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Factory Restore - With Ethernet Cable - How do you do it?
- Thread starter Macaroooon
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I didn't know that Apple offered such a service, that's neat. I suppose they would charge you for such a simple process though, probably not worth it if so.
Something must be wrong if the progress bar is stalled. Do you have any way of doing a clean install rather than a recovery?
Sorry about this. What is the difference between recovery and clean install.
I don't know how I'd do a clean install, is it easy?
Well, essentially it's the same thing if you are doing a recovery to factory settings in terms of OS X. Not to cause confusion but it's different with Windows sometimes because restoring to factory settings usually revives bloatware that comes with the system as opposed to doing a clean, fresh installation of the operating system itself.
I am just asking because it seems that restoring via internet is not cooperating. If there is a way that you can access a Mountain Lion install/dmg file (such as downloading it via the App Store from another computer) and follow this link to create a bootable drive.
You will unfortunately have to buy it in order to create a bootable drive, which is unacceptable but it's good for future use as well. In any case if the internet recovery is truly not working I would check your router/connectivity settings and try again.
Oh dear, for a novice like me this sounds very confusing. I definitely will not buy something as I've had the product one day and if something is already not cooperating I will definitely contact apple.
The internet is working fine (on my main computer now) so not sure why it's so slow. Ah, I don't know what to do.
Right, it is moving.. slowly. Very slowly, buy I can see it's moved. I think I'll leave it plugged in all night (are you sure this is okay, I really don't want to damage the battery when it's less than a day old!) and then hope in the morning it will complete/ almost complete.
Completely fine, you can leave it plugged in for days at a time and it will not negatively affect the battery.
I have no idea if they charge or not. I saw a customer come into the Genius Bar while I was there and had it done.
I would assume so, at least a "service charge." In any case that's nice of them to do and I was not aware of that. I thought that they only take up hardware issues and the like.
I'm just glad I have a disk. These internet recovery and bootable drive options are simple yet overcomplicated at the same time. If I have a problem and need to reformat I just erase the drive and pop the disk in. It takes 30 minutes to install.
In several hours, I'll be doing what you're doing. Sort of. I'm going to install a new SSD and would rather start fresh instead of clone. So, what I will be doing is booting from a USB drive that it is actually bootable. It needs to contain Mountain Lion.
The link that Dark Void pointed you towards makes it pretty simple. You can do this in Disk Utility in the recovery boot drive. Connect via USB the drive that contains the install file for Lion and follow the instructions. There should be two USB connections used while creating the drive.
There's also this, I used this one a while ago.
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I don't believe so. I am very uninformed when it comes to the newer MacBooks but I believe the partition/internet recovery is all that is included in terms of restoring the computer to its original state.
I think you can buy it on a USB but it may not be included, or you could just buy the OS and install it via the method in the link that I posted earlier in this thread. Hopefully someone that has purchased a MacBook recently can comment on this, apologies in advanced if I am spreading misinformation. I checked the "What's in the Box?" section of the MacBook pages on the Apple website and it does not specify.
You know what? You're probably right. When Lion first came out and switched from CDs to USB I thought it would be an ongoing thing. Mine is the 2010 model.
Thanks for the update and clarification.
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Yup, there's no USB sticks provided with the laptop since Lion came out. If you lived in the United States I'd send you my Lion stick to borrow and then install the OS Mountain Lion from therer.
As far as Apple reinstalling the OS, they have no problem if you run in there and leech their ethernet cables. It connects to their servers and gets downloaded in a mindblowing speed. Like, 15 minutes for the entire install. It's a free service they were able to provide should you have access to a nearby store. Which is a bust since yours is four hours away.
My paltry internet at home (100-300kbps) would take several hours to download OS X Mountain Lion, so I just piggy backed to the apple store, paid the $20 fee on the app store, and got the entire OS in like 20 minutes. If you can tolerate a 4 hour drive, do it!
As far as Apple reinstalling the OS, they have no problem if you run in there and leech their ethernet cables. It connects to their servers and gets downloaded in a mindblowing speed. Like, 15 minutes for the entire install. It's a free service they were able to provide should you have access to a nearby store. Which is a bust since yours is four hours away.
My paltry internet at home (100-300kbps) would take several hours to download OS X Mountain Lion, so I just piggy backed to the apple store, paid the $20 fee on the app store, and got the entire OS in like 20 minutes. If you can tolerate a 4 hour drive, do it!
Absoluted gutted.
Rang apple, and he said to cancel, restart computer in recovery mode and router and turn wifi off, and then reboot in recovery mode. We tried three times, three different ways, each time the computer would end up with a flashing file with a ? mark inside. He said I'd need to take it to the nearest apple store.. that's about 4 hours away in Cardiff. I can't go today or tomorrow, the next day I start uni.
I don't know what to do but this has made me livid.
Rang apple, and he said to cancel, restart computer in recovery mode and router and turn wifi off, and then reboot in recovery mode. We tried three times, three different ways, each time the computer would end up with a flashing file with a ? mark inside. He said I'd need to take it to the nearest apple store.. that's about 4 hours away in Cardiff. I can't go today or tomorrow, the next day I start uni.
I don't know what to do but this has made me livid.
Thanks, will read now
Having rang apple a second time, I'm getting an exchange, and getting a new mac sent out. Majorly relieved.
Having rang apple a second time, I'm getting an exchange, and getting a new mac sent out. Majorly relieved.