Mojave is still one of the most popular macOS desktop operating system in late 2020, which occupies around 20% market share of entire macOS. There are still millions of Macs or Hackintosh running Mojave as its primary OS. However, if the computer was crashed or broken, you have to reinstall macOS Mojave on it to solve the problem.
In this post, we will share a detailed tutorial on how to create a macOS Mojave bootable USB installer. At this time, we will use a Windows PC (Windows 10 laptop) as you are unable to get into the Mac. Honestly, it is much easier to create macOS bootable USB on Mac with createinstallmedia command in Terminal. You can refer to Part 6 of this tutorial if you have a Mac to do this.
Part 1: MacOS Mojave Hardware Requirement
Drop Dmg Windows 10 Pro
Open DMG Files in Windows By Using 7-Zip or DMG Extractor There are a lot of different tools you can use to extract DMG files in Windows. Our two favorites are 7-Zip and DMG Extractor. In our testing, we found a few DMG files that would open with one of those apps but not the other.
If Your Mac was shipped with Mojave in default, then there is no need to check hardware compatibility at this time. For system downgrade or upgrade, you have to make sure your Mac hardware meet the minimal requirement for installing macOS Mojave.
You can Control-click on a log entry to perform an operation on that entry’s file. For example, if you’ve just created a.dmg file you could burn it. When DropDMG is busy, the bottom bar tells how many operations are in progress. You can click the progress spinner to open the Activity window and see more detail. The DMG Extractor opens and extracts the DMG content into a compatible Windows file format, such as PDF, word, txt, html and the entire multitude of Windows file formats. The software will work on any Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer, in 32 or 64-bit mode.
For Mac:
- MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
- MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
- MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
- Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
- iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
- iMac Pro (2017)
However, if you prepared to install macOS Mojave on a Hackintosh, the requirements are different and much complex. You should do your homework more carefully. Below is an overview requirement.
For Hackintosh:
- CPU: Intel 8th or 9th Generation
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Storage: 128 GB SSD or HDD.
- Motherboard: Compabible with CPU (Asus, MSI Preferred)
- Graphics: AMD Radeon Recommended
Part 2: Download macOS Mojave DMG File
macOS Mojave has two types of installation format. One is via Install Mojave App where you can directly download from Mac App Store. This option is not available on Mac with a new version of macOS that is newer than Mojave.
The other installation media is via Mojave dmg file, which contacts all the files and boot information for installing macOS Mojave in a compressed structure. However, you need to burn dmg to USB first before it is used as a bootable media. Now, you can download macOS Mojave DMG file the following resources:
Download Link 1: https://archive.org/download/macOS_Mojave.dmg
Download Link 2: https://sundryfiles.com/9tz
Part 3: Create macOS Mojave Bootable USB Installer on Windows 10 PC
You have completed the preparation process in above steps and it is time to create a bootable Mojave USB installer from the download dmg file. Unfortunately, the USB would be bootable if just simply copying the dmg file to USB drive without additional actions because the booting code is not written to USB via file copy. Instead, you should use third-party software to help you create a macOS Mojave USB drive from DMG file.
UUByte DMG Editor is such a tool for burning dmg file to USB drive. It will copy all installation files and write boot information to USB drive as well. After burning, the USB is bootable and can be used as a media to install macOS. The following is the details for creating macOS Mojave bootable USB drive.
Step 1: Click the Download button and save the .exe file on your Windows PC; then double click it to start the installation process.
Step 2: Insert a USB drive into the PC and open DMG Editor software from desktop shortcut. Now, click Next button at the right side of Burn module.
Step 3: Now, you need to import the downloaded Mojave dmg file into the program and choose the USB drive name from drop-down menu.
Step 4: When the preparation is done, click Burn button to start burning macOS Mojave dmg file to target USB device. You have to wait for 5-10 minutes for this.
This is one of most reliable ways to create macOS Mojave bootable USB drive on a Windows PC. You can use DMG Editor on latest Windows 10 as well as Windows 8/7/XP.
Part 4: Install macOS Mojave from USB Drive on Mac
After creating macOS Mojave bootable USB drive, it is the right time to install Mojave on your Mac. If possible, make sure taking a backup of important data on your Mac. The installation process will format the drive and this will delete all your personal data and apps from Mac.
To get started, please connect the USB drive to Mac and power on the computer. Keep pressing the Option key and you see the Startup Manager in a few seconds. Click on the USB drive name with your mouse to enter into installation page. Next, select the internal drive and finally click Continue button to begin the installation process.
Note: For installation on a Hackintosh, you need additional tool to configure the boot loader, such as OpenCore or Clover. After that, plug the USB into Hackintosh and set USB as the first boot device in BIOS. By doing this, you will manage to get into Mojave install wizard.
Part 5: Possible Issue and Fix
Dmg2iso
According to our research, there might be a few issues during this process, which were reported by online users. Below is a list of most common issues you may come across. Please don't be scared as we also share possible fix to help you out!
USB Not Showing up in Startup Manager: If the USB drive burned with DMG Editor did not show up in Startup Manager, it means the burning process failed. The most possible reason is that the dmg file was corrupted, you need to download it from another source and burn it again.
No available drive for installation. Mojave is built with APFS but the old Macs come with HFS or HFS+. You have to boot into macOS Recovery mode and format the drive to APFS with Disk Utility app.
Dropdmg Windoz
It could be more issues with Hackintosh and we don't have less epxerience on this topic. Please go to Hackintosh blog or forum for more accurate solutions.
Conclusion
The above are the necessary steps intended to create a macOS Mojave bootable USB on a Windows 10 PC. Please read them carefully, especially the hardware requirement section. You won't be able to install Mojave on a Mac that does not meet its technical specification. You can also send us email if you have issue not being solved by your own.
| Name | DMG |
| Full name | DMG, Mac OS X Disk Image |
| File extension | .dmg |
| MIME type | |
| Developed by | Apple INC. |
| Type of format | Raster image |
| Description | The DMG file extension was created by Apple and is primarily used on Macintosh computers and devices. In most cases the DMG file is used to give the Mac devices the ability to install different types of files and software that originate from the internet. The DMG file is essentially a mountable disc image that shows up on your desktop when it is opened. The file contains raw data that is usually both encrypted and compressed. Mac systems treat DMG in the same way they would treat a disc that was inserted and they instantly try to open or “run” the file. |
| Technical details | The DMG file extension was specifically designed for Macintosh computers and users are likely to have a lot of trouble if trying to use them on a Windows device. There may be instances where one can convert the files, but it probably needed to look for additional utilities that will allow the file to be accessed from the chosen device. There are some also executable files that can help with this. However, if the original DMG file was password protected by Apple, those executable applications may not work. The DMG file has several different formats that are used and these include Linux, Fat32, UFS, ProDOS, HFS and HFS+. |
| Associated programs | Power Archiver, 7-zip, Iso Bit Zipper |
| Wiki | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.dmg |