I want to reset my iMac to factory settings but want to save my iTunes library first.  Is that possible?

I have an older iMac (first of the Intel Duo Core) that is running extremely slowly - the rainbow ball spins for 30 seconds between most clicks.  I think it's just overloaded with too much old stuff.  I have most of my files stored on Dropbox. I want to restore it to the factory settings before giving up and buying a new computer.  I don't want to restore from my time machine because I don't want to bring along the old problems.  I have saved my iPhoto libray to an external drive.  Can I do the same with my iTunes?  Or can I somehow sync it to my iPad, iPhone or Air so that I don't lose my music?  If so, can you tell me how?  Also, this computer is too old to sync to iCloud.  Thank you for any help you can give!

AWesome - thank you!  Someone walked me through it with iPhoto.  Any chance you can walk me through?  Also, there's no copyright issue when copying my library back to my computer?

Similar Messages

  • I have a restriction passcode that I have no idea what the passcode could be. I know that I need to reset the phone to factory settings but how do go about doing this without losing all of my contacts and other info, etc? (mainly contacts)

         At some point, I don't even remember doing this it must have been so long ago, I set a restrictions passcode on my phone. This has become a problem now because I have so many apps that I do not ever use that take up so much space I can no longer take pictures or put more music on the device. I have read that I need to restore to factory settings but that once I do that I cannot restore to a backup because restrictions passcodes are saved in backups. Is there any way for me to restore my phone to factory settings and then get all of my contacts and perhaps as much other data back as I can? I have tried every passcode I can think of for the restrictions passcode (24 times! to the point that ever time I try and fail I cannot try again for an hour. To say the least, this is quite frustrating as is limits what i can do with my phone on a daily basis, whether it be music or taking pictures and videos etc. Can someone please help me solve this problem without losing minimal data? I have already backed the phone up to my computer as well as iCloud. Even the woman at the apple store told me I had to restore it to factory but was too busy to get further into it and I didn't have a genius bar appointment. If all else fails I can make an appointment and go in there. I just thought I may as well ask on here first to see if there was a way I could do it myself. Thanks for reading and hope you can help me!
    -Mike

    You can't. Restoring new means everything is erased. If you have a backup made before creating a restriction code, then you can restore that backup, but none later.
    Placing your device into recovery (DFU-Device Firmware Upgrade) mode:
    Follow these steps to place your iOS device into recovery mode. If your iOS device is already in recovery mode, you can proceed immediately to step 6.
       1. Disconnect the USB cable from the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, but leave the
           other end of the cable connected to your computer's USB port.
       2. Turn off the device: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds
           until the red slider appears, then slide the slider. Wait for the device to turn off.
                  * If you cannot turn off the device using the slider, press and hold the
                    Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. When the device turns off,
                    release the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons.
      3. While pressing and holding the Home button, reconnect the USB cable to the
           device. The device should turn on. Note: If you see the battery charge warning,
           let the device charge for at least ten minutes to ensure that the battery has some
           charge, and then start with step 2 again.
      4. Continue holding the Home button until you see the "Connect to iTunes" screen.
           When this screen appears you can release the Home button:
      5. If necessary, open iTunes. You should see the following "recovery mode" alert:
      6. Use iTunes to restore the device.
    If you don't see the "Connect to iTunes" screen, try these steps again. If you see the "Connect to iTunes" screen but the device does not appear in iTunes, see this article and its related links.
    Additional Information:
    If you have a problem getting into recovery mode then try: RecBoot: Easy Way to Put iPhone into Recovery Mode.
    Note: When using recovery mode, you can only restore the device. All user content on the device will be erased, but if you had previously synced with iTunes on this computer, you can restore from a previous backup. See this article for more information.

