Restore mac mini

Having various issuses with mac mini, backed up all to external drive, now what is the best way to restore the machine and recapture apps and updates?????

Hi Eric,
What OSX version are you running?

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How do I restore Mac Mini late 2009 to factory settings. Error occurs.

I have a late 2009 Mac Mini with 2.26 ghz core and 2 GB memory running Lion 10.7.4. I wish to restore my computer to factory settings but when I put in my Snow Leopard disc I continue to get an error message that reads "You can't use this version of the application Install Mac OS X with this version of Mac OS X. You have Install Mac OS X 23.1.1."
I wish to restore my Mac to Snow Leopard and then redownload Lion from the App Store and start fresh with 10.7.4 on my restored Mac but I am finding it incredibly difficult.

You might have to erase the Drive first, but did you try reinstalling Lion from the Restore Partition?
Hold CMD+r keys at bootup?
Otherwise...
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
   2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
      *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
   3. Click the Erase tab.

Restoring Mac Mini to factory settings

I am trying to restore my MAC MINI to factory settings.
I am unable to access "disk utility" by restarting while holding down COMMAND+R keys.
I am using a windows keyboard.
Please help.
Thanks

Turn off the Mac. Do not restart.
Then, with your finger over the Alt key, turn on the unit, and depress the Alt key just after doing so. You should have it depressed well before you hear the chime and keep it depressed until after the list of bootable devices pops up. If you see an apple logo then things have not worked.
Keeping the key down before you startup often makes computers think that the key is stuck and ignore it altogether. I've not seen it on Macs but I certainly have on PCs.

Completely restore mac mini to factory

how do i completely restore a mac mini to factory settings and totally wipe out any casched info?

If the computer has Lion or later, boot into the recovery partition and reformat/reinstall the OS
Some Solutions for Resetting Forgotten Security Questions: Apple Support Communities
- Other do the same with the OS installation disks

Restore Mac mini server

I have a mac mini server, which is blocking and I can not restore the password and not use qu DVD drive, I can do in this case?

xnav wrote:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
The article you linked here describes Internet Recovery and says:
“If you use Internet Recovery to reinstall OS X, it installs the version of OS X that originally came with your computer.”
So that would be what I want. Unfortunately, the problem is to actually get into Internet Recovery mode, you’d have to put your Mac in a state where regular Recovery doesn’t work anymore. One article on the topic says:
‘You can’t unless you really need to.’ As long as you have a valid Recovery HD partition, trying to boot into Internet Recovery will instead boot your Mac into standard recovery mode.
Which is what I experienced here. So before killing my Recovery partition and hoping that Internet Recovery will kick in, I’ll do what Joe Bailey suggested: Download the Mountain Lion installer and let the buyer of that Mac decide which OS X flavor he wants.

Restoring Mac Mini to factory settings - which disk do I select?

Hello,
I am trying to restore my mac mini to factory settings.
I was able to access the disk utility but am not sure which disk I should select before erasing.
Options in Utilities pane:
500.11 GB Toshiba MK506GSXF Media
     Macintosh HD
Disc 1
     Mac OS X Base System
I want to reformat disk so that no existing data is retrievable AND want to be able to resintall the operating system thereby restoring to factory settings.
Your help is much appreciated!

Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See What to do with iCloud before selling your computer.
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
              Utilities window appears.
          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
              on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

How do I restore Mac mini to factory settings?

I received a Mac mini from my mom & I want to wipe the entire unit & place my info on it and I'm not familiar with Macs. I could use a little help please

If it shipped with Mac OS X 10.6.8 or earlier, insert its original disk and restart the computer with the C key held down.
If it shipped with Mac OS X 10.7 or newer, restart with the Command and R keys held down.
Use the Disk Utility to erase the partition with Mac OS X installed, and then install a fresh OS onto it.
(98317)

Restore mac mini snow leopard no administrative privilege

Would like to reset mac mini (Mid 2007 - Macmini 2,1) to factory settings. However, don't have administrative privileges. Tried to boot with os snow leopard and holding alt and c. It didn't work.

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. 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.
     5. If you are planning to sell or give your computer away, then do the following:
        After you reformat your hard drive and reinstall OS X, the computer restarts to a
        Welcome screen and asks you to choose a country or region. If you want to leave
        the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup of your system. Instead,
        press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the Mac,
        the Setup Assistant will guide them through the setup process.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Restoring Mac Mini - Urgent advice needed

Whilst attempting to create a boot camp partition this morning my Mini had a kernel panic. After powering down, when turned back on I have no display so cannot see if any message is being displayed.
Fortunately I'm fully backed up with Time Machine, but when attempting to insert the Leopard install DVD to try to recover, the disc won't physically load into the drive. I don't have a wired keyboard either so I'm assuming entering any commands at this stage will be impossible (I have 2 Apple wireless keyboards if that's of any use!)
Can anyone suggest a way to at least get the Leopard disc to insert so that I can attempt recovery?
And before you ask the machine is out of warranty so Applecare/phone support is not an option.
Thanks in advance,
Tom

