Reformatting an iMac

I purchased a used iMac to replace my faithful eMac. When I powered it on, it has an administrator profile that I do not know the password for. I would like to reformat the iMac so that the name of the Admin is me as well as manage all installations (which require password as Admin).
I have an install DVD for Mac OS X Tiger.
What do I need to do this?
How can I move my eMac info (data and files) over to iMac? (I recall a wire between the two was fast and easy)
Is there a faster way to do this instead of complete reformatting?

You need to one of these:
• Call AppleCare, and give them the serial number for the iMac. They will send you replacements of the original discs that were shipped with the iMac and which should have been included by the seller. Apple will charge you a small fee. If that iMac shipped with Leopard (your profile says 10.5.1), then you can't install Tiger over that.
• Go to any store that sells Apple software (or shop online) and buy Snow Leopard, which your iMac can run. The $29US for Snow Leopard is probably about the same as the fee Apple will charge to replace those original discs.
Once you have the install disc, either the system discs or SL, do an Erase and Install on the iMac, and use Migration Assistant to move your data. It can be done via ethernet cable or FireWire.
You DO actually want to do the reformatting, and you should every time you by used computer. Yes, the seller was probably a good person and didn't leave any nastyware behind, but it always is better to start from scratch.

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Have reformatted my Imac using original discs (installed leopard (10.5)) tried to do the software update but it cant download the itunes update and when it gets to the configure update screen after restart for main update, it just gets stuck. HELP!

have reformatted my Imac using original discs (installed leopard (10.5)) tried to do the software update but it cant download the itunes update and when it gets to the configure update screen after restart for main update, it just gets stuck. HELP!
The configure bar gets about an 1/8 full and then just does nothing. I think its lists the update as combo update? cant remember with out checking.
I have tried to do the disk verify and repair but this has made no difference.
Please let me know what i need to do, I have reformatted the mac just to start over as was clogged with a lot of useless data, I had installed lion (10.7) from the app store previously and now cant seem to find a way to re install lion. I hope I dont need to pay for it again?

If you erased your hard drive, you'll need to reinstll OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to access the App store. You won't have to pay for OS X 10.7 Lion again. Did you try booting to the recovery partition by holding the command and r keys down? If that's still there, you can reinstall OS X 10.7 from there.
If you're looking to install the current iTunes, you need OS X 10.6.8 at a minimum.
If you're still trying to update OS X 10.5 Leopard, you can download the combo update from here. Download, use Disk Utility to repair permissions, apply the update, then repair permissions again. That will take you to OS X 10.5.8.

Had to reformat my imac but now can't access time capsule to get my old fil

I had to reformat my imac, running snow leopard. Got it reinstalled. I'm reading my time capsule volume but it has problems connecting to allow me to restore my old settings files, (photos, music etc)
I'm not sure if I'm tackling this correctly. I'm using Migration Assistant, should I be going through Time Machine? I tried both but am having issues. My airport setting are fine. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for the feedback and the link to the help page.
I had to reformat because my imac was not responding at all. It would open but super slow. In disc utilities I tried reparing disc multiple times, kept getting a message saying the disc was corrupted something about sibling error???, back up all your files, erase and restore.
I've been running snow leopard and have had a time capsule for a while so I erased and spent the next two days trying to reinstall OSX unsuccessfully. Called the apple tech support, tried their idea of reinstalling snow leopard after an erase. It would not install.
Took my computer into the genius bar and they were able to reinstall immediately. We tried a direct ethernet connect to my time capsule at the genius bar but it would not work. It didn't see any time machine volume. The time capsule was flahing yellow. When I hook it to my router it is solid green, gives me a "connecting message" but doesn't open.
anyway so now I bring the imac back home and it won't connect to time machine. Will try from my disc to restore from time machine and will hook up with ethernet again, see if it works.
I feel I'm missing a step when I connect direct with the ethernet but have a flashign yellow light on time capsule. Any ideas on that.
thanks again

Reformatting my iMac 27"

Afternoon,
I'm using the Disk Utility to try and reformat my iMac 27". A friend of mine is going to purchase it so I can get a new Macbook Pro instead. Basically I just want my information off of it before I hand it over. However, when I go to select the drive it's grayed out and won't let me erase the drive. I've read previous posts about how to do it- but can't get it to actually allow me to erase the drive. Any suggestions?

