Factory reset without disks

Hi there,
My iMac has become a little unstable and I want to wipe everything and start again - a factory reset.
Seeing as it didn't come with any start up discs, is there a way to do with without disks?
Thanks
Moray

What operating system do you have? Lion or other? If other, you can probabably get replacement original OS X disks from Apple support. If Lion, reboot holding the command + R keys down to enter recovery mode.

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Macbook pro restarts with factory reset without disk

mac turned on to the OS X Utilities menu and i dont know what to do

HI there joel998,
It sounds like you may have booted into Recovery Mode. To exist Recovery Mode, restart your computer by going to  > Restart... Take a look at the article below for more information.
OS X: About OS X Recovery
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
-Griff W.

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how to do Complete factory reset without Yosemite Disk on Macbook Air

You install the original shipping OS. If that came on a disk, use that. If it is newer than a late 2010 model, Use Internet Recovery: OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

How do I reset MacBook pro with lion back to factory settings without disk?

Good evening everyone,
I recently purchased a MacBook pro with lion installed and I need to reset it to factory settings without a disk. anyone know how to do this?

Restart it... and hold down command+R
then choose disk utility and format your disk
then choose reinstall lion
and it's back to default.
source of info: http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_boot_lion%E2%80%99s_recovery_mode
apple way is most slam.
how u like me now?
i just did this right now and my system so so fresh and pure.

How to set iBook G4 back to factory settings without disk.

I'm about to sell my iBook G4. But I want it back to it's factory settings. I got told:
Turn off mac.
Restart and as soon as you see the white screen press;
Command and S.
Type in:
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rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
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You can't; that procedure will cause it to rerun the Setup Assistant, but it isn't an actual factory reset. If you want to use it anyway, use 'shutdown -h now' as the final command.
The computer shouldn't be sold without its original disks.
(72117)

Need to revert to Factory Settings without disk.

Hi,
I have a friend (isn't that how they all start?) who has a new macbook pro and needs to reset to factory settings as she wants rid of the user IDs and names on the accounts. She has Snow Leopard but no disks (none were in her box).
How would I be able to revert to factory settings so she could access the computer as if it was new, without disks. Is there anywhere I can download such software?
Thank you
Jo
p.s. I would use my macbook pro and try to burn off a reset disk but I'm using Lion and thought this would cause even more issues. Thanks.

"She has Snow Leopard but no disks (none were in her box)."
Not probable. She either misplaced or lost the disks. She should get a replacement set by calling AppleCare. Then she can do what she intends and provide the disks to the new owner (which she is required to do). She can't use your disks.

Reinstalling CS5 after factory Reset without CDs

Due to some extenuating circumstances, I need to factory reset my computer. I originally received Photoshop CS5 as a gift (in the physical form with cds) and I have misplaced the CDs. How might I go about re installing Photoshop after the reset without the CD's?

Download from Download CS5 products
Install then enter your serial number.

Restore Macbook to Factory Settings Without Disk?

I have looked online to find out how to reset my laptop without the disk, except none of the solutions seem to work for someone with Leopard. I am about to sell my computer, and I want to erase everything off of the computer to make it like new (factory settings). Does anyone know how to do this on a Macbook running Leopard without using the disk?

You can't. If you don't have the disk, phone AppleCare and order a replacement; if desired, you can use a retail Mac OS X 10.6 DVD instead, but this isn't a true factory restore and won't install iLife.
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Factory Reset without working backup DVD

Hey,
First of: I tried to google an search for my Problem but i didnt found anything that helped me well. So i´m here now ;-)
The thing is:
I wanna recover my whole Laptop to factory settings, delet all data on it.
I made a recovery DVD after i got that Laptop (btw its a W510). But on one of those DVD´s there are some "recovery" files but it doesnt boot or helped anywhere. The second DVD is bootable but it cannot start anything (it says files are missing, put in the right DVD). I can put in any of those two DVD´s but cant backup.
To my regret i deleted the "backup partition" ... so i dont have any more files than my - broken - DVD´s.
What can i do now ?? I wanna reset this Laptop to its factory settings.
Any adwises or help?
If you need more information just say it.
Thx for any support
and sorry for that bad english

