How to reinstall OSX to a Mac without recovery partition?

I have a 2011 Mac Mini Server that I wiped (including the recovery partition) and installed Windows Server 2008 R2. I'm ready to decomission the device as the emergency database server it was and return it to an OSX machine. I've talked with Apple support and they have been unable to assist me. The last gentleman I talked to from Enterprise Support seemed to think I was out of luck. He told me to buy a USB of Lion and boot from it. This doesn't seem right.
Can I put the disk into target mode and install to that machine? Then it would be as simple as downloading the server software from Apple.
Kind regards.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Read Lion Internet Recovery section.

Similar Messages

How to reinstall applications purchased in mac app store

how to reinstall applications purchased in mac app store

Sign into your MAS account and go to the Purchased tab in the MAS. If the app is not installed on this particular Mac then there should be an Install button available for said app.

How do I reinstall OSX if I lost the recovery dvd?

How do I reinstall OSX if I lost the recovery dvd?

You can't. You can purchase replacements from AppleCare. You can purchase a Snow Leopard DVD at your local Apple retailer, too.
Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775 or visit online Help for more information.
To contact product and tech support visit online support site.

HT203543 "Find my Mac" says "Recovery Partition Required".

"Find my Mac" says "Recovery Partition Required" after recently replacing my HDD with a Solid State Drive. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to mirror the hard drive before install. I am looking for some help to get this fixed on my Late 2011 Macbook Pro.

You did not transfer the Recovery HD from your old drive. CCC does not do that unless you specifically set it up to do so. Had you used Disk Utility instead it would have cloned the Recovery HD automatically. If you cannot restore the Recovery HD from your old hard drive to your new SSD, then you cannot use Find My Mac.
At this point you can try the following:
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
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 the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Download and install the 10.10.1 update.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Also see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
OS X Yosemite- 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.

How do I create an install disk from recovery partition to install on a blank hd

So, my hard drive is slowly dying . . . about all I'm able to access is the recovery partition. I bought a new hard drive to replace it, but no longer have the install disks that came with the computer. How do I make install disks from the recovery partition that I can use to install Mountain Lion back onto the new hard drive?

You have two possibilities:
1. Open App Store > Purchases and download Mountain Lion. When the download has finished, open Lion Diskmaker to make a bootable Mountain Lion USB drive > http://blog.gete.net/lion-diskmaker-us/
2. Download Recovery Disk Assistant from the Support website to create a Recovery HD on your USB drive.
The difference between them is that the first contains OS X Mountain Lion, so you won't have to download Mountain Lion from the App Store when you are going to install Mountain Lion

How can I retrieve and reinstall OSX Lion for Mac Mini

I inadvertently deleted my OSX 10 Lion operating system on my Mac Mini -- tried redownloading it but continually received an automated response saying something like ".... unable to download the software, try again later" That is not an exact quote but close. I tried several times to download the software but always received the same message. I did verify that WIFI was up and working properly on my separate laptop. Would like help in rebuilding my Mac Mini Operating system.

If your Mini is the "Mac mini (Mid 2010)" you quoted in your question, that would make it a Macmini4,1.
These Minis shipped running some variant of OS X 10.6 and should have included OS on DVD.
You may find it difficult to get back to 10.8 if you didn't save a copy of the downloadable installer.
If you boot holding down the <Option> key, do you see a Recovery partition? If so, is it for 10.8?
Inquiring minds want to know!
MJD

HT2216 how to reinstall osx

I haven't reinstall osx since i bought it about 3 yrs. now it getting slow while booting or loading desktop icons. pls tell me how to reinstall latest mavericks bcos i dont have installation CD. i got backup all the apps and file on external hdd. thanks

Option A.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing drive
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.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
     Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
                 if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Option B.
Install or Reinstall Mavericks or Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
OS X Mavericks- Erase and reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Erase and reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Erase and reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

How to reinstall osx and recover data?

Hi
If I reinstall osx 10.6.8 after hd format, and later connect my time machine external drive, will I get back all my stuff? I mean data, docs programs and so on?
After having played with a linux install, I found partitions ex linux I don't know how to delete and reassign to the mac hd, so I think the easiest way shoul be a fresh reinstall.
Thanks, Gianfranco

Thanks, my osx is already at 10.6.8. I had a lot of fun with Ubuntu, and even if I was warned about issues, wanted to try. I did it because some hardware will not be detected by osx. Afterwards decided to uninstall Ubuntu and switch to W7 for the above. Disappoint: ex linux partitions will not be removed by disk utility, and, more frustrating, Bootcamp does not allow to install Win because it finds that mac hd is not journaled. Of course is not: to be it expects a contigous volume, not parted. So, just to talk about my experience, mac architecture is very rigid, both in hardware management and software: it wants to decide where to store or pick data according to itunes philosofy (not mine) and, at the moment don't find any advantage respect Win/Linux exept a beautiful piece of furniture. Sorry for my complaints, you were very kind and gave me a helpful hint, but I'm starting to regret the iMac/iPad purchase.
Thanks for all, Gianfranco

How to reinstall Microsoft Office for Mac after new hard drive?

Recently I had a problem with my Macbook Pro, and unfortunately had to purchase a new hard drive and have it installed. This also led to the loss of data and other things, such as Microsoft Office for Mac. I know this is an Apple community, but I get better answers here than at the Microsoft communities so I'm hoping someone can help find out how to reinstall Microsoft Office 2013. I logged onto my Microsft account and it says that there is no record of me purchasing Microsoft Office on that account but I know thats the account that it was purchased on, so i cannot get my product key to reinstall it as directed. Someone please help!!!!

