How to Install Snow Leopard Without the Disc

A presentation of Apple's Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard is the upgrade to the Apple operating system Mac OS X Leopard. Improvements to the system include faster performance and features such as flexible access and built-in support for Microsoft Exchange. Installing Snow Leopard usually involves ordering the DVD and installing the software on your system. However, there are times when there is no DVD available for the installation, making this a daunting task.

Things You'll Need

• Mac OS X Snow Leopard
• Host computer
• Installation Computer
• 8 GB USB Flash Drive

Instructions

Using a Remote Disc

1. Turn your installation computer on. Turn on the host computer and insert the Snow Leopard disc.

2. Connect both computers on your local network.

3. Open the Sharing Pane on the Systems Preferences tool on your host computer. Enable DVD or CD sharing.

4. Open the Finder on your installation computer.

5. Select Remote Disc located on the sidebar. Double-click the icon of your host computer. Wait for the "connected" message.

6. Double-click "Install DVD," then the "Mac OSX" icon. Follow the installation instructions.

Using a USB Flash Drive

1. Insert the Snow Leopard disc on your host computer. Insert the USB flash drive.

2. Open Disc Utility on your host computer. Select the USB flash drive.

3. Select the Erase tab. Set format to Mac OS Extended.

4. Name the partition Snow Leopard or OSX Install. Click Erase.

5. Select the Restore tab and drag the Snow Leopard DVD icon to the source field. Select the USB flash drive as your destination drive.

6. Click Restore and wait for completion.

7. Check to make sure the installation files are correctly installed. Open the USB flash drive to see if the installation files are present.

8. Take the USB drive out of the host computer and insert it into the installation computer.

9. Press the Option key while restarting the installation computer. Select the USB flash drive as the boot drive. Follow installation instructions.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a copy of the image in an online storage account as backup. This will be a convenient way to retrieve the software for future use.

• Always backup your files to an external hard drive in case things go wrong with the installation.

References

• Macworld: Installing Snow Leopard; What you need to know; Dan Frakes; August 28, 2009
• Maciverse: Install OS X Snow Leopard from a USB flash drive; Dan Hinckley

Resources

• Apple: Home
• TUAW: Home