How to do Clean Install?

I have a couple Mac Minis (A1176) that I want to sell. I have the disk for 10.5 Leopard and want to do a clean install and erase all the data currently on the machines.
I was able to install the OSX but not while erasing the personal data.
I looked up how to do it and found this tutorial but it didn't work. I have a usb keyboard plugged in and working, but when I hold down "option" on restart, nothing happens differently. It just goes to the login screen like usual. I also tried the "C" key on restart; nothing different happened.
I have tried this multiple times on both computers, I'm not sure how to go about installing a clean OSX. Does anyone know?

Hi, a bit confused... You did install OS from the DVD, or you could not???
Is this a Retail 10.5 Install Disc, or a grey machine specific/Intel only Install Disk?
What is the 2z691-****-A number on the Disc?
Without a proper Install Disc, might try this, but new owners should have an Install Disc included...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
In the same pref pane highlight your old account, click the little minus icon, then use Disk Utility to Secure Erase Free Space.

Similar Messages

HT201475 how to do clean install of yosemite

how to do clean install of yosemite

Do a backup before doing anything.
If you want to make a clean install of Yosemite boot into the Recovery Volume (command - R) on a restart, use Disk Utility to Verify/Repair the disk and run Repair Permissions. Then erase the hard drive using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format using the Options button. Reinstall Yosemite. Restart normally and test. Use Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to import what you want.
Clean Install
I would download the installer and you can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program. You can then install from there.
Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

How do you clean install CS6 on a new PC Win7 64bit system?

How do you clean install CS6 on a new PC Win7 64bit system?
I think I've upgraded all th way from Version 7.

There is no problem. If no previous, activated software is detected on the system, the upgrade installer will simply revert to its secondary mode and request to input the old serial in a second step for verification. Unless you do some exotic crossgrade/ sidegrade stuff, this should work with no problems whatsoever.
Mylenium

How to properly clean install: erase, partition hard drive, and install tiger then SL

Hello,
     I am a noob at this, so if responders would be kind enough to be detailed / specific with any instructions it would be most helpful! I own a dinosaur apparently (even though I don't think so): the white (not unibody) Intel macbook2,1 (late 2006) 1.83 GHz with currently 1GB of RAM, but I have 2x2GB RAM sitting next to me ready for install. However, first I would like to do a clean uninstall of my computer (running OS X 10.6.8 SL). I also would like to properly partition my hard drive while I'm at it.
     About 6 months ago I had serious crashing issues, along with kernel panics, hangs, applications randomly appearing & disappearing, system settings and options doing the same, fans running high (probably due to the low RAM available), and basically overall screwiness. So, after trying pretty much every option I could find on this community...and many others... (e.g. clean cache, clean old logs, already did a clean uninstall and install of SL, and much much more) I have reached my wits end. I would say that to date I've wasted a good solid 2 months with this.
     The clean install worked for MAYBE a month or so, but then it started acting up again with the fans (even without high pages in/out, CPU or memory usage) and excessive heat, along with the apps freezing and quitting (mind you it would be only two things open such as 1 word document and then firefox-- with flash disabeled). SOOOOOO long story short, I have purchased new RAM and I would like to try this once again, but to ensure I don't screw it up this time I would like some directions as to how to do the uninstall, partition, then reinstall. (currently to date I ensured all updates are completed---even though they are no longer released for SL, and I just did a full backup).
     Also, I need to first install Tiger (my original OS) as when I went to do a hardware test the other day this was not an option (and upon further research it is due to me not using Tiger as a first install and then using my mac box set for SL). I didn't use my original OS first because....one issue encountered when I had tried to install Tiger was that my Disc 2 (the applications one) took around 1.5 hrs to complete, but when I reached the last step of glory where I expected it to say COMPLETE it instead said that there was some sort of issue with the disc..........of course).
     Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1: If near a Apple Store or Authorized Repair, take it to then for a free evaluation, it might have other hardware problems now that it would be a waste of effort even continuing.
2: The RAM needs to be
Maximum Memory
3.0 GB (Actual) 2.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM
Basically what this means is you can put in a 2GB module and a 1GB module for 3GB total.
I wouldn't proceed with installing RAM just yet, not until you get a stable OS X version on the machine, you might have a hard drive needing to be replaced as well which you can do while inserting new RAM.
3: This User Tip can assist in installing 10.6 Snow Leopard, partition format etc.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
Software Update fully immediately after setup.
There is no need to install Tiger, he 10.6 disk contains the full 10.6 version, you can either install the iLife from Tiger disks or use Pacifist from Charlesoft to extract them and place on your new install, then Software update to get them current.
4: If not successful then the drive also likely needs to be replaced, if so choose a 7,200 RPM SATA I w/1.5Gb/s connection.
Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's
Repeat #3
If your getting beeping noises or "you need to restart" issues, it's likely one or more of the RAM modules is bad. Have it exchanged or swapped.
I advise good quality RAM the first time, if you buy cheap stuff it's just going back.
Don't go any further than 10.6.8 with that old machine, the performance will be terrible.

