boot & run app from USB

[ersatz]

I can't BELIEVE how much difficulty I'm having with this. On a 2nd gen. Air, with Mountain Lion, I need to boot via USB and run a program FROM that same USB, i.e. NOT from the system drive, which I want to partition-shrink and create. I resorted to a Linux thumbdrive with GpartEd, which almost worked, but failed upon disk checking. In any case, there are a couple of native Mac apps that I wish to run, but they can't be booted from--or even run from--the system drive. How, then, to prepare a bootable USB source that can run its own app (other than those included in recovery)?

 

[MacsWork]

What about using System Image Utility and/or Automator?

You could customize the image and restore it to the USB drive. I've not done this but it seems possible.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

What are these apps that won't run from the system drive, seems very odd to me. What are you putting on the USB to get booted?

 

[cradom]

What you need is the Mountain Lion installer/boot on a USB stick, which you can copy your app onto.
If your Mac came with Mountain Lion originally you cant make an install USB because you cant download it from Appstore.
I don't know if you can buy the install media from Apple.
There is no need for the partition app anyway because Disk Utility is already on there and can partition your drive however you want it.

 

[ersatz]

Thanks for your replies.
What I'm trying to do is to SHRINK the system partition, which D.U. can't seem to do. (I want to create a new, smaller partition on which to sample Yosemite).

I have "copied" my app (e.g. iPartition) onto my bootable stick (I have been able to make OS-install sticks), but it doesn't seem to run from there--is there a trick to that, then?
Once I'm booted with that stick, I also am capable of running Terminal to launch installed apps, too, but I don't believe anything (e.g. iPartition!) can be running from the drive containing the partition (system) which I'm trying to resize!
iPartition DOES contain an built-in procedure to create a USB bootable version, but for some reason it doesn't want to work with my media.

So what is the procedure to install a run-able app (other than OS-install) on a boot-able stick, please?

 

[MacMicky]

The easiest way for you to accomplish your quest is to get CarbonCopyCloner and clone your system to an external drive USB etc. any will do. Then copy the apps you want into the Applications Folder and all will be solved.

 

[ersatz]

All I want to do is:
1. Shrink my present partition (nearly all the system ssd drive, of which only 70% is full)
2. Create a second partition on that same drive.
3. Install Yosemite in that second partition to see how it runs/looks (screenshots arent' encouraging).
4. Ultimately, I will nuke this test partition and expand back into it, and either a) go ahead and install Yosemite into it, or
b) stick with Mountain Lion.

I really don't see how the suggestion below accomplishes much towards that. Is there really no way to do this in MacOS (resize the system partition non-destructively)?

The easiest way for you to accomplish your quest is to get CarbonCopyCloner and clone your system to an external drive USB etc. any will do. Thein copy the apps you want into the Applications Folder and all will be solved.

 

[cradom]

D.U. can shrink the main partition, that's how Bootcamp works (sort of). Don't know why you cant.
You might have to boot into the USB stick and install (not copy) ipartition to it.


OK, you just posted...didn't know you had a SSD. Don't know if D.U. will resize that. Don't have one, never worked with one. The install onto the USB still holds though.