Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
I got a MacBook Air 13" i5 128gb with Lion and I want to reset it into factory settings. Anyway to do this?
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
and then wait 1-5 hours (depending on your internet speed) for it to download and install.

ya who needs a lame usb lion stick when we can have so much fun looking at clock for download to finish...ahhhhh
 

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
It just got done with 8mbps download speed but nothing happened. I reinstalled lion then did something else for like 20 minutes but my users accounts, downloads and everything was still on it. Was this suppose to happen? I want to to restore to factory settings like when I chose my language, set up my user accounts and everything else.

Edit: I also notice my fan is going non-stop. Its really loud and hot. I think I broke my macbook air. The fan use to be silent.
 

da3dl3us

macrumors member
Jul 27, 2010
69
0
It just got done with 8mbps download speed but nothing happened. I reinstalled lion then did something else for like 20 minutes but my users accounts, downloads and everything was still on it. Was this suppose to happen? I want to to restore to factory settings like when I chose my language, set up my user accounts and everything else.

Edit: I also notice my fan is going non-stop. Its really loud and hot. I think I broke my macbook air. The fan use to be silent.

Yeah, I did the same thing and my user accounts remained. I have no clue how to do a clean install of lion via the cmd-r boot.

But my fan is totally normal (i7 13'')
 

jenzjen

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
1,734
6
When the menu comes up before install Lion, select Disk Utility and use it to completely erase your HD. Then, install Lion.
 

Apple Expert

macrumors 65816
Jan 31, 2010
1,337
0
open up Activity Monitor, and see what is using the processor. I'd place a bet on it being 'mds', which is Spotlight indexing the machine.

A common thing most people over look. Also people think the MBA are going to be dead silent no matter what the task it's doing. :rolleyes:
 

daleski75

macrumors 68000
Dec 10, 2008
1,907
402
Northampton, UK
This is the first time I have ever left the 'default' install on osx normally every mac I get I wipe and do a clean install so I hope in future Apple lets us download an dmg or to trick the O/S into thinking it's in recovery mode and download it and put it onto usb (simplistic terms)
 

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
I got my new air. It seems like an old one, it has some scratches, the palm rest seems polished, the ports are dirty, the tip of the mag safe is damaged. I swear I did not plug anything into the ports except for the magsafe and the tip was already damaged before I even touched it. I didn't plug anything into the ports yet except for the mag safe.
 

OSMac

macrumors 65816
Jun 14, 2010
1,451
6
Trying a wipe / reinstall now ... 4.5 hours predicted.
Hope it does not shutdown if left alone.

Think of all the people spending all that time,
vs including a $5 recovery USB stick.

Or even having a recovery partitition with Lion
ready to install would be better than the long wait.
 
Last edited:

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
I know this thread was made a long time ago, but now I really want to a factory reset. I also got a 16GB flash drive, if that helps. I don't want to keep any of my files either. Except for the default programs like ilife photo booth safari FaceTime, etc.
 

mrbell1984

macrumors newbie
Sep 3, 2011
17
0
and then wait 1-5 hours (depending on your internet speed) for it to download and install.

ya who needs a lame usb lion stick when we can have so much fun looking at clock for download to finish...ahhhhh

I have solved this issue regards to an offline solution so no more watching a count down timer for me.
 

jenzjen

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
1,734
6
I know this thread was made a long time ago, but now I really want to a factory reset. I also got a 16GB flash drive, if that helps. I don't want to keep any of my files either. Except for the default programs like ilife photo booth safari FaceTime, etc.

I posted what you need to do above, seems like you missed the post
 

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
Thanks for the instructions but can you give me step by step instructions?, I don't want to ruin my Air.
 

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
I posted what you need to do above, seems like you missed the post

I have a 2011 MacBook Air with Lion Pre-installed, and I have a 16GB flash drive. I did see your post above but I need clearer instructions. I don't have any important files that I want to keep but I want to keep the default programs (iLife, Photobooth, Safari, iTunes etc.)
 

jenzjen

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
1,734
6
I have a 2011 MacBook Air with Lion Pre-installed, and I have a 16GB flash drive. I did see your post above but I need clearer instructions. I don't have any important files that I want to keep but I want to keep the default programs (iLife, Photobooth, Safari, iTunes etc.)

All those programs are stock, so even if you mess up the install, once you do it correctly, all the programs will be there so just give it a shot.

I can't give you exact, step-by-step as it has been about a month since I restored my Air, but after you boot with CMD/R to get into the recovery and *before* you tell the menu prompt to install Lion, there is either an option or up in the toolbar, a way to launch Disk Utility.

Launch Disk Utility, select your HD and format the entire drive. Then, you can proceed to install Lion.
 

geekygeek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
149
1
Thanks for the reply, but do I need to put anything on the flash drive?
 

jenzjen

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
1,734
6
Thanks for the reply, but do I need to put anything on the flash drive?

No because as I read it, you want to go back to factory and don't have any files you need to keep. If you have files you want, save them to the drive.
 

noein

macrumors newbie
Aug 28, 2011
6
0
Boot into recovery mode and follow the prompts. Cmd-R after the chime.

how do I boot into recovery mode? is it the "cmd-r" after chime?
also will it affect battery life calibration if I factory reset? thanks.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.