How do I clean install? I have tried the reinstall osx but still the other apps I have downloaded are still there. And also the Safari is not working anymore... I have to install Opera to have a working browser since I reinstalled the OS... please help.

Hi Please help me to understand how the clean install works...
I have purchased this ultrabook hoping I can slowly learn how to work it... I am a windows user and would like to shift to linux based machines...
My first problem is that I need to run IE explorer and media player to play wmv files on a cbt nugget iso image... It's impossible to do it since Mac does not support WMV file format... so I need to install WINE to emulate windows OS inside OS X and run windows programs... I can't install it either by following this site...
http://www.davidbaumgold.com/tutorials/wine-mac/
I can't seem to run wine after the last step, it has given me error messages.
Now I tried to uninstall it, not working either,
My last resort is to restore to factory default settings > power restart, press alt key as soon as you hear mac sound... choose HD on the right side, enter WIFI key and wait for 4 hours reinstalling os x Lion
I found out all the apps are still there.... is there something I missed????

What you're doing is reinstalling OS X over top of your present installation. If you want to reinstall "fresh", do this:
Reboot while holding down Command + Option + R, first use Disk Utility to erase your volume, then reinstall OS X.
Best done if you FIRST connect to the Internet using Ethernet...much faster than WiFi.

How do a clean install from Time Machine Backup which is in other partition of internal hard drive

I have 2 partitions in my internal hard drive they are
1. Mac OS (Sysem Files)
2. HDD (Other Personal Documents).
I did Time Machine Backup in HDD partition. So now i want to do clean install from the Time Machine Backup without format the whole drive since my system not booting meant that system crashed and cant boot in anyway (Just consider ). Also I have MAC bootable USB stick.
Thanks in advance .

Having never seen a setup like that, I'm not sure how it will work.
In theory, just erase the Mac OS volume, then install, choosing to recover from a Time Machine backup.
When you boot into Recovery, open Disk Utility and select the Mac OS volume, not the whole disk. Erase it, then quit DU and restore from the Time Machine backup. However, this is the part I'm not certain of. I would imagine the partition with TM backup will be mounted, but I don't know.
If you can't see the Time Machine backup from the Recovery HD on the drive, try it from the USB Recovery stick (it is a Recovery USB and not the old Lion install USB, correct?)
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
If you don't have a "built-in" recovery HD because of your partitioning, then you would have to boot from that USB Recovery disk.
Your setup is severely flawed. A backup on the same drive as the data is not a backup. You will lose everything with a disk failure.
Also, partitioning off your OS on a Mac is not necessary and is probably counterproductive. OS X is not Windows.

How to do clean install lion on new macbook pro?

I have a new macbook pro...I want to do a clean install on a new hard drive...but when I goto the app store it shows lion app available but it's not free? Do I need to buy this when i just purchased the Mac?
Confused about how that works...in the "old" days I just put the DVD in...
Thanks!

