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Help: Format Mountain Lion

N

nampramos

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 14, 2010
451
32
Hi,

I apologise for creating such a unimportant topic but I really need some help.

I'm selling my old MacBook 5,1 Unibody from 2008 tomorrow and I need to format it to its original state with Mountain Lion.

What's the best option, taking into consideration that I do not wish to install OS X Leopard and all further updates until I reach ML.

Basically, I just want to delete all my personal data and apps from it and have ML installed on it, like it would be a new MacBook.


Thanks a lot!

Cheers!
 
Boot to recovery command+r. Use Disk Utility to erase hard drive, exit DU, select install OSX. When setup assistant starts, hit command +Q and turn off computer. It is now ready for new owner to setup.
 
niteflyr said:
Boot to recovery command+r. Use Disk Utility to erase hard drive, exit DU, select install OSX. When setup assistant starts, hit command +Q and turn off computer. It is now ready for new owner to setup.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your answer.

One question: I still need a copy of ML either on DVD or on a USB stick to do that, correct?
 
I'm at the summer house right now and here the internet is super slow.
Is there a way I could install from a USB stick?

Am I formatting completely? Like doing a clean install?
If so, I'm concerned about not being able to install ML straight to the formatted hard drive and having to start with Leopard.

I did a clean install once and it happened like that.
 
The important part is making sure you save a copy of the InstallESD.dmg file, before you run the Mountain Lion upgrade. It can be found in OS X here:

/Applications/Install OS X Mountain Lion.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg

But it gets deleted in the upgrade process. If you still have that dmg file, you can make a USB installer and run the installation from USB. Without it, you will need to download again.
 
Last edited:
I just saw now the link you gave me and my Mac is from 2008 so it does not support internet recovery.

What can I do?
 
nampramos said:
What can I do?
Click to expand...
You will need the InstallESD.dmg image from within the ML installer app, downloaded from the App Store. There is no other way to get the offline installer.

NB! I have most def used the ML recovery USB stick to make a clean install on 2008 MBP. In that regard, the internet recovery refers to new Mac's capability to download the recovery partition from Apple if none are found on the boot disk. If you have the USB recovery stick, you have the recovery partition on that stick, that will boot up and connect to network to download ML install image. This approach worked for me even on a 2006 MacBook!
 
nampramos said:
I'm selling my old MacBook 5,1 Unibody from 2008 tomorrow and I need to format it to its original state with Mountain Lion.
Click to expand...
Hello,

you bought Mountain Lion from the App Store, ML is not the original OS of your Mac.

Therefore, you should NOT sell your Mac with ML installed : this copy of the OS is tied to your Apple ID, and belongs to YOU : it is not legal to give it to the buyer, and the buyer will be unable to update ML (he would need your Apple ID).

A Mac must be sold with his original OS installed and updated + the original DVD's (for OS that came on DVD's) and nothing more.

If the buyer wants to buy ML (or Mavericks when released), he will buy it, this is not your problem.
 
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