Computer won't let me erase and reinstall mavericks

i have the latest update of mevericks and my mackbook pro just left warrantty, so it's whatever model that was new about 2 years ago. We paid for all the extra stuff.
the problem is that i woke up this morning and my laptop was left unpowered. it happens from time to time, so i plug it in and restart, and up pops the Disk Utility window. okay whatever. i guess there was a glitch or something, i don't know. I go to reinstall the OS X Mavericks, but it fails, saying that it can't repair it. I must erase it first. Okay, so i follow the instructions on "erase and reinstall"
except that i can't erase the OS X, all the options are greyed out. I can't seem to do anything about this, and my Apple Care conveniently ran out.
i've been into my local Apple Store about 3 times with complaints about my battery or computer being slow in the last year. I keep being shoo'd away.

"i have a disk for snow leopard, but it makes beeping noises when i try to install from that disk."
So LowEndMac:
http://lowendmac.com/2011/17-macbook-pro-late-2011/
says:
"ships with Mac OS X 10.7.2, does work with Mac OS X 10.6.6 and later"
That installer is most likely 10.6.0, if it's the Retail Installer. So it needs 10.6.6 and is telling that disk is too old.
You also might consider an SSD from OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC
I put one in my early 2011 MBP 13" 8 GB RAM and keep asking myself why I waited to long. It's been like a new machine only faster!

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To erase and reinstall Mavericks, do I need anything more than an internet connection?

In the Apple support doc OS X Mavericks: Erase and reinstall OS X, it doesn't say anything about a USB drive, but in all of the articles online, it suggests downloading Mavericks onto a USB drive first. I assume that an internet connection is all that is needed, is that right? Or should I go the USB route?

You can do either - our models can boot to Internet Recovery or you can download Macvericks, wuit when it starts to install and use the "Install OS Mavericks.app" in your Applications folder to create a bootable installation USB thumb drive. You'll need a 8GB+ thumb drive and you can use DiskMaker X to create the bootacle installation drive.
Personally, I always keep a thumb frive with the latest installer.
Good luck,
Clinton

I had to erase and reinstall mavericks to hd, now i cannot boot up , i get a folder with flashing Q mark and i cannot boot from dvd drive...Ideas please

hi
its a long and sorry story, i have a imac running mavericks
a few days ago i noticed that the dvd drive was ejecting every disc i put in, so i decide to check hd with onyx and reset permissions etc
onyx said the smart status couldnt be checked and i should check hd using disk utility.
i did this and it came up that hd had errors , so i ran the repair facility....it came up with disk can not be repaired, reformat and reinstall mavericks
this i did.
i reinstalled mavericks into mac hd, which took about 3 hrs, i then rebooted and a folder with flashing Qmark appeared, i cant get past this at all.
i have tried to use internet recovery but it comes up with 6002f error, and the dvd drive still does not accept boot disk, so i am at a lose as to how to proceed
anybody got any ideas?
thanks
L

If your hard drive has SMART errors then it is failing and should be replaced. Disk Utility cannot fix SMART reported errors.

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http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1808http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1808
 Cheers, Tom

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You are correct that is what I'm talking about. I did install it.
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Can I access my files for backup before erasing and reinstalling?

I haven't been able to find a thread dealing with this specific problem, so I thought I should try my luck with a post...
On Friday, my computer crashed and I have not been able to start it again. First, I got the image of a blinking file folder with a ?, subsequent restarts have produced the normal grey screen with the apple, followed by a blue screen or by simply shutting off. Booting in Safe Mode also produces a blue screen.
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I thought I would try restoring the system through Time Machine, using my external HD. The restoration process seemed to go well (no messages or interruptions). I opened Disk Utility to check the HD. It is no longer greyed out and when checked, it comes up okay, no need for repairs. However...
I just booted up again without the Install Disk and I got a black screen this time, with large white text saying "Disk Error/ Press any key to restart".
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Yikes!

Computer won't let me erase and reinstall mavericks

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