09-05-2011, 01:39 AM

Hey all, I am a windows convert, new imac here, will admit put windows 7 on it right away lol, but anyways i noticed my imac came with no software backup or restore discs and unlike my windows pc's I saw no make restore discs type prompts once I started using the machine.

This has lion on it btw, so in the event my hard drive dies how do i get back to day one on the apple side at least?

I was reading about time machine and altho i get it as a restore point sort of if my main internal drive is zapped i guess I am just wondering ok how do i even get TO the time machine stuff without a working primary drive etc.

Sorry for such a newbie question, the mac side of things is interesting so far but somewhat different than windows so i am learning everyday...

09-05-2011, 02:09 AM

Your hard drive has a hidden recovery partition. To test it out, boot the machine and hold down the Option key. Select the Recovery Partition to boot from.

You can also download the free "Lion Recovery Disk Assistant" from Apple and make a recovery flash drive.

09-05-2011, 02:11 AM

Thanks on that, guess I just figured if my main drive dies what good is the recovery portion without a boot disc of Lion, but looks like I can create one on a flash drive hum, guess I gotta make one up and stick it in my just in case folder here...

09-06-2011, 04:04 PM

You can also use software called Carbon Copy Cloner to produce a bootable clone of your entire HDD on an external drive.

09-06-2011, 07:07 PM

The thing about all that is the buyer has to make all the effort, when it would be so simple for Apple to include a USB stick. I've have an iMac for 2 years and I'm still not real comfortable with all the manipuations you have to do.

I know I'm probably alone on this, but I think this is a mistake on Apple's part. This is something that should come with the Mini, especially since the USB sticks available for sale in the Apple stores will not work in the Mini

09-06-2011, 07:19 PM

I know I'm probably alone on this, but I think this is a mistake on Apple's part. This is something that should come with the Mini, especially since the USB sticks available for sale in the Apple stores will not work in the Mini

Any USB flash drive should work in the Mac Mini. The ones that Apple sells are no different from anyone else.

Also, what's so difficult about downloading the free "Lion Recovery Disk Assistant" or for that matter making your own recovery DVD or flash drive? The instructions for doing either are clear and concise.

I happen to agree that Apple probably should have included a flash drive or DVD with Lion on it for those new Macs that have Lion preinstalled but that was Apple's decision and we have to live with it. However, there's no sense in looking back, just make your own.

09-06-2011, 08:18 PM

I bought an 8GB USB stick, put the "Lion recovery disk assistant" AND the Lion install file as it was downloaded on the stick, so I can either recover or re-install. No brainer to do it.