How to do a new lion install on mac mini

Question

I bought a used mac mini with Lion 10.7.2 on it.
I would like to a complete re-install to mack sure there is nothing left from the privious owner.

Answer 1

My information is from the Apple SLA's (additionally, there have been other posts regarding the same problem). It may be unfair, but that is what Apple's rules are. They are very specific regarding the sale/transfer of a Mac with Lion on it. Anyone buying or selling a used Mac needs to be aware of these rules.
If he had purchased a Mac with 10.6 and the disks, it would be easy: a) the software license allows the transfer of the OS and b) he could simply use the disk to erase and reinstall.
You can download the SLA's here:
http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/
Pertinent excerpts (from Lion SLA):
B. License from Mac App Store or on Physical Media. If you obtained a license for the AppleSoftware from the Mac App Store or on Apple-branded physical media, then subject to theterms and conditions of this License and as permitted by the Mac App Store Usage Rules setforth in the App Store Terms and Conditions (http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/) (“UsageRules”), you are granted a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license:
to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial use, one (1) copy of theApple Software directly on each Apple-branded computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopardor Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control;
K. Migration of Existing Software. If you use Setup/Migration Assistant to transfer softwarefrom one Apple-branded computer to another Apple-branded computer, please rememberthat continued use of the original copy of the software may be prohibited once a copy hasbeen transferred to another computer, unless you already have a licensed copy of suchsoftware on both computers. You should check the relevant software license agreements forapplicable terms and conditions. Third party software and services may not be compatiblewith this Apple Software and installation of this Apple Software may affect the availability andusability of such third party software or services.
3. Transfer.
A. If you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware, you maymake a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in itsoriginal form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: the Apple Software istransferred together with your Apple-branded hardware; (ii) the transfer must include all of theApple Software, including all its component parts, printed materials and this License; (iii) youdo not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on acomputer or other storage device; and (iv) the party receiving the Apple Software reads andagrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License. For purposes of this License, ifApple provides an update (e.g., version 10.7 to 10.7.1) to the Apple Software, the update isconsidered part of the Apple Software and may not be transferred separately from the pre-update version of the Apple Software.
B. If you obtained your license to the Apple Software from the Mac App Store or on Apple-branded physical media, it is not transferable. If you sell your Apple-branded hardware to athird party, you must remove the Apple Software from the Apple-branded hardware beforedoing so, and you may restore your system to the version of the Apple operating systemsoftware that originally came with your Apple hardware (the “Original Apple OS”) andpermanently transfer the Original Apple OS together with your Apple hardware, provided that:(i) the transfer must include all of the Original Apple OS, including all its component parts,printed materials and its license; (ii) you do not retain any copies of the Original Apple OS, fullor partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (iii) the partyreceiving the Original Apple OS reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of theOriginal Apple OS license.
Using the recovery partition automatically directs the computer to the app store where the machine ID is on record and you have to enter your Apple ID which - in this scenario - won't match. I've read some posts here already where people have tried to do this and it did not work; Software Update did not work either (presumably because the machine and Apple ID's were not "on record"). My take is that it is Apple's new policy to limit software piracy (but that is just my humble opinion): you buy a cheap downloadable software license and it "expires" when you get rid of the machine, so the new owner has to buy another cheap license.
As for my testing this scenario - quite obviously I am not able to since I do not have a used machine I just purchased. Here is one of the recent similar threads to this one:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16395314#16395314
(there have been more, but with my limited time this morning, that is all I could find with the not-so-well functioning search feature here).