Disk Utility disks that came with an older Mac operating system version will not boot Macs that came with newer operating system versions and need to be updated. As a result if you want to create a bootable CD to boot specific Macs you'll want to make one that has either the operating system that came with the Mac you are trying to boot or newer. 'Update' CDs will not boot at all, and are labelled such on the CD label.

Installer CDs made for a specific Mac model, which is indicated by the CD label itself, will only work on the Mac they came with or other Macs of the same model and vintage. To boot those Macs, you need either the version of the operating system which came with their system or a newer retail version. The article in the knowledgebase 255 explain which Macs came with which operating system versions. This FAQ is divided into the following sectionīefore you go about creating a bootable CD, you need to know that Apple has made some copy protection built-in to various installations of Mac OS CDs. To avoid problems, be sure to have a good backup plan. If in doubt, contact the developer of the utility. Using a disk utility older than the operating system you are diagnosing may yield a system that is unbootable! Be very careful to only use the utility which was designed for your operating system. If you need technical support for issues after reading this FAQ, please visit my Tech Support page, where I offer fee based support.

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