How can I wipe my hard drive and restore to factory settings without the use of the original OS CD?

I have a 2010 MacBook and I need to wipe the hard drive and restore to factory settings.
The problem is that even though I have the original disc, the CD drive has stopped functioning and will reject any disc put into it.
Therefore, is there another method to do this without the CD?

Not very easily. To restore to factory software you need the original installation DVD (CDs).
If you have another Mac which is the same make and model so that those installation DVD (CDs) would work, you can use a Firewire cable between the 2 Macs and then put your Mac to be reset into Target mode and use the other Mac to install the software. However I suspect that is unlikely.

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How can I wipe my hard drive and clean install Mountain Lion?

Hi I have a 21.5 inch mid 2011 iMac running Mountain Lion, I want to wipe my hard drive and clean install Mountain Lion. I dont want all my stuff back, just photos and music, the rest I'll reinstall my self. I also dont have a exteranl harddrive. only two USB's one 2 GB and the other 8 GB. How do I do this? And I dont want to pay for mountain lion again. Thanks!

I made my partition and am currently reinstalling mountain lion to put on my flash drive. I'm using Lion disk maker 2 thats compatible with mountain lion. I'm doing it right, correct?

How can I erase My hard drive. Disk utility only gives me the option of erase free space. I have 27in iMac with Lion and 12 gb ram.

How can I erase my hard drive? Disk utility only gives me the option to erase free space.
Thanks for any assistance.

Drive Preparation for Lion
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU to return to the main menu.
5. Select Reinstall Lion then click on the Continue button. You need an active network connection in order to download the Lion software.

How do I wipe my hard drive and start again iMac ?

My hard drive is now full of junk and I want to wipe my hard drive and re-instal from time machine.
Not quite sure how to start.

Safari Bookmarks are in ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist

How do i reformat imac hard drive and restore time machine backup?

How do I reformat my iMac internal hard drive and restore from a Time Machine backup?
I have an iMac 20" Mid 2007 with a problematic hard drive.
IntelCore 2 Duo, Processor speed 2 Ghz
800 Mhz Bus speed
4 GB RAM
250 GB Western Digital Hard Drive
10.6.3
Was getting a question mark upon booting up, so I booted from a 10.6.3 Snow Leopard CD and ran disk utility. Repair disk was interrupted with an error message. 'Disk utility can't repair disk. Backup files, reformat disk and restore backed up files.'
1. Should I select Erase, Mac OS Extended Journaled, Erase?
2. If I do this, won't I lose my networkability, and therefore lose access to Time Machine backups?
3. If it were you, would you go ahead and replace the hard drive? Not sure I should trust this hard drive!
4. If I need to replace the hard drive, can you send instructions?
Thanks!

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
     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.
If you have your Time Machine backup drive connected, then you can use Setup Assistant to migrate your Home folder, application support files, and third-party applications and system preference files. I recommend doing this via the Setup Assistant when the option appears.

How do i wipe my hard drive and install Mountain lion

OK i wanted to install mavrick but i got my macbook pro in june of 2007 so it's to old. The command R does nothing when i reboot, and everything i find online about clearing my hard drive and getting ready to install mountain lion has that step in it. So how do i clear my hard drive so my computer is brand new like the day i bought it and also update my OS from snow leapard. Do i need to buy the disk for mountain lion or can i just download it? if someone has a link to something helpful i would love to have it.. Thanks

If you can't run Mavericks, you can't run Mountain Lion because they have the same hardware requirements.
Check that your computer is compatible with Mountain Lion/Mavericks.
To check the model number hold down the option/alt key, go to the Apple menu and select System Information.
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) model number 3,1 or higher
Your Mac needs:
OS X v10.6.8 or OS X Lion already installed
2 GB or more of memory (More is better - 4 GB minimum seems to be the consensus)
8 GB or more of available space
If your computer isn’t compatible, you might be able to upgrade to Lion.
Computer Compatibility - Lion                       Lion
Check to make sure your applications are compatible. PowerPC applications are no longer supported after 10.6.
Application Compatibility
Applications Compatibility (2)

How can I clear my hard drive, and still keep lion?