DiegoTheWolf wrote:
Is it really possile to get every driver and tool i got before with a clean windows 7 installation ??
Hi Diego:
Yes, I think that is something that you can do quite easily. It will be a bit time-consuming, and you will need a fast internet connection, but it is easy to do.
Go to the Lenovo website where all of the various drivers and support files are found. For the W510 series, I believe you can find them here: Lenovo Drivers and Support Files. Download all of the files that you think you will need, and store these on a flash drive (USB stick) or similar. Then, do the 'clean install' of Windows 7, without an internet connection active. Before you connect to the internet, shove the USB stick into the side of the computer and run all of the little packages that you downloaded from the Lenovo site - that will install all the required stuff onto your computer. Then, connect to the internet and proceed as normal.
An alternate (and possibly easier) way of accomplishing more or less the same thing would be to download the 'Lenovo Update' application from the ThinkVantage Technologies web page, store it on a USB stick, do the clean install of Windows 7, then install the Lenovo Update application, run it, and let it go fetch all the stuff for you.
I have done clean installs of Windows 7 in the past using both methods. The first method (fetching all the drivers yourself) gives you more control over the process, but takes more time and is more detail-oriented. The second method is a lot faster, but gives you less control. It generally works pretty well, though.
Either way, chances are that you will probably miss installing at least one required driver - you can determine what (if anything) you have missed by going to the "Device Manager" control panel after your installation is complete, and seeing if there is anything listed there with a question mark or an exclamation point beside it. You then have to figure out what the missing piece is, then fetch it manually (using the first method) and install it.
Michael
W520 (4270 CTO), which replaced a W500 (4062-27U), which replaced a T42P, which replaced an A21P...

Factory Reset without Admin Password, MACbook Air

I have a Macbook air 10.9.4
I want to reset it to the factory settings. I do not know the admin password though. I tried doing to holding down command and R thing, but all that happened was a grey screen came up with a picture of a lock, and a block for a password to be entered in, but I don't have a password.... Please Help!!

It depends on the person, I suppose. But ordinarily Apple is pretty supportive of authorized persons only having access to a laptop's contents when the owner has set a firmware password.
One has to understand that a firmware password's purpose is to protect. It would serve no purpose if anyone could simply ask that the protection be removed. The service to remove the protection is a benefit only afforded to legitimate owners.
The seller should have released his registration the moment it was sold. This permits YOU to then register it to yourself. You should take care of this matter before taking it in.

Restart os x to factory setting without disk?

I have no disk and i need to restore my mac to factory setting. How woukd i do this??

You need to find the original disks or buy replacements.
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Macbook Pro from 2011. Can I restore to factory settings without disk?

Hello I think I downloaded a virus on my mac. I dont have time machine so the only option I think I have is to restore my macbook but I dont think my macbook was baught with Lion. What are my options? P.s. My Model Identifier:
MacBookPro8,1

Hello I think I downloaded a virus on my mac.
Before you waste time restoring your computer to factory settings, what makes you believe you have a virus? Although Macs are not invulnerable, malware on the Mac is quite rare and most of it can't make it past the built-in defenses in Mac OS X. So, it's very unlikely that you have malware. Post a clear, concise description of the problems you're having.
Also, if you don't have backups, that needs to be your absolute top priority. Without backups, it's just a matter of time before all your data is irrevocably destroyed.

Return 2009 mac mini to factory settings without disk

Hello I just bought a used 2009 mac mini and it has programs and a partion I dont want    command+R    dose not work I dont think it has a recovery   start up + command only shows one harddrive

If it's running Mavericks but has no Recovery HD, then you need to do the following:
Use a Snow Leopard retail DVD:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
From here you can redownload Mavericks.

Factory resetting my mac without the original disk

Hello community!
I would like to factory reset my MacBook Pro from mid 2010 with OS X v10.6 but I do not have the original installation CDs. So here's two amazing questions:
1) Is there any way I can get the CD's, either by burning them using a recovery partition or either by Apple itself (and the price it'll cost)?
2) If not, or because it'll cost me too much to buy the CDs from Apple, is there any way to factory reset without the CDs? Also, would I need the account information of the administrator account? Because I don't have these information (not that it's a stolen MacBook but I just bought it from a random guy for really cheap). Also, if it's possible, how do I reinstall the bundled applications that came with the MacBook such as iLife?
Thank you guys for responding as fast as you can.

iLife comes in a separate DVD.
I have not seen that the main system install DVD restore anything but the OS. In the modern days of the Lions, when you reinstall a Mac you can download the iLife apps from the App Store if you are entitled to them (i.e., the Mac you have registered to your AppleID came with them). Don't know for older systems (didn't use iLife back then).