The drive first: If Disk Utility reports an error on exit and does not complete repairs, run it again just to be sure. If it continues to report error on exit it means there is damage to the drive which is greater than Disk Utility can resolve, and you with either then need to get a third party utility such as Disk Warrior or TechTools Pro, or perform a full erase and install of MacOS from your Leopard disk in order to resolve the problem. Obviously if the latter, then you should attempt to back up your data first, since the erase and install involves a full reformat of the drive.
The fan: This is caused by the fact you performed a PMU reset on your system when in fact it doesn't have a PMU! This procedure causes the fan to run up to full speed at all times. Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed solution, but many report that an SMC reset (the Intel system equivalent of a PMU reset which is actually only for earlier PPC systems) works.
To reset the SMC on an Intel mini:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.
You'll see the only difference really between the PMU reset you performed and the SMC reset you should now do is that the SMC reset does NOT involve holding the power button in while reconnecting power.

After upgrading to yosemite my magic mouse won't work when I wake up my mac mini. I have to power down then restore power to get it to function.

after upgrading to yosemite my magic mouse won't work when I wake up my mac mini. I have to power down and restore power for it to function. Also cannot send email from mac mini or iPad.

after upgrading to yosemite my magic mouse won't work when I wake up my mac mini. I have to power down and restore power for it to function. Also cannot send email from mac mini or iPad.

How can I tell if I have the right restore disks for Intel Mac Mini

I have an "early 2006" (confirmed by S/N YM609***) Intel Mac Mini 1.66mhz Core Duo. I bought it used and the hard drive had been wiped. Both the HD and the DVD drive seem to work fine; hard drive passes SMART tests. I was able to boot using "Drive Genius" and can access the pre-install items like Disk Utility (and know that I need to use GUID formatting to create a bootable disk). Not knowing I could order restore disks from Apple I bought a set on eBay, p/n AHT VERSION 3A102 DISC VERSION 1.1 2Z691-5828-A, copyright 2006 on disks and included documentation (OS 10.4.6), but the install always fails 10-15 minutes along. I got the same results when trying to install via internal optical drive to a FW or USB external HD (told it to use GUID for the external HD), or external FW optical drive both to internal HD and to external USB hard drive. A friend tried to install full retail versions of 10.5 and even 10.6 for diagnostic purposes, using the built in HD and DVD drives, but those installs did not complete either; they did not try external drives. Is that the wrong restore version for this model, or even if the right "generation", does a set of restore disks only work with the specific Mac mini they were issued for like for example XP restore disks would? I've been told I can provide my s/n to Apple and for about $30 they will send me the "right" restore disks... anyone know anything about this? Could there be a hardware/firmware explanation for why the install fails like that? PS ran the extended version of the Apple Hardware Test with that restore disk set and it reported "no problems."
<Edited by Host>

Thanks. Actually I got the Mini from a computer recycling company I work with so I knew it might have problems and that I was taking an "as-is" risk. If the original disks were turned in with it, they'd been lost (that outfit took in huge piles of stuff every day; it was often luck of the draw for me to find something before it would be buried, damaged, etc., and not everyone who worked there had any idea of the possible value of things they received) for me to find things. The disks I got on eBay apparently were separated from the mini they'd been packaged for. An Apple Store rep said I could order restore direct from Apple just by providing my serial number; just wish I'd known that before I went to eBay. Since posting this I've seen another seller specifically claiming that the same-part-numbered-as-mine disc set they are selling will work with my specific type of Mac mini. I have an appointment tomorrow morning at the Genius Bar at an Apple store near me in case they have more suggestions. Will share what I know as things develop.

How do I restore a Mac Mini 1.83?

Hey there,
I was just given two Mac Mini 2006 1.83ghz the other day (old, out of use office computers) and one powers on and works perfectly, the other tells me its has a boot error and to insert boot disc.
My issue with the first one is that because it used to be an office computer, it loads to the home screen from my office. It requires a username and password. Sadly, the person who had the admin information is no longer with the company. Is there a way for my to restore this mini and remove the previous admin? I believe this one has also been updated to lion.
The second one just loads to a boot error and says to load the boot disc. (which weren't given to me with the macs)
I will happily buy the boot discs if I know that installing it will remove either the admin lock or fix the boot issue. Or even replacing the hard drive itself.
Also, with the second one, I'm not sure if the USB ports work on it as I plugged my apple keyboard in and I couldn't seem to type anything or turn the caps lock light on which did work perfectly on the first.
These are at my free will to upgrade and play with as I please, so any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks in advance!

The 2006 Minis can only go as high as Snow Leopard, 10.6.8
To reset the admin PW:
OS X: Changing or resetting an account password
Forgot Mac Password? How to Reset Your Mac Password (with or without CD)
Change the Admin Password with Mac OS X Single User Mode
Reset mac mini admin password: Apple Support Communities
You can call Apple and order the original installation disks for a small cost.
You can also order the Snow leopard install disk here
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
Here are videos for replacing the HD and other things
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac_mini_06-08/
Do you have another Mac with Snow Leopard?
The second MIni may have other problems.