I really don't want to have to buy OS X Lion again, and I really need to erase my hard drive...is there a way that I can accomplish both? I cannot find the files to create a bootable hard drive or DVD, where are they supposed to be? Thanks

Zackh.Tucker wrote:
Is there a way to have lion, and sell the computer to someone so they dont have to buy it when they get it? I need to erase my harddrive, but I'd like the buyer to be running lion when they get it.
No that is a violation of the Lion License agreement. When you sell a Mac that has had Lion installed on it the new owner has to buy their own license of Lion. The reason being is the license of Lion you purchased is tied to YOUR AppleID!
If you have promised the buyer the machine would come with Lion then you will need to refund them $29.99 which is the cost of Lion. In addition if you sell the machine with any application software you must surrender the original DVD's and/or license keys for that software so the new owner isn't stealing the software.
You will probably benefit by reading:
Prepare a Mac For Sale
Preparing your Mac for sale

How can I wipe my hard drive after Lion app store install

I have installed lion through the mac app store, but I'm wanting to wipe my computer because it's REALLY slow and keeps getting the wheel of death... How can I do this after installing lion via the app store?

Recovery partition
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Here is a link for burning a bootable DVD before you install it. Install package removes it self from the App folder after installtion is complete.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt
here are a few others for reference:
http://eggfreckles.net/tech/burning-a-lion-boot-disc/
http://subrosasoft.com/blog/2011/07/create-a-bootable-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-flash-d rive/
You can redownload from the app store. Hold option key on purchase and installed.

Bought a used macbook pro 13", how do i clean off hard drive and reset to factory new?

can someone help me to re set my macbook pro 13" to factory "new" settings. i bought a lightly used Macbook and need to clean original user information off and allow for me to start as if new.
Thanks..

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Wipe my hard drive and restore

Just like the title says, I do not know the steps to complete this funtion.

What OS X version, please?

How can I enlarge a slideshow image and close it to return to the original slide within a set?

In my site, there are several slideshows. Each image within each slideshow is of a medium size on the page (not a thumbnail). I would like to be able to click on each individual image within the slideshow to enlarge it - either on its own page or otherwise. Is it possible?
An option I've tried is to create a hyperlink to open an individual page with that image enlarged. However I can only return to the beginning of the slideshow (by creating a hyperlink to the page with that slideshow)...and not the particular slide I enlarged. Any ideas please?

Hi Brad... thanks for getting back to me.
As you can guess I'm no graphic designer, I'm just creating a very simple site for my own artwork. I attach a link to the site...
http://www.stephenbrandes.com
As you can see, I have slideshows and I'm happy with the composition. But I'd like to be able to enlarge each image on the slideshow in a separate closable window to enlarge it.
Hope this makes my question a little clearer...
best
Stephen

Ios 7.1 update two weeks ago ruined my iphone 5. The ringer will reset to vibrate all by its self. A soft reset resolves the issue for only 5 min then back to vibrate. System restore and restore to factory settings has the same effect.

I have had no problems with my iphone 5 until the very next day after I updated to ios 7.1. My phone is 26 days out of warranty, sorry says Apple, we have one for $269 though. Clearly this is an issue with the update that has broken my perfectly good phone and now I am stuck with this thing of a phone....

Do you have a question for us, your fellow users, in these user to user support forums?

How can I put a hard drive icon on desktop?

how can I put a hard drive icon on desktop?

Click on the Desktop. Select Preferences from the Finder's menu. Click on the General icon in the toolbar. Check the appropriate boxes.

I'm getting the grey screen during start up and can't boot the computer. I did a cmnd R but worried it would automatically wipe my hard drive and reinstall OS. Is there a risk at cmnd R will result in wiped HD without me actively making that choice?

I'm getting the grey screen during start up and can't boot the computer - MacBook Pro with lion.
I did a command r after doing some research but got nervous that it would automatically wipe my hard drive and reinstall OS.
I was nervous because it asked me for language for software use before any options were presented (such as repair via disk utility). It looked similar to an OS install.So I powered off....Is there a risk at command r will result in wiped HD without me actively making that choice?

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Reinstall Mountain Lion or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is
three times faster than wireless.

HT4848 Hello- My laptop needs the OS X recovery run. Can I download the software directly to a thumb drive without affecting my desktop unit? The Geek Squad said they need to wipe my hard drive and re-install the operating system. Thanks.

Hello- My laptop needs the OS X recovery run. Can I download the software directly to a thumb drive without affecting my desktop unit? The Geek Squad said they need to wipe my hard drive and re-install the operating system. Thanks.

They already damaged you Mac by fooling with the BootCamp partition without knowing what they were doing. I wouldn't suggest haveing them help you do anything.
Here is the article that describes the Recovery HD: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
First, see if you can boot into the Recovery HD. Restart and hold down cmd-r until you see the gray screen. It should boot into Recovery. If your Mac shipped with Lion or Mountain Lion, it will boot into Internet Recovery if it cannot boot into the Recovery HD on the hard drive.
They should have tried this at the store.

How can I wipe my hard drive and restore to factory settings without the use of the original OS CD?

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