I have a new macbook pro...I want to do a clean install on a new hard drive...but when I goto the app store it shows lion app available but it's not free? Do I need to buy this when i just purchased the Mac?
Confused about how that works...in the "old" days I just put the DVD in...
Thanks!

HT4848 i forgot my password and i dont have a recovery disc. how can i clean install OSX on my mac?

please help
i have a 2nd MAC OSX 10.5.3, but i cannot remember the admin password and i dont have a recovery disc.
how can i do a clean install and get this working again?
Thanks

Here's how to reset an OS X password, and how to reset an Apple ID password.

Giving Away Old Laptop--How to do Clean Install

Hi everyone!
I'm giving my old iBook G4 to my bf's mom, and want to do a clean install (still have all disks and such). Can I just use the 3 install disks and go for it, or is there something else I should do?

bahamutangel, welcome to Apple Discussions.
If you have erased the hard drive, that's the way to go. There's some useful info on this link. http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070507084548849
 Cheers, Tom

How to completely clean install Mavericks?

Title sums it up...I want to do a completely clean install of Mavericks, making it as if I just bought the laptop with Mavericks installed. I do not currently have access to a big enough USB so if there is a way to do this without one that would be preferable.

Mr. Gagné wrote:
I am still running Mountain Lion. So, I need to install Mavericks, then do a standard hard drive wipe/OS re-install?
If you're on Mountain Lion and you want to do a clean install, the Recovery Partition is available for you to boot into and run the OS X installer. There is no need to install Mavericks if all you want to do is clean install.

Having problems, how to do clean install, what to save?

Hi,
we having more and more problems with our system, we using mostly aperture. lots of data, lots of copying and deleting on the internal HD of our MBP. Now we getting more and more problems, probably part is defrag on internal HD and too much old software on the Book.
I would like to do a clean, clean reinstall of Leopard BUT because this is my main computer I must make sure that it does not take me 4 days to get it back up.
What is the most efficient way to bring important data back in after the reinstall. For example address book, keychain, mail etc. without bringing in old problems.
Can the keychain be copied from the backup easy?
Our computer is our working horse and is used 12 hours a day, so there is a lot of Data I have to bring back up after the install.
How would you recommend to do this??
Thanks
R

Hi, a bit confused... You did install OS from the DVD, or you could not???
Is this a Retail 10.5 Install Disc, or a grey machine specific/Intel only Install Disk?
What is the 2z691-****-A number on the Disc?
Without a proper Install Disc, might try this, but new owners should have an Install Disc included...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
In the same pref pane highlight your old account, click the little minus icon, then use Disk Utility to Secure Erase Free Space.

How do I clean install the system on my 7 year-old old iMacI just

My new Haswell iMac is up and running and everything is perfect. Now I wish to clean everything off my old iMac before giving it to my niece. Help.

the following article tells how to ready your mac for sale:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189

How do i clean install and Downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard?

Hello I want to sell my Mac Book. Lion already did not run well. Therefore I want to install snow leopard back on it and I want to wipe the computer. But it does not work. When I start the computer with the snow leopard and hold the c and apple button then there is only a white screen. I cannot delete the hard drive with the regular disc utilities program and apple r also does not work. What do I do wrong? Can someone help me here?
Thank you!!

It's C on start, not cmd (apple) + C.
Is the Snow Leopard disc the original that shipped with the Mac?
The retail SL disc is only 10.6.3 so won't boot any Mac that shipped with 10.6.3 or later.
It is possible to install SL on an external HD and update it to 10.6.8, then boot to it by holding opt (alt or ⌥) on start up and selecting the external from the list. Erase the internal HDD from the external's Disk Utility (select the top line - the one with the manufacturer's name and the size of the drive).
Then use the restore function in DU to clone the SL installation from the external back to the internal.

How to Clean Install but then retrieve & restore my Keychain and Mailboxes.