  • How do I reset an imac to factory settings? version 10.5.8

    I am selling my IMac, and I need to reset to factory settings before doing so, it is backed up entirely and ready to go. I have followed intructions to hold command-r on boot up and it hasnt worked the last 10 time of me trying it. any suggestions?
    Mac OS X
    version 10.5.8
    Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
    Memory 3GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

    Insert the computer's original disk and restart with the C key held down. The Command and R shortcut is only for computers with 10.7 or newer installed, and in the case of a factory restore, for Macs which originally shipped with those OS versions.
    (92517)

  • How can I reset my imac to factory settings without the ilife cd?

    I have an iMac that I bought in 2006. I recently purchased a macbook pro for college, so I thought it would be nice to give my old iMac to some family friends. However, I don't want them to have all of my information that's still on the computer. I have already backed up all of the files that I need, so I'm prepared to erase the hard drive. I've been reading online that you need certain things to do so: startup dvds and ilife dvd/cd/whatever. I have the first, but not the second. Is there a way to erase the HD without the ilife? Can I use a newer ilife dvd? Or is there an easier way to do all of this??

    Hi Jacob: There is no requirement of the iLife DVD to wipe the computer. If you have the original install DVD, that is all you need.
    Stedman

  • HT201269 My computer crashed and had to be restored to factory settings. My ipad has my ituned library. how do i get the music collection from the ipad to the computer?

    my computer crashed and had to be restored to factory settings losing ituness collection of music. My ipad has my itunes library. how do i get the music collection from the ipad to the computer?

    You should be able to copy iTunes purchases over to your computer's iTunes via File > Devices > Transfer Purchases. For music from other sources (e.g. copied from CDs) you will need a third-party program to copy them back from your iPad - there are some listed half-way down this page which should work : https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991

  • Still having problems resetting my iMac to factory settings

    Hi all,
    I have an old iMac 4,1 intel core duo that I want to wipe so I can pass it on to my daughter.
    It originally came with an OS9 disk, which I still have. Later it was upgraded to OSX Snow Leopard and I still have that disk too.
    However I have followed the advice here about inserting the disk, restarting and pressing C to start installation but nothing happens...on either disk.
    I've tried it several times with a wired keyboard so its not a timing thing.
    Any suggestions greatfully received.
    Thanks
    Jamie

    Try a restart while holding down the option/alt key. Can you select the DVD there and boot from it?

  • How do i reset my ipod to factory settings as for some reason in itunes it is giving me ipod full msg when it is empty

    I can't understand what is going on as my ipod 2gb 2nd gen. is saying that my ipod is full when i sync when it is empty.

    Hey,
    Plug it into iTunes and select the iPod on the left, click restore, however all data on the iPod will be lost and will need to synced again from iTunes which should have most of the iPod data if synced recently.
    J

  • My laptop recently crashed and had to be restored back to it's original factory settings. I lost my entire iTunes library and have had to start from scratch again. Is it possible to load everything i currently have on my iphone4 into my new iTunes library

    When i connect my iphone to the new iTunes library it tells me that it's going to erase everything on my iphone and upload everything from the new iTunes library onto it. Is there a way to save everything on my phone into the new iTunes library?

    Thanks for all of your advice.
    I just downloaded a copy of TuneJack for the small price of $9.95.
    It retrieved all my music from my iphone and loaded it all straight into my iTunes library for me all at a click of a button and only took a few minutes.
    Problem solved I can stop stressing now!

  • I WANT TO SAVE MY ITUNES LIBRARY---- HELP!!!!!!!!

    Hi,
    i am planning to restore my computer and i was wondering what is the BEST way to save my itunes library so that it will be the same when i put it back on my newly restored computer.
    any suggestions?
    anything would be great.
    thanks a lot,
    Mitch K.

    copy your iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml files. Do whatever you have to do to your computer then replace the copied files back in the itunes folder. Start itunes and it should see your old library.
    Make sure not to erase your music library

  • Locked out of ipod touch 4th generation, I tried restoring it to factory settings but after a while an "error" window will pop up saying "iPod can not be restored due to error"... HELP?

