Can I format other Macs with the cds provided in my Mac?

[jjchucho]

I bought my MacBook Pro about a year ago and I want to format other Macs (friends and family). Can I do it with the cds provided in my Mac when I bought it? Snow Leopard and the apps...

They're original but I'm not sure if I can do that, maybe it'll cause some trouble with licenses..or something like that

 

[Dalton63841]

You can format the hard drive, but not install, unless their mac is an identical model. When you boot up it will tell you it can't install and ask if you want to restore from time machine or restart. Choose Restore from time machine and then go to Utilities on the menubar.

I know this because i had to employ it just last night.

 

[miles01110]

Grey restore discs only work with the exact model of Mac that they came with.

 

[Duff-Man]

maybe it'll cause some trouble with licenses..or something like that

Duff-Man says....this too in addition to what's been said already (and in numerous existing threads). Having install discs does *not* entitle you to install wherever, whenever and for whomever you want....oh yeah!

 

[jjchucho]

reply

You can format the hard drive, but not install, unless their mac is an identical model. When you boot up it will tell you it can't install and ask if you want to restore from time machine or restart. Choose Restore from time machine and then go to Utilities on the menubar.

I know this because i had to employ it just last night.

Oh my god...all of you have helped me. I have a 15" Macbook Pro 2010 model, so I can format another 15" Macbook Pro 2010 without issues? does it apply to 13" and 17" macbooks pro 2010?

 

[GGJstudios]

Oh my god...all of you have helped me. I have a 15" Macbook Pro 2010 model, so I can format another 15" Macbook Pro 2010 without issues? does it apply to 13" and 17" macbooks pro 2010?

No.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Oh my god...all of you have helped me. I have a 15" Macbook Pro 2010 model, so I can format another 15" Macbook Pro 2010 without issues? does it apply to 13" and 17" macbooks pro 2010?

The machine must be an *identical* model (apart from differences in RAM/HDD).

 

[larkost]

In addition to the legal and other technical issues already listed above, generally you want the disc to be newer than the computer you are using it on. This is because newer computers come with newer hardware that older discs simply don't know how to drive. There are a lot of exceptions here, and a lot of corner cases, but it is a good rule of thumb.

 

[neonblue2]

Short answer: No

Long answer: Using a FireWire cable connect the Mac that came with the disc to the Mac you want to use the disc on. Boot the target Mac into Target Disk Mode (hold 'T') and put the disc into either Mac. Start the other Mac up while holding 'C'. Now you can access both Macs' hard drives.

There are certainly some reasons not to do this. The most obvious is that you're not licenced to install the system on more than one machine and certainly not on someone elses machine. You could also run into problems with warranties and future repairs if you do this.

The install might not even work if the version on the disc has/hasn't been custom made for the hardware. As has happened in the past, when Apple releases a Mac with new hardware they sometimes include a version of Mac OS X that has been modified to support the changes.