For months now, there have been a large number of irritating problems with my system - and I'm not enough of a techie to resolve them.
It is as though my machine is stuck in the past.
Spotlight doesn't index well - and fails to find up to two thirds of my files - including most of the newer ones.
Dashboard remains at the point at which I upgraded my disk drive. I know this, because a clip from Safari (a web-page with drives for sale) comes up - laboriously slowly - every time I open dashboard; when I delete the clip, it simply reappears the next time I open dashboard after a reboot. Similarly, post-it-style notes made in the Stickies app just vanish after a reboot.
When I open TextEdit, the same untitled file I was working on back in the early summer opens with it; I close it, it's back again the next time I open TextEdit. Alterations I make to Text substitution disappear the moment I close the panel.
All new bookmark additions to Safari vanish from my bookmarks when I restart Safari.
Every time I open iTunes, it thinks I am opening it for the first time. I can't tell you how many times I have agreed to their Software License.
My iCal alarms go off ad infinitum even when I turn them off and for months after the event in question.
And so on, and so on. It's like living with an Alzheimer's patient who keeps asking you what day it is.
I have twice reinstalled Snow Leopard (and rebooted my way through all those software updates) to no avail. My system - or at any rate my applications - still think it's early summer 2010 and any changes since then are forgotten; and Spotlight continues to be virtually useless.
It seems intuitive that some of these problems might be associated with individual preference files and caches for the various applications. But, even if I knew how to correct such problems, I'm concerned it might take me days - even weeks - of messing around but without solving all of my problems.
I have to say, I am tired of having half a Macintosh at my disposal. And I'm inclined to do something drastic.
The obvious solution to these pernickety system problems is completely to reinstall Snow Leopard (onto an erased hard drive) and start from scratch. What has stopped me doing this so far is the fact that, together with the various keycodes that came with my applications, I would also lose all my e-mails and accounts from the Mail application - and all the various passwords in my Keychain.
Surely there must be some way to retrieve just these select items alone from backup after a clean install? (And - yes, techies - I KNOW that Apple doesn't offer a "clean install" these days but you know what I mean: I want to reset everything; then retrieve a few select items - but WITHOUT the complete migration - which would likely, in the process, reinstate all those corrupted preference files or permissions or whatever it is that is messing around with my machine's short term memory.)
So here's my question again:
How - following a "clean install" - do I locate and retrieve the specific ingredients that will restore my mailboxes and keychain to their current state, whilst leaving everything else "clean"?
Message edited by: Eric M Colvin
Message was edited by: Eric M Colvin

An alternative proposal I'm going to make is to set up a new user account. It seems highly likely to me that all, or almost all of these issues are related to the account preference files in ~/Library. Certainly the iTunes issue, Safari, TextEdit, iCal etc. suggest that your account is having trouble with saving any changes to its preference files which would result in anything you tried to do being forgotten the moment the application was closed.
So for a start, make a new account, log in to it and do a couple of experiments - make some bookmarks in Safari, change some TextEdit options, open iTunes - then close and reopen them, or even restart the machine. If the changes are saved, then it's definitely an account problem and there is no need to reinstall Mac OS. Worst case scenario then would be you might need to move your documents and settings over to the new account; however it's also worth taking a couple of steps to see if the original account can be fixed. Try the above step and if it works; if so, go to /Users and right click your home folder, then 'Get Info'. Under the section dealing with permissions, ensure that your username has both read and write permissions, then use the cogwheel to apply this setting to all folders and files inside your home folder (you may need to use your password to unlock the padlock for this).
There are other things that can be attempted even before moving to a new user (or reinstalling if the new user test failed) so it's still worth checking back here in case other people suggest steps, it just depends how much time you want to invest.
As always, back up all your data before troubleshooting.

How to Clean Install Mac OSX

How can I clean Install a Macbook Pro running OSX Mountain Lion?

Restart with the Option key held down, tab to the recovery partition, press Enter, and use the Disk Utility to either erase or repartition the internal drive. Install the OS onto the blank partition or an external drive.
(71312)

How to do Clean Install?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for