Can I make a bootable USB flash drive for Mac from Windows

Question

Problem: MacBook hard drive crashed and is ruined. I need to work on a music assignment on a program only available for Mac OS X and Ubuntu, and will not be able to get a new hard drive for the Mac before the assignment is due. I only have non-administrator access to Windows XP and 7 computers. Can I make a USB drive with Ubuntu on it so I can use my MacBook with this? Can I create this from a Windows computer? Please give detailed steps, if possible, for I am a noob when it comes to computers, and especially Linux.

Answer 1

There are many ways to make a working bootable USB Mac osx installer.

I'll start with the 2 Windows Tut.

1. Downloads: Download PowerISO.exe from here.

2. Installing: Install poweriso, it's crack

3. Bootabling : Click on Open and select your DMG or ISO file then click on tools ---> Create a bootable USB

4. Device: Select your device to install it on

5. Start: Click on Start and wait until it finishes (for 4.5 GB it takes about 3/5 minutes)

6. Finish!: Congratulations! Now you have a bootable USB media.

If it won't work by selecting F12 at boot prompt, modify the BIOS to boot the USB before everything.

ONLY IF ABOVE WON'T WORK

1. File -------> Open ------> Select your dmg/iso file

2. Right Click on USB device ------> Format with disk image and select your disk image

3. Start format and wait

4. You now should have your Mac OSX bootable USB.

Hope it helps.

Answer 2

Yes - but don't use the native Windows tool. It is buggy. There are several opensource tools for burning a CD iso onto a USB stick - but if you don't have an admin Windows account this could be a problem.

Answer 3

According to Apple:

Intel-based Macs support starting from an external USB storage device's volume that:

• Has been formatted with a GUID partition type
• Contains an installation of Mac OS X 10.4.5 or later, or Mac OS X 10.5 or later, which is compatible with (or shipped with) the Mac that the USB device is connected to. Note: You should not use a version of Mac OS X that is earlier ("older") than the version your Mac shipped with.

So booting from a Live USB of Ubuntu with a Mac is not officially supported.

You may, however, try the steps described here (no guarantees!), or alternatively, just boot from a Live CD.

Answer 4

I would create a Mac bootable USB from Windows.

So I had a bad day yesterday when my Mac crashed and I didn't have a Mac bootable disk/USB. It took me hours to search and find a 'fool-proof' solution to "Create a Mac Bootable USB from Windows"

All of the references I found were about creating a bootable disk from a Mac system, but none discussed it for a Windows setup.

But I finally found a good explanation here.