Try calling MS support and explaining the situation, maybe they will issue a new key.
1 (800) 642-7676 (Consumer)
Microsoft Corporation, Customer service
24/7 Microsoft Support - Microsoft.MyPhoneSupport.com
Admicrosoft.myphonesupport.com/
1 (855) 698 3249
Phone Our Tech Support Experts 24/7 For Microsoft Support. Call Now...
Support for Microsoft? - Call Toll Free Now
Adwww.supportdeskwiz.com/Microsoft
1 (855) 760 8099
24x7 Tech Support for Microsoft by SDW.
Microsoft Windows Support - Call US Toll Free
Admicrosoft-os-support.itechline.com/
1 (855) 281 4201
Tech Support for Microsoft Windows.
Live Tech Support - Windows 7 Support - Outlook Support

HT1349 How do I transfer programs between macs without having the serial number?

I previously ordered a 2010 macbook pro and had both microsoft office and aperture pre-installed. I now have a new macbook air and am trying to transfer the two programs over. I do not have the original packaging since they came pre-installed so I am wondering how I can install them on the new mac without the serial number?

Hey kdoy071,
Thanks for the question. Moving your information with Migration Assistant should do the trick:
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mountain Lion and earlier
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889
If you have OS X Mavericks, see this article:
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5872
Note that if your previous software is not compatible with the new system or OS, it may not function properly.
Thanks,
Matt M.

How to reinstall OSX 10.9.2 (Mavericks)?

Without loosing my programs?
and how to reinstall it with loosing my programs?

Do a backup. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions. Then reinstall the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)

How to sync calendars between two Macs without Mobile Me?

Is there a way to sync calendars between my wife's Mac and my Mac without Mobile Me? They are in the same house and I don't see the need to go thousands of miles and over the Internet for that purpose. Thanks.

Yes, you pretty much just drag and drop or copy and paste depending on which way you like better. It is pretty much like connecting an external hard drive. Just find the files you want and copy them over to your other computer.
This is one of my favorite features from Macs. It's very simple to do and because it's Firewire even large files transfer over very quickly.

How to reinstall OSX on a computer that wont even boot up?

Hey everyone
I have about a year old MBP that has suddenly stopped working. Whenever I try to boot up I get the white Apple screen with an endless spinning icon. It looks like its booting up fine, but it never leaves this screen. If I try to hold C with the install disc in, or hold T to enter firewire mode, the spinning just continues.
I gather that I need to reinstall OSX, but is there anyway to do that when I cant even boot up to choose a startup disk? I have a Powerbook (from which I'm posting on) if that helps at all.
Thanks

Try a PRAM reset. Hold down Command-Option-P-R when booting until the tone has sounded thrice.

I reinstalled osx 10.8.2 from recovery disk, now verify disk says my hard drive is there but wont boot into it regardless which partition i select to boot into , everytime it boots me into the recovery, i need help!

Mb pro running like garbage with 10.8.2 tried a reinstall of osx from recovery utility now the utility says my hard drive is ok but wont boot into it keeps booting me back into recovery tried restart option to select disk tried using the select startup disk from recovery, gives a message asking if i really want to boot to it and in that message is the only rime it shows a question mark on the drive dont know what to do cant find similar issue

Your rushing and not making much sense.
Your machine was running like garbage, so you tried to reinstall 10.8---did you do this or not?
Disk Utility says your drive is ok, that's good.
But when you boot it keeps booting Recovery HD, so perhaps the firmware has made a mistake, it can forget.
You held the option key down to boot into Startup Manager, why didn't you select OS X for the boot volume?
When you get into OS X you change the Startup Disk in System Preferences, that should take care of the Flashing Question mark issue.
attemtping to ireinstall osx from recovery partition bar is full on install screen, but im now at -6hours remaining
So now your reinstalling OS X like you set out to do before, it does take some time as it has to download from Apple's servers.
If your Internet connection is slow and/or Wifi is slow then it will take awhile.
So you should have the Flashing Question Mark and Reinstall Only OS X covered.
You should be able to boot the machine, but your performance issues may be something else and still remain.
Why is my computer slow?
Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents#/?p er_page=50

How to create Lion recovery boot usb WITHOUT recovery partition?

I give up. I can't find the answer to this. So, I'll just ask and hope.
I have a mid-2011 mini that was upgraded to Lion. However, it had a Bootcamp partition running Windows 7.
Apparently, whoever upgraded my machine didn't create a recovery boot disk before upgrading.
So, I have no recovery partition and apparently no ability to create a recovery boot usb without one.
Apple's ******** support policy is to completely wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything--which is simply not going to happen.

Eric. wrote:
Have you tried this?
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433
I made one on a USB flash drive.
Problem with that solution is that:
Note: In order to create an external Lion Recovery using the Lion Recovery Assistant, the Mac must have an existing Recovery HD.
If you kept a copy of the installer, then open it up, and restore the InstallESD.dmg to an empty partition or flash drive. Do note that doesn't give you the Recovery HD, but you won't need one since you can reinstall w/o downloading anything but additional components from Apple's servers.

How to reinstall OSX to a Mac without recovery partition?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for