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Bought a 2nd Hand Macbook Pro (still under Applecare) and would like to reset it

B

BrokenJumps

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 29, 2012
3
0
Afternoon all!

Alright, this is my first post here on MacRumours, but after doing a little reading online, I'm guessing this is the right place to post. Its a bit of a long winded situation, but the brief version is I'd like to reset my new Macbook Pro to a state as if it were brand new out of the box...

...the long winded version is as follows...

I've been thinking of making the switch from PC to Mac for a long time now, as I do a lot of Photography and Videography work, and whilst I understand the PC to a tee, mine was about as unstable as they come, with Blue Screens left, right and centre. So, a month ago I was loaned an old Macbook2,1 with Snow Leopard to play with in order to familiarize myself with everything OSX. I was very impressed with it, especially how smoothly it could handle editing HD Video footage even though the machine was 5 years old.

So I decided to take the plunge and get a Macbook of my own. I shopped around and came across a bargain on ebay for a Macbook Pro. Its one of the 2011 models with a 13" Screen, i7 core 2.8Ghz, and perfect for my needs. What sold me on it though was that it was still under Applecare. Its arrived well packaged and well cared for. I'm using it, and have managed to connect the Loaned 2,1 to this 8,1 via Wifi and transfer my work across without hassle. Its such a smooth experience, that its everything I could hope for.

...apart from one thing: Although the person I purchased it from has more or less reset everything to factory settings (at least, that's how it seems), the name of the computer and login mention their name (i.e."Pete's Macbook"... and I'm not Pete).

What I'd like to know is whether there's a way to reset this Macbook Pro (its a Macbook Pro8,1 running Lion) to a freshly bought status so that I can enter my own name as the main user... or if there's a way to change the username and computer name from here.

As a side note, I did come across a post on the Apple Forums which looked good, but I don't happen to know much about command line on the Mac, so I'm hesitant to try it for the moment -> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3198776?start=0&tstart=0

Thanks in advance!

Jumps.
 
You just have to do a clean install of the system from the discs you got with the computer. Format the drive at the beginning of the process.
 
BrokenJumps said:
Afternoon all!

Alright, this is my first post here on MacRumours, but after doing a little reading online, I'm guessing this is the right place to post. Its a bit of a long winded situation, but the brief version is I'd like to reset my new Macbook Pro to a state as if it were brand new out of the box...

...the long winded version is as follows...

I've been thinking of making the switch from PC to Mac for a long time now, as I do a lot of Photography and Videography work, and whilst I understand the PC to a tee, mine was about as unstable as they come, with Blue Screens left, right and centre. So, a month ago I was loaned an old Macbook2,1 with Snow Leopard to play with in order to familiarize myself with everything OSX. I was very impressed with it, especially how smoothly it could handle editing HD Video footage even though the machine was 5 years old.

So I decided to take the plunge and get a Macbook of my own. I shopped around and came across a bargain on ebay for a Macbook Pro. Its one of the 2011 models with a 13" Screen, i7 core 2.8Ghz, and perfect for my needs. What sold me on it though was that it was still under Applecare. Its arrived well packaged and well cared for. I'm using it, and have managed to connect the Loaned 2,1 to this 8,1 via Wifi and transfer my work across without hassle. Its such a smooth experience, that its everything I could hope for.

...apart from one thing: Although the person I purchased it from has more or less reset everything to factory settings (at least, that's how it seems), the name of the computer and login mention their name (i.e."Pete's Macbook"... and I'm not Pete).

What I'd like to know is whether there's a way to reset this Macbook Pro (its a Macbook Pro8,1 running Lion) to a freshly bought status so that I can enter my own name as the main user... or if there's a way to change the username and computer name from here.

As a side note, I did come across a post on the Apple Forums which looked good, but I don't happen to know much about command line on the Mac, so I'm hesitant to try it for the moment -> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3198776?start=0&tstart=0

Thanks in advance!

Jumps.
Click to expand...
Boot while holding cmd-R. Follow the on screen instructions.
 
Thanks for the quick answers guys.