That's exactly what I did the first time. It gives me the same options with the 'Macintosh HD' grayed out. Explain again what to do your not being very clear.
Wait- I found it- it's on the menu when you click the installation of OSX. Thank you!
Message was edited by: D. Kemper

I reformat my iMac but i lost my way to connect to wi fi it does not appear anymore, please help!!!

Something went wrong with my imac recently so I decided to reformat using the origal 2 disc with it. But for some reason I lost my way to connect to Wi - Fi.
Is there any disc I need to install it? What did i did wrong?. How can I get back the wi-fi connection using my at&t? I am using Mac os version 10.4.8.

Something went wrong with my imac recently so I decided to reformat using the origal 2 disc with it. But for some reason I lost my way to connect to Wi - Fi.
Is there any disc I need to install it? What did i did wrong?. How can I get back the wi-fi connection using my at&t? I am using Mac os version 10.4.8.

Reformat old iMac and restore files on new iMac

I have an early 2008 iMac which I am about to sell and replace with a newer version. I regularly use Time Machine to do back ups. What's the best way to reformat my old machine before I sell and also restore all my files onto the new iMac?

There are a number of articles available on how to prepare a Mac for sales. Here are a couple:
Prepare a Mac For Sale
Preparing your Mac for sale

Reinstalling or reformatting my iMac?

so i edit with final cut pro and after effects and for some reason FCP started working impossibly slow. so slow i cant capture or even watch clips already captured. iMovie didnt work either and idvd is taking an extra 6 hours to burn a dvd than it used to. Everything else with my computer works fine so im not sure the problem. Nobody here could help me out so im just going to try to reinstall or reformat my computer (not sure what the term is, i know nothing about computers). So how do i even do this, my computer did not come with a disk. Is there a way to reformat everything without loosing my after effects, i no longer have the cd for it.

i got the imac new and still have the box,
Look in the white sleeve with the small manual that was in the box with the keyboard and mouse. I believe it's labeled "Everything Else". The disks will be in there.
i tried to verify the internal drive and it said:
warning: SUID file "system/library/coreservices/remotemanagement/ARDAgent.app/contents/macOS/ARDag ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
"Warning SUID file "system/library/prviateframeworks/desktopservicesPriv.framework/versions/A/reso urces/locum" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Does that have anything to do with it?
No. Those are normal status messages and can be safely ignored.
also, i use to have my computer at work and thats where i installed after effects. i no longer work there or have the cd for it so cant reinstall it.
If you don't have the original installation CD - it was provided and retained by the company you worked for - you don't have a legal license for After Effects, so you should delete it in any case.
I want to just reformat everything but dont want to loose after effects. is this possible?
No.
or is there a way to partly reformat it?
There's no such thing as a "partial" reformat. You can reinstall Mac OS X without formatting the drive, but you cannot format the drive without erasing everything.
If you still need After Effects, you need to go buy your own copy. As it is now, you're running a pirated, illegal version.

I just reformat my imac and my iPhoto is gone too. How can i get it reinstall back to my imac? :)

Hi,
Anyone can help me with this problem? I have no disc to reinstall back also. My imac orginally come with iphoto and stuff. i try to install via Appstore. but i need to pay instead, so i never do that. Please help

Unless you can find your install disk, you'll have to buy them from the App Store.
If they came with your Mac (pre-Lion), they will be on a gray disk that shipped with your Mac.
If you've misplaced those disks, I have heard that Apple will replace them for a small fee. Call AppleCare.
If your Mac came with Lion pre-installed, you should be able to download the apps from the App Store. From the About OS X Recovery article:
If you erase install OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion on a new Mac that shipped with OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion installed, you can download iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand from the Mac App Store.
After installation, start (up) from OS X.
Double-click the App Store icon in the dock.
Enter your Apple ID and password.
Click Purchases.
If you haven't previously accepted your bundled iLife applications within the Mac App Store, you should see your iLife applications appear in the Accept portion of the screen. Click Accept.
You may be asked for your Apple ID and password once again. Your iLife applications now move to the Purchased section. These applications are part of the software that came with your Lion based computer. Your account will not be charged for them. Click Install to complete installation of your applications.

Reformatting my iMac G4

How would I go about reformatting with Panther... That does mean erasing your harddrive right?

You can start your computer up with OS X DVD or CD in the drive and press C as it boots up. You can access disk utility and erase. You can install OS X again afterwards.

Reformatting my imac to resell it

I am selling/giving away my old old 1999 imac and need to know how to rid it of all of my files. How do I set it so that it is back to factory settings with no way of tracing the old files? Thanks!

