included with Mac OS X. Apple updated this utility’s interface on Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan, so it’ll look a bit different from the screenshots below if you’re still using and older version of Mac OS X.

To launch it, you can press Command+Space to open Spotlight search, type “Disk Utility”, and press Enter. Or, you can navigate to your Applications folder, double-click the “Utilities” folder, and double-click the “Disk Utility” shortcut.

In the Disk Utility application, select the disk or partition you want to check — the system partition is named “Macintosh HD” by default — and click the “First Aid” button.

You can either run the First Aid function on an entire disk, or an individual partition on that disk. It depends which you select in the sidebar.

Click “Run” and your Mac will check the disk you selected for errors. If it finds any errors, it will attempt to automatically fix them for you.

You can click the “Show Details” drop-down message to view detailed information about any errors it encounters. You’ll see messages like “Storage system check exit code is 0” and “File system check exit code is 0” here. An exit code of “0” is a good thing, and means no errors were found.

Boot into Safe Mode

RELATED:Troubleshoot Your Mac With These Hidden Startup Options

One simple way to fix such errors is to boot your Mac into Safe Mode. Safe Mode, sometimes called “Safe Boot,” contains an automatic startup check and repair that can fix these problems.

To do this, restart your Mac and hold “Shift” while it’s booting. Sign in with your password and your Mac will then check your disks. This will make the login process take longer than normal, so be patient.

When it’s done logging in and you see a desktop, the disk check is done. You can reboot your Mac at this point.

Run First Aid in Recovery Mode

RELATED:8 Mac System Features You Can Access in Recovery Mode

Ideally, that should be the end of it — especially if you used the safe mode trick above. However, in some cases, your Mac may find disk or file system problems and be unable to repair them when you perform the above steps. This is because it’s running in “live mode” — examining the disk while the operating system is running from it. It can’t make changes to that system drive while it’s running from it.

The solution is to boot into a special recovery mode. From there, you can use Disk Utility in the same way. Your Mac will be able to fix errors on your system drive from recovery mode.

Mac Os X Bootable Usb From Windows

To do this, restart your Mac. Press and hold the “Command+R” keys while it’s booting. You’ll see a progress bar appear, and you can release the keys after you do. Your Mac will load straight into recovery mode. (If recovery mode doesn’t appear, restart your Mac and try pressing the keys again.)

In OS X Recovery, click the “Disk Utility” shortcut to launch the Disk Utility here. Select the drive or partition you need to repair and click the “First Aid” button. The Disk Utility interface is the same one you’ll see on your Mac OS X desktop, but run it from here and it’ll be able to repair problems with your system drive.

Use fsck in Single-User Mode

Mac Os X Disc Image Download

In some cases, even Safe Mode or Disk Utility in OS X Recovery won’t be enough to fix problems. You may need to boot your Mac into single-user mode and run the fsck (file system check) command the old-fashioned way. You don’t need to do this if any of the above steps worked. This is the thing you should try last, as Disk Utility in the recovery environment may work better and be more capable.

To do this, start your Mac in single-user mode. Restart it, and then press and hold the Command+S keys while it boots.

You’ll enter single-user mode, which will provide you with a text-mode terminal. Type the following command into the terminal and press Enter to start a file system check:

/sbin/fsck -fy

The command will run through several phases of checks. When it’s done, you’ll see a message saying “** The volume [name] appears to be OK” if everything is fine.

If it found problems, you’ll see a “***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****” message. This indicates the fsck command found and fixed problems. The fsck command may find additional errors after repairing the first batch of errors, so Apple recommends you run the fsck command again if it found and fixed problems. Run the above fsck command over and over until you see a “** The volume [name] appears to be OK” message.

When the fsck command says your disk is okay, type the following command at the terminal and press Enter:

Mac Os X Discord Sound

reboot

Your Mac will reboot, returning you to the usual login screen.

Mac Os X Disk Full

The above steps should only be necessary if you’re experiencing errors with your Mac. Assuming everything is fine, you don’t need to regularly perform disk first-aid checks. However, if you do want to run a check, you can just do it with Disk Utility from within Mac OS X. You don’t need to reboot into any other environments unless there’s an error on a system drive you need to fix.

Download Mac Os X Lion Recovery Disk

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