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dr.rosenrosen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 9, 2008
27
0
I already have a genius appointment set up for tomorrow but figured I'd run this issue by the folks here & see if there's a way I can resolve it without going to the store.

I recently bought a used 2011 MBA with Mountain Lion from my brother in law. I've had nothing but great luck and experience with my previous MacBook, all of my iPhones & iPads and was excited to make this upgrade.

Right away I had an issue where there was an update available for iPhoto, but when I would try to update it kept telling me to log in to the account I used to purchase it, which obviously I can't since it was his account. I see that several others have had this sort of trouble buying used or open box Mac's.

I figured that It would be best to just do a reinstall of the original OS and start fresh. Now I've erased the HD and am attempting to install Lion but it won't let me, it says that I need to sign in with the ID used to purchase Lion, which again I can't do since it was his account. I didn't do a backup first because there was nothing at all that I needed to save.

The computer is out of warranty so Apple phone support wants $59 CAD to talk to me about it, which is beyond ridiculous when there is no obvious way that I can fix the issue without their help. I can't be the only one who's ever bought a used MBA and ran in to this issue.
 

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,725
332
Oregon
That's the problem with the new "cloud" distribution of software, but apparently they can transfer the ownership to you so you can download Lion and the iLife Apps that came with it. However Mac App Store software purchases are not transferrable, so you won't be able to install any software your brother-in-law bought such as Mountain Lion.
 

dr.rosenrosen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 9, 2008
27
0
That's the problem with the new "cloud" distribution of software, but apparently they can transfer the ownership to you so you can download Lion and the iLife Apps that came with it. However Mac App Store software purchases are not transferrable, so you won't be able to install any software your brother-in-law bought such as Mountain Lion.

Yeah, I figured I'd just pay to upgrade to ML, and buy iLife, etc. it's just stupid that I have to jump through hoops to put the OS that came with the computer on the computer.

----------


Thanks, but I'm already there.

The issue is when I try to install the OS from the recovery partition and it asks for my Apple ID, then it says "this Apple ID has not purchased Lion, you must sign in with an Apple ID that w used to purchase Lion"
 

dr.rosenrosen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 9, 2008
27
0
Thanks for the replies.

The issue was resolved at the store. He Installed Lion and also installed iLife again for no charge. When I got home I upgraded to Mountain Lion, and now when I check purchases in the App Store it shows that I've purchased both OS's, which hopefully means I won't run into the same problem should I ever choose to restore as new again in the future.
 
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