OS X Tip #15
What are the OS X boot keys that you should know?

Just hold down the key on your keyboard specified here during boot up:
T Boot – into Firewire target disk mode – with a firewire cable connected to another OS X machine you can mount your Mac’s hard drive like any firewire drive. This is used for the Migration Assistant application or for anytime you need to transfer files fast from one machine to another.

C Boot – from the internal optical drive – boots from internal CD or DVD optical drive if disc is bootable.

Hold down mouse button (left one for multi-button mouse) – Eject removable media from CD or DVD optical drive

Option Boot – into Open Firmware to select a boot device – select disc you want to boot from of what is attached to Mac.

For help in troubleshooting, try these:
Command-Option-P-R – Reset Parameter RAM (PRAM) and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)

Shift Boot- into “Safe Boot” mode, which runs Disk First Aid. A reboot will be required afterward.

shift (after boot screen, until login screen) – Overrides auto-login

option+escape, then click on a user – Present name/password login dialog instead of list of users

Command-Option-Shift-Delete – Bypass internal hard drive on boot

Command-S – Boot into Single User Mode – expert users for troubleshooting

Command-V – Boot using “Verbose” mode that shows all kernel and start-up console messages

For Networked Macs that can be booted from a server:
X – Reset start-up disk selection and boot into Mac OS X Server

N – Start from the Network (NetBoot)

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