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Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Hi all! I want to reset my OS X to factory setting. Can anyone tell me how to do that? Thank you!
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,741
4,572
Delaware
Yes.
"reset my OS X to factory setting" means (to me) erasing the hard drive, and restoring/installing the OS X system.
That, by default, means that you lose everything that is not backed up, such as your pictures, music, personal files, and applications that you have added to your Mac.
You end up with a fresh system, which boots to a new user setup, similar to a brand new Mac out of the box.

Is that what you want to do?
Tell us which Mac you have, and what version of OS X is installed now.
 
Last edited:

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Yes.
"reset my OS X to factory setting" means (to me) erasing the hard drive, and restoring/installing the OS X system.
That, by default, means that you lose everything that is not backed up, such as your pictures, music, personal files, and applications that you have added to your Mac.
You end up with a fresh system, which boots to a new user setup, similar to a brand new Mac out of the box.

Is that what you want to do?
Tell us which Mac you have, and what version of OS X is installed now.

Thank you for your reply. I have already saved all what you mentioned on an external HD. I simply feel something is wrong with my PC - sometimes too slow, suspicious windows pop-up with messages about virus attacks, now I can't enter over half of websites listed in my bookmarks.

OS X YOSEMITE
VERSION 10.10.5
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,741
4,572
Delaware
Which model Mac do you have?
Easy way is to look in About this Mac, under the Apple menu. There's a lot of identifying info there.
You can also click on the System Report button, then post the Model Identifier.
It will be something like "MacBookPro10,2", or "iMac13,1", or similar.

A FIRST step that you can take that may help your browser popups on a Mac would be to download and run Malwarebytes.
It's simple, safe, and will find the occasional adware that may find you occasionally. I run it once or twice a week (only takes a few seconds to scan), and it gets a hit may twice a year.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Which model Mac do you have?
Easy way is to look in About this Mac, under the Apple menu. There's a lot of identifying info there.
You can also click on the System Report button, then post the Model Identifier.
It will be something like "MacBookPro10,2", or "iMac13,1", or similar.

A FIRST step that you can take that may help your browser popups on a Mac would be to download and run Malwarebytes.
It's simple, safe, and will find the occasional adware that may find you occasionally. I run it once or twice a week (only takes a few seconds to scan), and it gets a hit may twice a year.


Just copied and pasted:

Model Name:iMac

Model Identifier:iMac14,1

Processor Name:Intel Core i5

Processor Speed:2.7 GHz

Number of Processors:1

Total Number of Cores:4

L2 Cache (per Core):256 KB

L3 Cache:4 MB

Memory:8 GB

Boot ROM Version:IM141.0118.B12

SMC Version (system):2.14f24
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,741
4,572
Delaware
How did your run of Malwarebytes turn out?
Was any malware reported? It will delete that for you, too. That may be all you need to do.

If you still have performance issues, a simple reinstall of the system can often help.
 

JohnDS

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2015
1,183
249
Right-click on the icon of your hard drive and select Get-Info. How big is your drive and how much space is shown as "available"? If your drive is almost full, that can cause problems.

Open Disk Utility, click on Macintosh HD in the upper left and run Verify Disk. Does it show any errors?

Please report back here on both matters.

Also as suggested by DeltaMac download and run Malwarebytes and report back here with the results.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
How did your run of Malwarebytes turn out?
Was any malware reported? It will delete that for you, too. That may be all you need to do.

If you still have performance issues, a simple reinstall of the system can often help.

A window pops up and says to install Malwarebytes I have to drag it to Applications. I dragged it, but the same window pop up and says the same.
 

JohnDS

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2015
1,183
249
After you drag it to Applications, go to Applications and double click on MalWareBytes in the Applications folder.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
After you drag it to Applications, go to Applications and double click on MalWareBytes in the Applications folder.

Something is not letting Malwarebytes to open. This perhaps again proves that PC is infested with viruses. The only option might be to restore to factory settings.
 

JohnDS

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2015
1,183
249
Go into System Preference > Security and Privacy

Click on the lock at the bottom left to unlock it.

Click on the check mark to allow applications downloaded from "anywhere".

Then try opening MalwareBytes.

Then go back to system preferences and change back the settings to the way they were.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Right-click on the icon of your hard drive and select Get-Info. How big is your drive and how much space is shown as "available"? If your drive is almost full, that can cause problems.

Open Disk Utility, click on Macintosh HD in the upper left and run Verify Disk. Does it show any errors?

Please report back here on both matters.

Also as suggested by DeltaMac download and run Malwarebytes and report back here with the results.

As you suggested I ran Verify Disk. It says "Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting. Error: Couldn't unmount disk."
 

JohnDS

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2015
1,183
249
You need to boot into Recovery Mode by booting while holding down Command-R. Once booted go to Disk Utility, click on MacIntosh HD and this time run Repair Disk.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Go into System Preference > Security and Privacy

Click on the lock at the bottom left to unlock it.

Click on the check mark to allow applications downloaded from "anywhere".

Then try opening MalwareBytes.

Then go back to system preferences and change back the settings to the way they were.

So I changed it to "anywhere", but still MalwareBytes not opening.
 

JohnDS

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2015
1,183
249
Are you trying to open the copy in the Applications folder on your hard drive? (Not the one in the window that opened when you tried to install Applications).
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,741
4,572
Delaware
You should drag the Malwarebytes app out of the window (where it says to drag to your Applications folder)
Easiest is to hold your Option key down, drag the Malwarebytes app out of the folder (doesn't have to be the Applications folder, but that's OK, too.)
Then, right-click on the Malwarebytes app that you just copied, and choose Open from that right-click menu. You may see a message asking if you really want to open the app (and you do!)
You should only be asked that one time. And, now you can continue with running Malwarebytes!
Click the Scan button to run a quick scan of your system.

If that still doesn't work to run Malwarebytes - What does happen when you try the right-click/Open on Malwarebytes?
 
Last edited:

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,457
16,147
California
So I changed it to "anywhere", but still MalwareBytes not opening.
You don't even need to install Malwarebytes in Applications to use it. Just download the app then double click the DMG to open it. Then right click on the app inside the DMG and select "open" and you will get a warning and a place to click to open the app. See if that works.
 

Oops69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
12
0
Toronto
Thanks to all who helped me here. I reinstalled to factory setting and now it works fine, although my OS X downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks, anyway it works fine. The only problem is I need to set up my Canon MP 240. Which driver download link would you suggest? Thank you.
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,457
16,147
California
Thanks to all who helped me here. I reinstalled to factory setting and now it works fine, although my OS X downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks, anyway it works fine. The only problem is I need to set up my Canon MP 240. Which driver download link would you suggest? Thank you.

If you go to the Canon downloads page here in the drivers download dropdown it looks like they have a driver download for Mavericks for that model.
 
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