This is going to be a week from H-E-L-L... I just know it!!
First off, I apologize for being a dumb Apple user. I am trying so hard to learn all of this stuff, and become a guru like you guys, but there is just so much to learn, and I keep seeming to struggle with Apple's new "paradigm" of how Operating Systems work?!
Okay, HANG ON, this is going to be a LONG response!!!
Debbie:
I don't quite understand.
Are you mad that you don't have a Recovery Partition, or mad that you do?
What is your objective?
I am mad because I fear that I just destroyed my new MBP and about 3 weeks worth of setup...
Let's rewind, and let me explain a.) What my goals are, and b.) What I have done up to this point.
Debbie's Goals:
1.) Ability to *completely* rebuild my MBP - like it came out of the box - should there be a complete system failure, or I simply need to install a new HDD.
(In more "normal" times, I would just grab my "Mac Recovery DVD", pop it in, and wha-la, I'd have a machine just like the one Apple sent me!)
2.) Store a copy of the Mountain Lion "Recovery Partition" on a separate media device (i.e. USB Drive) to achieve #1
3.) Absolutely, positively *AVOID* ever needing to have to do "Internet Recovery" with Apple.
(Don't get me started on why I HATE this option, and why it does NOT work for me on many, many levels. I can point you to a former vent here on MacRumors if you're really curious...)
4.) I paid a couple grand for my Mac, and I want a PHYSICAL FRICKING COPY of Mountain, because regardless of what Apple and Apple's lawyers think, to me, I "own" on copy of Mountain Lion, and I want it within reach of my person at all times!!
And leading into my current dilemma...
5.) I want what I *thought* I had accomplished back in July when my life became interrupted by a job loss and move...
What I have done up to this point:
1.) Got my new 13" MBP in like March, and it sat, and sat, and sat because of everything else going on in my life, including me doing LOTS of research on MacRumors and online, on topics like...
- The new retarded policy of, "You paid for a new computer, but we really don't want you to have the Operating System"
- What to do if my Mac ever became corrupt, had a HDD failure, or I just needed to install a larger HDD
- How to do FDE
- How to strive towards Security that would make any NSA-agent weep!!
(This new MBP is for my new business, and it *is* my life. I take this entire endeavor more seriously than the CIA would!!)
2.) In July, I had gained enough knowledge from the brainy (and beautiful) people on MacRumors to be semi-dangerous and try to start setting things up.
And here - to the best of my memory - is what I did...
3.) Turned on my new MBP, set up a "Standard User" and an "Admin User", and locked things down as well as I could.
4.) Bought and installed Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC), and proceeded to "clone" my Factory HDD to a 32GB USB Drive.
Then did LOTS of testing...
5.) With no drives inserted into my new MBP, I booted up holding down "Option" - and as I recall - saw...
Code:
- My regular HDD (i.e. "MBP 01")
- "Recovery Partition"
Check.
6.) Inserted my USB Drive which the new "clone", booted up holding down "Option" - and as I recall - saw...
Code:
- My regular HDD (i.e. "MBP 01")
- "Recovery Partition" (from HDD)
- My CCC "clone" of HDD (i.e. "Factory HDD 2013-07-01")
- 2nd "Recovery Partition" (created by CCC)
Check.
7.) I *physically* removed my HDD, and then "Option" booted from my USB drive, and chose "Factory HDD 2013-07-01", and it was like the HDD was still there.
Cool!!!
8.) With HDD still out, I "Option" booted from the USB drive, and choose "Recovery Partition", and I was booted into the "Recovery Area". (This part is foggy to me, but I know it was doing whatever you'd expect your "Recovery Partition" to do?!)
9.) With HDD still out, I "Option" booted from the USB drive, and choose the 2nd "Recovery Partition", and I was booted into the "Recovery Area". (This part is foggy to me, but I know it was doing whatever you'd expect your "Recovery Partition" to do?!)
10.) So, it appeared that I had successfully created my first-ever "Bootable USB Drive Clone", and I also knew how to use the "Recovery Partition" on my original HDD, as well as from my USB Drive should there ever be problems.
As far as I knew, I now had a PHYSICAL COPY of Mountain Lion, and had met all of my "Goals" stated above.
Life was beautiful!!
11.) I installed a faster 750 GB Western Digital HDD, and used my USB Drive to install the "Factory HDD 2013-07-01" clone. Booted up, and it was like factory!!
12.) I used
FileVault2 to encrypt my entire HDD.
13.) I also wanted to use FDE on my USB Drive.
Why?
Because if it wasn't encrypted, and someone got a hold of it, then they could easily boot it up - remember it had a "clone" on it - and have access to my User Accounts and Passwords and possibly some other basic info that should remain private.
And even if there was nothing to steal,
Why not use FDE whenever you can?!
<<Anyways, I'm not here to debate that topic right now.>>
14.) After thoroughly reading the CCC Manual, I decided to use Mountain Lion to encrypt my USB Drive, because CCC mentioned that there was some extra flexibility doing it that way, versus through the CCC UI itself.
So, with a USB Drive with a Bootable Clone *plus* a Bootable Recovery Partition - to the best of my knowledge - I used FileVault2 to encrypt the entire USB Drive.
Things get *foggy* after this because I lost my job and haven't touched things in 2-3 months, but I'm pretty sure that where I left things off, I was able to "Option" Boot from my fully encrypted USB Drive, enter the encryption key, and then choose from either...
Code:
- My regular HDD (i.e. "MBP 01")
- "Recovery Partition" (from HDD)
- My CCC "clone" of HDD (i.e. "Factory HDD 2013-07-01")
- 2nd "Recovery Partition" (created by CCC)
Where I am now:
I just want to get back to where I am pretty sure I was in #14 above.
Assuming I have my "Factory HDD 2013-07-01" clone, and my "Recovery Partition" on my USB Drive, then I am totally backed up, in my mind, and if anything ever happens to my new MBP, I can just pop in the USB Drive, and wha-la, I have a way to restore things back to "factory"!!
I spent all of this time trying to attain that, thought that I did just that, but when I "Option" Boot with my USB Drive in, all I see are two icon labeled...
Code:
- "MBP 01"
- "Factory HDD 2013-07-01"
What happened to the "(Factory) Recover Partition" on my HDD, and what happened to the "(Cloned) Recovery Partition" made by CCC on my USB Drive???
What I had originally hoped to do this week was...
- Confirm my USB Drive was as I thought it should be
- Make another "Bootable Drive" (including all of my Apps and Settings) on a *new* 64GB USB Drive
- Transfer Data from *this* old MacBook to my new MBP
- And get on with my life!!!!!!!!!
But if I "broke" my original "Bootable USB Drive" then I need to get that fixed before I move any farther forward, because once I start transferring data over, then I lose my ability to have a "picture-perfect image" of how my MBP looked out-of-the-box!!!
Follow what I am trying to do??
Exasperated,
Debbie