By default, your Mac starts up from its built-in hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your Mac. For example, if you install macOS on an internal or external drive, your Mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up from it.
Icons Hard Drives Mac OS X. For an icon but it looks like a neat way to see what drive's what immediately on your Mac desktop. Mounts a few different hard drives on his Mac, and wanted. How To: Change the icons in your Mac OS X dock How To: Use the Mac OS X terminal How To: Change your hard drive icon in Mac OS X How To: Customize your icons on your Mac computer How To: Use the Simple Finder user interface in Mac OS X How To: Quote emails in full or part with Mac OS X's Mail app. May 15, 2017 Top 10 Mac OS X Tips & Tricks Every Mac User Must Know: The following are Most wanted Tips and Tricks which must me know for every Mac user. If your are newbie to iMac or MacBook Pro laptops then the following tips highly useful. Apr 16, 2001 Thanks to Dr. Mac for the help! Check out his soon to be released Mac OS X for Dummies too. If you want to download those two excellent drive icons, they have been moved to MacNN's OS X icons.
Use Startup Disk preferences
When you use Startup Disk preferences to select a startup disk, your Mac starts up from that disk until you choose a different one.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Startup Disk.
- Click the lock and enter your administrator password.
- Select your startup disk, then restart your Mac.
If you see a message that your security settings do not allow this Mac to use an external startup disk, check the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility.
Use Startup Manager
When you use Startup Manager to select a startup disk, your Mac starts up from that disk once, then returns to using the disk selected in Startup Disk preferences.
- Press and hold the Option (Alt) key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
- Release the Option key when you see the Startup Manager window.
If your Mac is protected by a firmware password, you can release the key when you're asked to enter the password. - Select your startup disk, then click the arrow under its icon, or press Return.
If you press and hold the Control key during this step, your selection is saved in Startup Disk preferences, so it persists until you change it.
If your Mac is using OS X Lion 10.7.3 or later, you can also use this method to start up from your Time Machine backup disk. Startup Manager identifies your Time Machine backup as ”EFI Boot.”
If you can't select your startup disk or start up from it
Check for these possibilities if you can't see your disk in Startup Disk preferences or Startup Manager, or your Mac won't start up from it.
Check for a compatible operating system on the startup disk
Make sure that your startup disk is using a version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
Change Hard Disk Icon Mac Os X
To start up from an external disk with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, the disk must connect via USB-A, USB-C, or Thunderbolt, not FireWire.
Check startup security settings
If you're using a Mac that has the Apple T2 Security Chip, check the settings in Startup Security Utility. These settings determine whether your Mac can start up from another disk.
Check for Option ROM firmware
If you're in Startup Manager and can't see a third-party startup disk, the startup disk could be using Option ROM firmware. To enhance system security, Mac computers with up-to-date software don’t show devices that use Option ROM firmware until you load their firmware. To do that, press Option-Shift-Command-Period while in Startup Manager. If your startup disk appears, do that each time you want to start up from it or from another disk connected to it.
If you're using a firmware password, the ability to load Option ROM firmware is disabled as an additional security protection.
[Update:Check out the new OWC icons here!]
Recently, OWC Chris S. demonstrated how to create custom Mac icons for use with folders and apps among other things. However, if you’re looking for pre-made icons from OWC, we have you covered.
OWC ships all of its drives with a custom drive icon to help differentiate it from your other FireWire and USB devices. But when you reformat your drive, you’ll lose the icon along with it and you’ll be left only with the generic orange FireWire or USB icon for your drive.
If you have reformatted your drive and would like access to the drive icon (or some of the other custom icons we’ve created), simply head to our Custom Hard Drive Icons page to download them now.
Once you’ve downloaded OWC’s custom hard drive icons, just follow this step-by-step guide to changing your drive’s current icon. (Note: This tip is compatible with macOS Sierra!)
1) Begin by clicking on your chosen icon and selecting “Get Info” from the File menu (Or, press Command-I). That will bring up a window that looks like this (some dropdown menus may be open, in our image they are all collapsed).
2) Then, click on the picture in the top left corner and press Command-C – or pull down the Edit menu and select “Copy” to copy the hard drive icon.
3) Perform the same “Get Info” (Command-I) on your drive you wish to paste the icon onto.
4) Click on the picture in the top left corner and press Command-V – or pull down the Edit menu and select “Paste” to paste the new icon onto your hard drive.
5) Your drive is ready to go!
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Hard Disk Icon On Mac
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