Factory reset without disk for 2008 MacBook

[Crohuir]

My 2008 Leopard MacBook has become very slow after 4 years of college and until I can afford a new computer I want to clear all the crap off it and start afresh. However I seem to have misplaced the discs so I'm looking at what the best way is to get it back to functioning levels. I've seen a few people talking about creating a new account and making it admin and deleting the old account but I'm not sure how much that will do. I haven't had to install a system in 4 years so I really have no idea what I'm doing so I don't want to delete the OS and then not be able to do anything until I find the original disc, which could be anywhere!

Thanks in advance,
Conor

 

[robvas]

Try this:

1. Press Command-S during startup to get into single user mode
2. Check the filesystem:
# /sbin/fsck -fy
3. Mount the root partition as writable:
# /sbin/mount -uw /
4. Remove the hidden .AppleSetupDone file:
# rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
5. a) For Mac OS X 10.5 ‘Leopard’ and newer, do:
# launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
Repeat for every user previously defined on the machine (replace {username} with the real user name):
# dscl . -delete /Users/{username}
# dscl . -delete /Groups/admin GroupMembership {username}
5. b) For older versions of Mac OS X, do:
# rm -rf /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb
6. Remove the home directories of users. For every user do (replace {username} with the real user name):
# rm -rf /Users/{username}
7. If applicable, remove already created files in root’s home directory, e.g.
# rm /root/.bash_history
8. Shutdown (or reboot to verify the procedure worked):
# shutdown -h now
-or-
# reboot

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You could either contact Apple and ask for replacement Restore DVDs for your specific Mac (15 to 30 USD), buy the 29 USD Mac OS X Snow Leopard DVD via the Apple Online Store or Amazon, or if you already have 10.6.6 or higher, buy Lion or Mountain Lion and make a bootable installer via the help of a USB flash memory drive.