How To Create a Bootable USB Installer for OS X El Capitan

This procedure explains how to create an installation key for Mac OS X El Capitan using a USB key. This method will work for OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, and Mountain Lion updates. 

How To Make an El Capitan Install Drive with a USB

El Capitan Information Pages on Apple.com

Before beginning, you may want to familiarize yourself with the upgrade process, and hardware requirements necessary for the El Capitan installation. 

Pre-Requisites for the El Capitan Update

There are several prerequisites necessary for a successful installment of El Capitan. A list of requirements for the compatible models can be found below.

Compatible Macs

MacBook (released early 2015), MacBook (aluminum series released late 2008 - early 2009 or later), 
MacBook Pro (released mid/late 2007 or newer models), 
MacBook Air (released late 2008 or newer models), 
Mac Mini (released early 2009 or newer models), 
Mac (released mid 2007 or newer models), 
Mac Pro (released early 2008 or newer), 
Xserve (released early 2009). 

Requirements

OS X 10.6.8 or later, 2GB of RAM (minimum), 
8GB of storage space, 
Some features require an Apple ID, 
Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; extra charges may apply. 

STEP 1: Download El Capitan

Launch the Apple App Store, and sign-in using your iCloud account. Click on OS X El Capitan >Download to begin the download process. The El Capitan download will utilize about 6GB of space. 

Once the installation package has been downloaded, it will launch automatically. Do not click onContinue. 

You may quit the installation by clicking on the Install OS X menu > Quit Install OS X. Leave the installation package (Install OS X El Capitan) in the Applications folder, and proceed to the next step. 

STEP 2: Prepare the USB Installation

You will need a blank 8GB USB key. Connect the USB key to your Mac and launch the Disk Utilitylocated in Applications > Utilities. Select your USB drive (not its existing partition, but the physical key itself). Click on Partition Layout and select 1 partition. Next, select the Optionbutton, making sure that GUID Partition Table is selected. Click OK. 

Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the default format for the drive. Rename your USB key to something more significant (e.g. elcapitan) and make a note of it somewhere. You will need the exact name for a terminal command in STEP 3. 

Click on Apply > OK. 

STEP 3: Creating the Installation Key

Launch the Terminal application located in Applications > Utilities and type the below command: 

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/e/name_of_USB --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app --nointeraction 

Replace name_of_USB with the name you have chosen for your USB key. 

Confirm with the Enter key, and type your administrator password when prompted. Let the process unfold until the Terminal window says Done. 

Your OS X El Capitan installation USB key is now ready. 

Updating from OS X Snow Leopard and Leopard

Additional steps are required when updating from Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.x). 

Click on the Apple menu > Update software. Update to Mac OS X 10.6.8 before downloading El Capitan from the App Store. 

Unfortunately, El Capitan will install directly onto your Mac. You will need to download it once more to get the installation package (installer). If you have Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) and would like to upgrade to El Capitan, you must first purchase and install OS X Snow Leopard. 

Remarks

This method creates a USB key called Install OS X El Capitan. The key contains an installer (installation package) named as Install OS X El Capitan. To perform an installation from the USB key, connect it to your Mac and then boot the key while holding the Alt key down. Boot from the USB key and then follow the onscreen procedure to install the new operating system. 

N.B. If at any point the installation procedure seems to stall, just let it be. Despite appearances, the installation procedure is likely just working slowly.

Adobe Acrobat Reader - How to Disable Update Notifications

As of Adobe Acrobat Reader X, the option to disable update notifications has been removed from the program's settings. Update notifications are now being managed by a separated service called the Adobe Acrobat Update Service. 

You have been wondering how to prevent Adobe Acrobat Reader from displaying all these pesky notifications? The procedure is as follows: 

Open the Run command, type msconfig and press Enter: 

Clear the Adobe Acrobat Reader checkbox and click on Apply > OK: 

How to Check (and Update) Your Apple TV Operating System Version

Although automatic updates are enabled by default on the new Apple TV, it’s useful to know how to check your tvOS version number and manually update it. Read on as we show you how.

Note: This tutorial applies to the 2015 4th-generation Apple TV hardware update and the subsequent updates running tvOS.

Why Do I Want To Do This?

There are two parts to this tutorial, checking the version number of your Apple TV’s tvOS and updating the software. Why would you want to check the OS version number? The most common reason is simply to see if your device is up to date. (Less commonly, some people might be interested in getting their hands on an out of date model for jailbreaking or modding purposes).

The second part of the tutorial, manually updating your tvOS, is focused on forcing an update to the most current version of tvOS. While most people will be well served by the automatic update process, on days like today (the date of this tutorial’s publication, 11/09/2015) Apple just pushed out a brand new update to the recently released 4th generation Apple TV and many curious users won’t want to wait for the automatic process to kick in and would like to update right this minute.

Let’s take a look at how to check if you even need to update and then we’ll force out Apple TV to search for the update so we can make the jump to the most current version of tvOS.

Checking the tvOS Version

To check what version of tvOS you are running on your Apple TV navigate, starting from the Home screen, to the Settings icon.

Select the icon by clicking the center of your trackpad.

Select the top entry, “General”, within the “Settings” menu.

Within the “General” settings menu, select “About”.

In the “About” menu you’ll see a variety of information about your Apple TV including the model, serial number, and the tvOS version (highlighted by the red box in the screenshot above). In the screenshot you can see that the Apple TV unit we’re using for this tutorial is still on version tvOS version 9.0. Let’s take a look at how to manually update it.

Manually Updating tvOS

By default your Apple TV should be set to automatically update itself when not in active use. If you’re in a hurry to get that update, however, you’ll need to manually update instead of waiting for your Apple TV to phone home and check for updates later on.

To do so we’ll return to the Setting menu.

Within the “Settings” menu select “System”.

Within the “System” menu select “Software Updates”.

Here you can see that our Apple TV is, per the default, set up for automatic updates. We recommend leaving it on but some users who are particularly cautious about software updates may wish to turn it off (again, though, we recommend keeping it set to automatic updates for increased security and a continually up-to-date user experience).

A small bar will appear under the Apple TV logo as your Apple TV pings the update server and checks for updates and downloads them. Once downloaded the screen above will pop up and prompt you to either “Update Now” or “Update Later”. Let’s select “Update Now” to immediately apply the update.

Right after you make the selection your display will switch to the above progress meter. There are two steps to the process. First your Apple TV will prepare for the update and restart (at which point your display will go black for a few moments) and then, in step 2 of 2, it will finish installing and restart once more.

After the process is complete you can always verify that your Apple TV is on a new tv OS version number by returning to Settings -> General -> About to confirm you’re running the most current version.