Angelo95210 said:
You just have to do a clean install of the system from the discs you got with the computer. Format the drive at the beginning of the process.
Click to expand...
As far as I know, this model doesn't come with any DVDs (Macbook Pro8,1).

simsaladimbamba said:
You could boot from theLion Recovery partition and do a clean install.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the idea and the links. I've read them and I'm giving it a try now as I don't mind jumping in the deep end: Entered Recovery, Hard Drive is erased, and no Lion is "Downloading Additional Components" - 1 hour, 42 mins to go :eek:

simsaladimbamba said:
Or you could use the grey Restore DVDs to make a clean install of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and buy Lion yourself, as the current Lion OS on your new used Mac is tied to Pete's account, as he paid for it..
Click to expand...
I don't see any Grey DVDs in the Pack (just a white booklet labelled "Hello", and some... Apple Stickers??). I didn't know that the OS would be tied to Pete after I purchased it - doesn't make sense to spend more at this point... but if the Lion Recovery doesn't do the job, I'll see.

snaky69 said:
Boot while holding cmd-R. Follow the on screen instructions.
Click to expand...
Thanks - trying the CMD-R route as we speak.

Ccrew said:
It came with Lion. No discs. Internet recovery.
Click to expand...
I didn't see internet recovery as an option, so I'm trying the normal method. In case this way doesn't work, is there a way to initiate an internet recovery?

Thanks.

Jumps.
 
BrokenJumps said:
Thanks for the quick answers guys.


As far as I know, this model doesn't come with any DVDs (Macbook Pro8,1).


Thanks for the idea and the links. I've read them and I'm giving it a try now as I don't mind jumping in the deep end: Entered Recovery, Hard Drive is erased, and no Lion is "Downloading Additional Components" - 1 hour, 42 mins to go :eek:


I don't see any Grey DVDs in the Pack (just a white booklet labelled "Hello", and some... Apple Stickers??). I didn't know that the OS would be tied to Pete after I purchased it - doesn't make sense to spend more at this point... but if the Lion Recovery doesn't do the job, I'll see.


Thanks - trying the CMD-R route as we speak.


I didn't see internet recovery as an option, so I'm trying the normal method. In case this way doesn't work, is there a way to initiate an internet recovery?

Thanks.

Jumps.
Click to expand...

You are doing an internet recovery as far as I know. I did the same thing when I bought my MBP and installed an SSD. You are well on your way. Be patient and enjoy your fresh new system!
 
randy98mtu said:
You are doing an internet recovery as far as I know. I did the same thing when I bought my MBP and installed an SSD. You are well on your way. Be patient and enjoy your fresh new system!
Click to expand...

Yup, that's essentially what you're doing by booting to the recovery partition. Hence the screaming coupla hours getting the full install down :)
 
Smart move beyond just changing the name. If I buy a second hand computer from a private individual I'll wipe the hard drive and reinstall. Makes sure there is not any nefarious programs installed and also ensures that all their data is erased so as not to tempt me in the future.
 
SavMBP15 said:
Smart move beyond just changing the name. If I buy a second hand computer from a private individual I'll wipe the hard drive and reinstall. Makes sure there is not any nefarious programs installed and also ensures that all their data is erased so as not to tempt me in the future.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine selling my computer without wiping the drive and reinstalling.
 
If I bought Lion on the app store as an upgrade to Snow Leopard, can I format and do a lion recovery without having to ever log the machine back in using my account information? I would really rather not leave my account information on the machine.
 
Had the same issue recently as i just got a secondhand MBP pro and this is what i did:

1. Reboot
2. Hold command key + s key down AFTER you hear the chime
3. When you get to text prompt, enter this (pressing return after every line):

mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
shutdown -h now


the computer will reboot and it will start up again with the apple intro as if it's the first time starting the computer. That will lead you to the screen where you will enter a new ID, name the computer and set up as new.

Once you've logged, go to system preferences>accounts and then delete any old accounts.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone!

For the record, I managed to get Lion back up and running after formatting the drive and using the (amazing) recovery partition.

I'm so happy with the stability and style of Lion, and this multitouch trackpad (even though I'm still using a mouse for Photo/Video editing lol). I just wish more programs had the Full Screen option, but as is, its damn near perfect for my needs!

Jumps.
 
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