An alternative could perhaps be the freeware application Burn 2.5 (try a Google search).
Typically, you begin by copying the special application (e.g. Burn 2.5) to the hard disk. Then, move all files and folders, except a basic system folder and the just mentioned program, to the Trash. Unnecessary files within the System Folder can be removed. Empty the Trash from the Special menu. After this, run the application to erase free space (set as many cycles as required). When ready, restart from the system CD (press the C key). Locate Drive Setup on the CD. Launch Drive Setup, select the hard drive, check Zero all data under Initialization Options, and choose to initialise (this operation will take minutes/hours, depending upon the size of the hard disk). Verify that the hard disk is completely empty. Finally, reinstall an operating system.
Jan

How to reformat Imac OS10.7

I just bought a new Imac, after did the migration from my old computer found out a lot of error, like fontbook not activated..... so just wanna reformat the Imac to Migrate again

Restart, holding down the CMD+R keys, and launch Disk Utility, wipe the HD, and reinstall Lion. Details in Recovery/ and About Lion Recovery. On first boot, use the Setup Assistant to do the migration. See Pondini's Setup New Mac guide.

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.

Reformat IMAC

Hello,
I tried reformatting my IMAC with the CD that came with it and after the install, I still have the same info. The CD that came with it is the MAC OS and application CD, is there another CD I am missing?
Thanks in advance.
Becky

Ok, now I understood the problem. You should perform a clean installation of the operating system. If you have upgraded to Lion, you can't perform a clean install, because the only option you have is to perfom an upgrade. I suggest you two way:
Reinstall Snow Leopard: boot your iMac with the installation DVD inserted, holding the letter C right after the chime sound. Your iMac will boot into the the installation process. After choosing the language, the first window of the installer shows up, and so does the "application bar" on the upper side of the screen. You should find the Utility menu, and under that the Disk Utility: there you can complety erase all of the data in your HD. After formatting, you can start the installation process. When finished, you should install all of the updates available and then upgrade to Lion.
Create a bootable USB pendrive of Lion (Recomended, time saving): by following this guide http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/08/make-a-bootable-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-installer-from -a-usb-flash-drive/, and perform a clean install of Lion. Like before, once the setup is loaded, you should format your HD like said before.
Let me know if that works!

Can't seem to fix my iMac. Suggestions?

17inch 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo with 2GB Ram, running OSX 10.5.8. Software all updated via Software update, all maintenance scripts run via Cocktail.
(Internal optical drive failed a while ago so use an external Plextor drive instead.)
For months now, I've had a big problem with my iMac whereby the machine just hangs and won't even reboot. When this happens, Finder won't let me force quit any app that has hung (and it isn't always the same app that hangs) and even the dock freezes and becomes unresponsive.
The only way to get the iMac back when this happens is to power down and then reboot (something I hate doing).
I noticed this tended to happen when Time Machine was "Preparing to Backup" but not any more, it just randomly and very often hangs.
As of now, my iMac is unusable and am having to make do with my old Macbook which is hopelessly underspeced for what I need to be doing.
Over the weekend, the iMac failed completely.
To cut a long story short, I have just completely reinstalled OSX 10.5.8 by hooking the iMac to the Macbook via Firewire, reformatting the iMac via Disc Utilities on the Macbook then installing OSX 10.5.8 using the Macbook running the install disc and targeting the iMac as an external firewire drive. I then used Utilities on the install disc to reload the last configuration of the iMac from the last Time Machine backup.
However, my iMac is STILL randomly freezing and behaving just as before.
Have any of you experts out there any other suggestions for me to follow? I need help here...
Thanks!

Forgive me asking a dumb question but I've never done this before... Where will I find the "Zero all data" option and how do I do this? I'm guessing it's part of the Erase and Install protocol. Am I right?
When you are booted from your install disc, open the Disk Utility to reformat the drive. In there you will see a tab called "Security Options." You can select "Zero all data" in there.
And presumably, I just copy over the current Preferences folder which is in User/Library and then just over-write the new one once the new install is complete. Is this right?
Correct. Repair your permissions before and after the move also.
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG

Recieved my iMac 27 inch back from Apple with a blank Hard drive

Need to reinstall os10.7 on my reformatted 27 iMac, that I just got back from apple repair, how is that done whith out installation disks?

Take back to Apple Repair. Be polite, but firm, in your desire to have a functioning system.
After it is working, then get a self-powered external drive, and make a CarbonCopyClone *bootable* backup of your system. That way the Genius Bar can send it back anytime they want blank and you will have no issues.

Reformatting an iMac

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