Can't do factory restore & only disks that keep ejecting are the osx install and apps disks

First of all let me say, this is my first Apple computer and I'm not experienced in forums. Please do not read rudeness into what is actually frustration at searching forever for a solution and trying not to wish I had been talked into an Apple. With that said....
I've had my iMac for about a year and a half. We had lost our internet and were using a hotspot for awhile so we could look for another provider and get online if we needed to. One day I signed on and, we didn't have an isp mind you, but the browser opened up to the dominant isp in this area saying a virus was detected coming from this iMac address? I thought that was strange and panicked so decided to do what I would on a pc, just restore the whole thing to factory settings. Everything was going smooth, (my updates were at 10.6.8 at the time)... when I restored I was back at 10.6.2. (osx disk) I was doing systems updates and one apparently hung.... when told to restart, I did... but the computer would never boot back up. It would turn on.... go to gray screen... then blue screen... then shut off. I couldn't boot in safe mode, pram reset did nothing, smc reset did nothing, couldn't hold 'd' to get to diagnostics, couldn't boot to recovery... it kept spitting out disks after trying to read them... with all those solutions I found online and nothing helping I had to call Apple... they couldn't help over the phone because Apple Care expired, unless I purchased help... this frustrated me because every where I found my problem and a different solution their Apple Care had expired too.... so had to set an appt at an Apple store.
So took it in to Apple, just got it back yesterday. I let them know I was restoring to factory settings so wasn't worried about losing anything. When I picked it up, I was told no charge... it was a software issue they saw where it hung and fixed it. I tried to ask questions about the 'software repair' but they didn't seem to want to answer my questions. It just says 'software repair' on my order. So I asked 'okay, so it's back to factory settings like when I bought it?' I was told yes and I said great that was my goal anyway. I get home and it's NOT like when I first purchased it or like a factory restore. Everything I was doing before it crashed is on there. So I'm back to trying to do a factory restore. But for some reason now, it seems the only disks that keep self ejecting are the osx install and application disks. I still can't do a boot recovery, AHT, or 'c' boot... since the apple disks eject I can't use start up to get to them.
I find it odd that both the oxc install disk and applications disk would be damaged at the same time when they both previously worked. I called the Apple Store where I took it to talk to the geniuses that worked on it because I had a question about the repair they did....
Apple: I'm sorry we don't offer tech support
Me: I understand but I had a question about the repair done from there the other day
Apple: We are just a store and can't answer tech questions
Me: I understand and get that but since I took my mac to your store to be worked on I thought I could ask the person that worked on it a question about the 'software repair' and meaning and what software was repaired
Apple: No you will have to set another apt to bring your computer in if you are still having problems
Me: UGHHHHHH (pulling hair out)
So (a little late huh?) to make a long story short giving what I stated above:
Why is it, only the osx install and application disks not working now? They worked before taking it to Apple
What can I do at this point?
Can you do a factory restore without disks on a Mac?
If by chance both disk did for some reason go out, how do I get them replaced?
If I gave TMI without enough important info let me know.
My OS X install disk says version 10.6.2 on it
About this Mac currently says Mac OS X version 10.6.8
Batteries died on keyboard and mouse so am using usb wired keyboard and mouse
At some point I had used bootcamp and then later found parallels so I could install a Corel product and keep using... could some windows files be messing something up in there somewhere?
It used to say Mac OS X Version 10.6.8 and I could have sworn I saw it said 'snow leopard' in there somewhere, now I can't even find that word in search on the computer. Long post I know but trying to set what was going on at the time I took it in.
I'm not sure what else needs to be added to get this to the correct thread or help. As I stated my goal is to have it like I just pulled it out of the box for the first time so no solution will scare me off about loss of data.
Thanks for any help.

Wow, sorry to hear of your experience. Seems strange that your disk would just eject like they did. It could be a lot of things but more than likely you just kind of have to start all over.
What I would do is insert your system disk and instead of going immediately to an install I would go to disk utility and erase the drive. That will erase everything on the disk and give you a new blank disk to start with. After that I would try to reinstall the system. Assuming that goes well then you should be restored to where it was when you purchased it. After that you can reinstall all your applications or personal files. I hope you have good backups.
I remember one time I was having a similar problem and don't ask my why I did it but I actually could not get it to install a system. I removed both of my ram sticks, shut the computer down for about 10 minutes including unplugging it from the wall plug, then reinstalled the ram, plugged it back in and started up from the system disk and all worked just fine. To this day I have no idea if pulling the ram helped but I have never had to do it since and for some dumb reason that solved the problem I was having, which is the same problem you are having now. Call it voodoo but it worked.
Good Luck!!
Message was edited by: Al Van Malsen

Factory reset without disks

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