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How do I restore MacBook to factory settings?
- Thread starter Tacticus
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Reboot and hold Cmd-Opt-R at the chime to get into Internet Recovery. You will then be able to launch Disk Utility and wipe the hard drive, then reinstall OS X. This process may take more than an hour.
I would recommend downloading and creating a bootable OS X Lion/ML thumb drive. Much faster than internet recovery unless you have super blazing internet.
Internet Recovery (Cmd-Opt-R) uses the computer's serial number to download the version that it came with. This is not the same as the Recovery System (Cmd-R) which reinstalls the same version as is currently present.
I had the exact same question here (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1543870/), but no answers there.
So I'm happy about finding this thread
Has anyone an idea about the SSD question? (see quote below).
So I'm happy about finding this thread
Has anyone an idea about the SSD question? (see quote below).
I had the exact same question here (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1543870/), but no answers there.
So I'm happy about finding this thread
Has anyone an idea about the SSD question? (see quote below).
That is correct... you don't want to secure erase an SSD. If you want to make sure your data is safe before you sell, just turn on Filevault2 encryption on the drive and wait for it to finish encrypting. Then follow the step in this thread to get to Internet Recovery and erase Macintosh HD, then reinstall the OS.
When you erase the HD, it will erase the encrypted Filevault2 volume. So even if someone used tools to recover what you erased, it would still be encrypted.
Why does secure erase harm the SSD and why would Apple still provide a secure empty trash feature on SSD-based Macs?
The theory is that a secure erase by overwriting with zeros like DU does needlessly adds wear cycles to the drive. If you look at DU on a SSD Mac, you will see the secure erase option is greyed out.
Secure erase is greyed out in Disk Utility, but you still have the option to "Secure Empty Trash" when emptying your trash bin. Isn't this in fact doing the same thing on a smaller scale?
And, if secure erase is the way to go for a HDD, how do you prevent recovery of data on an SSD if secure erase is not an option?
Yes, it would seem so. A secure empty trash does overwrite the area with random data, so in theory this adds one more "write cycle" to that area of the disk.
To prevent data recovery with an SSD you can either encrypt then delete like I described in post post above, or you can boot from Linux and run the ATA secure erase command which does not add a write cycle.
Thanks. So if you only plan to have the SSD-equipped Mac for say 3 years and only do a secure empty trash occasionally, I'm guessing write cycles shouldn't be too big of a deal?
I would not worry about it. There is some good info in this article on the topic.
This is from the article. Even with the newer TLC NAND, at 10GB writes a day you are looking at over 11 years. So even if secure empty trash cut that back somewhat, the computer will likely be dead and gone before the SSD starts to die.
Details?
Can you give a little more detail on this process? I restarted with Cmd-option-R and got into a screen that says Mac OS X Utilities. I choose the Disk Utility option and Disk Utility opens. I have options to Erase or Restore my hard drive. But I don't see where it tells me there is an Internet Recovery option.
Thanks
Can you give a little more detail on this process? I restarted with Cmd-option-R and got into a screen that says Mac OS X Utilities. I choose the Disk Utility option and Disk Utility opens. I have options to Erase or Restore my hard drive. But I don't see where it tells me there is an Internet Recovery option.
Thanks
You want to select the "install a new copy of OS X" option when the recovery program loads, not Disk Utility.
I don't think the option key is required to boot to OS X Recovery. All you need is cmd-R.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
OK. And then there is some kind of Internet Recovery? Because I do not have disks to restore OSX