Intel Mac Mini crash. Restore from TimeMachine failed. Reinstall from DVD failed

I am at a loss. My Mac Mini (Intel 2.53ghz, 10.6.7, 4gb RAM) froze today. Mouse would still move the cursor, but nothing responded. After letting it go for perhaps a half hour, waiting for a chance to get control back or to perhaps relaunch Finder, I gave up and turned it off by holding down the power button. On reboot, it would not make it past the startup screen. I inserted the restore DVD that came with this Mac Mini, it booted from the DVD and I tried reinstalling OSX 10.6 from the DVD. It proceeded to around 30% install and crashed. I turned it off again, started up again form the DVD, and went into Disk Utility. I verified the internal HD and it had no errors and nothing to repair. This time I went directly to a restore from my TimeMachine backup. (I had actually installed one new program today, and in case that program was the issue I chose a restore from the morning a few hours before that new program was added.) The restore progressed to 86.6%, then crashed. I saved the installer log to an external drive.
I took a few hours away from it, but came back after a few hours. I attempted to boot from the DVD again, and it would not get beyond the Apple sreen. I turned it off by holding down the power button, unplugged the power supply, and searched online for around 30 minutes. After finding little online, I booted from the DVD again, this time succesfully, and am currently running a TimeMachine restore again which I started after I began typing this entry because, honestly, when I started typing this I didn't think it would boot from the DVD again. At the moment, the resotre is at 12.7%, but considering it crashed at 86.6% last time, I'm not too hopeful.
Any thoughts or advice? I'm not totally freaked out as I keep all documents on two external drives and backed up, in addition to having a 2tb TimeMachine drive with this system, all connected by fw800. But... it's not like I don't want to get this Mac Mini working again. It's from November 2009 an I don't have Apple Care for it, which I suppose means they'll charge me a fortune if I take it in. (I'm grateful to have this 11.6" MacBook Air to work on.)
Until Disk Utility told me that the internal drive was okay, I was thining I should try sticking a new hd inside and reinstalling from there. Not sure what to do if this TimeMachine restore fails. (at 18.5% now.)
My thanks to any who read this.

Thanks for responding. I forgot to come here and delete this thread. As it turned out, I switched from trying to use the OSX Install disc that came with the Mac Mini and instead used a Snow Leopard retail dvd. That disc worked perfectly. Pretty disturbing that the dvd that came with the computer would not work, while a store bought one worked. Glad I bought a retail version of OSX to hackintosh a dell mini or I wouldn't havebeen able to fix this.

Alum Mac Mini SLOW after restore from Time Machine backup of 09 Mac Mini

Hi,
I bought a 2010 Alum Mac Mini (2.4Ghz/2GB/320GB/OS10.6.4) a couple months ago, and I restored it from a time machine backup from my old '08 Mac Mini (1.83ghz/2GB/OS10.6.4). All data moved successfully, but this machine seems 2x slower than my old Mac Mini.
Issues I'm encountering include:
iDisk sync extremely slow
launching Apps slow
Trouble handling more than 3 or 4 open apps (Chrome, iTunes, Pages, Numbers)
Is it possible that this is an issue because of restoring from the backup?
Thanks in advance!
PS - I'm a fairly intermediate-advanced user, no programming background, but solid on most other things.

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
If you still have the TM backup, I would suggest erasing the new Mac mini's HDD and doing a fresh install from its Install DVD and then do a migration of the TM backup rather than a clone. There is something in that clone that the new mini does not like.
You could also, as an alternative, try installing Mac OS X from the Install DVD over the top of the clone and see if it fills in the gap or corrects whatever the new mini does not like. This should not touch your data, just install Mac OS X Snow Leopard over the version already there. But you should always make a backup of anything that is not backed up.
Dah•veed

Missing Mac Mini Restore DVD disk 2, need to Cancel Installation

hi, I'm a Mac newbie. I recently bought a mac mini from someone. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that there should be 2 restore dvds instead of just one (I thought the Os X Tiger drop in dvd was the 2nd dvd).
I'm trying to reinstall the OS X along w/the software b/c I ran into some problems with the Mac mini. But when I get to the screen that says, "please insert Disk 2", I have no disk 2. I can't cancel the installation b/c the Cancel button is grayed out. I tried shut down and restart the computer from disc one directly, but after click through a series of Next buttons, it only leads me to the same screen.
Now I can't use my Mac mini at all. Short of fork over $40 for a replacement dvd from Apple, is there anyway I can restore to the previous point prior to my attempted installation/cancel the current installation?
Much thanks in advance.
Mac Mini 1.25 ghz Mac OS X (10.4)

"is there anyway I can restore to the previous point prior to my attempted installation/cancel the current installation?"
No, sorry. That is not a feature of Mac OS.
If you have an Apple retail store nearby head on over there, explain your situation and see if they'd be willing to copy the 2nd disc for you.

Restore mac mini

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