    I just got this iPod today and my last iPod touch broke back in november, so I have no clue what the passcode could be. I tried resetting it to factory settings but an error window pops up and and says that it can not be synced even though it got to the part where it says "Connect to iTunes" but then it shuts down. I don't know what to do, I live no where near an apple store and I don't have the money to fix it. Plus it has a cracked screen if that tells you anything.

    Make sure you have the Latest Version of iTunes (v11.1.5) Installed on your computer
    iTunes free download from www.itunes.com/download
    LeahNennig wrote:
    it says "Error 3194" "Error 17".
    3194  = http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4451
    If that Article does not resolve it... then you have a problem.
    Perhaps a Visit to an Apple Store or AASP (Authorized Apple Service Provider) is required..
    Be sure to make an appointment first...
    Note:
    That error message may be indicative of the Device being Hacked / jailbroken.... If this is the case then you are on your own.

  • How do I download the music from iTunes onto an old iPhone 3gs? I have reset the iPhone to factory settings and when I plug it in it wants to use the device name for my current iPhone 5 and I don't want to change anything on my old iPhone.

    How do I download the music from iTunes onto an old iPhone 3gs without affecting my iPhone 5? I have reset the iPhone to factory settings and when I plug it in it wants to use the device name for my current iPhone 5 and I don't want to change anything on my current iPhone. iTunes won't let me change the device name for the 3gs. I just want to use the old iPhone like an touch.

    Hi littlemansa,
    If I am understanding you correctly, it sounds like you are returning to an old iPhone that has been erased and you would like to set it up as a new device without restoring from a backup which would affect the name of your iPhone, as well as the contents therein. I have an article for you that can help you set up your iPhone as a new device, and that information can be found below:
    How to erase your iOS device and then set it up as a new device or restore it from backups - Apple Support
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4137
    Basically, it seems like you may be stuck on a screen that is asking if you would like to restore your device from the backup that is filed under the name of your new iPhone, or if you would like to set up the device as a new device. I would suggest that you set it up as a new device to achieve your desired results. 
    Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.
    -Braden

  • I bought a mac 2 days ago and transferred some files on there using migration assist which I did not want to. How do I restore my imac to factory settings so I can start again?

    I bought a mac 2 days ago and transferred some files on there using migration assist which I did not want to. How do I restore my imac to factory settings so I can start again?

    Look in /Users folder. You can go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, open the lock and "-" delete the account it created.
    This is a problem whenever you use migration assistant after the initial install. The proper way to run Migration Assistant is in Setup Assistant when you first boot your Mac. I don't know why Apple isn't clearer about this issue.

  • Want to reset factory settings but recovery drive is not recognized

    Want to reset factory settings but recovery drive is not recognized

    If you can't perform a system recovery from the hard drive, you will need to order recovery disks from HP for your laptop.
    Here is a link to HP's support page:
    http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html
    If you type in your laptop model number, it will bring up a list of drivers and such for your laptop. If HP has recovery media available for your laptop, there will be an option on that page to purchase it.

  • Hi, I am going to reset my Macbook Pro to factory settings but I would like to back it up first. I have backed it up to an external Hard Drive so if I were to wipe the laptop, would i be able to retrieve all of my files and applications

    Hi, I am going to reset my Macbook Pro to factory settings but I would like to back it up first. I have backed it up to an external Hard Drive so if I were to wipe the laptop, would i be able to retrieve all of my files and applications. (Office Mac, Adobe CS6, Logic Pro)

    When OS X asks you to restore a backup, it will allow you to select what you want to restore from the backup, Just select the things you need, because if you select everything, you will be in the same status as before restoring the Mac to factory settings. This has nothing to do with erasing the hard drive
    It's OK to make backups with Time Machine

  • I reset My Ipod To factory Settings and got all my apps but no music

    I reset My Ipod To factory Settings and got all my apps but no music , i have it on the computer saved but only the old music comes up that i bought on the computer ... the ones i want ,that i had on my i pod that i bought on my ipod  before i got locked out and reset it , i tecanally have them but they have turned gray and wont play or transfer... i miss them i want them back it was a lot of money to get them all .... plz help

    Try redownloading them:
    Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

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