Help Needed Quickly for Reformat Please...

[aman74]

I recently bought a 2012 mini on ebay...had some trouble with it and it's going back for a return.

I'm trying to wipe the drive and reformat so that none of my info is on it. Well...both methods I tried, one with a wipe and one just reinstall are asking me for my Apple ID. I put it in the first time when I just did the reinstall and it loaded all my old info...defeating the purpose!

The second time I did the wipe and then reinstall and it's asking for my ID again....

How does one get a fresh generic install on there? I want to give it back just like it was given to me...with a generic ID of "macuser" and an easy password to pass along to the next person.

It won't let me reinstall without entering an ID. What do people do when they haven't created one yet? I don't get it...

Do I just make one up and that's how it gets created in the first place? If so it's not clear at all from the prompts.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ironman78]

Restart your Mac and hold down Command-R after the startup chime sounds, and the computer boots into the recovery mode. Select Disk Utility from the startup menu, and you can erase your startup drive securely.

 

[Weaselboy]

The problem is you are doing a command-r boot to recovery and that requires entry of an AppleID that was used to "purchase" that OS X version. Not having ever purchased that OS X version, your AppleID will not work for this.

What you need to do is "Internet recovery." Hold command-option-r (all three at once) to boot to Internet recovery. Once you select a language and wifi network you will see a spinning globe while the recovery utility downloads. Once that is done you will be in the recovery screen. From there use Disk Utility to erase the entire disk then quit Disk Utility and click reinstall OS at the top. That will download and install the OS version that came from the factory without you having to enter and AppleID at all.

 

[aman74]

The problem is you are doing a command-r boot to recovery and that requires entry of an AppleID that was used to "purchase" that OS X version. Not having ever purchased that OS X version, your AppleID will not work for this.

What you need to do is "Internet recovery." Hold command-option-r (all three at once) to boot to Internet recovery. Once you select a language and wifi network you will see a spinning globe while the recovery utility downloads. Once that is done you will be in the recovery screen. From there use Disk Utility to erase the entire disk then quit Disk Utility and click reinstall OS at the top. That will download and install the OS version that came from the factory without you having to enter and AppleID at all.

Thanks.

After going through the second process of doing the wipe and then the install....here's what happened...

It asked for my ID and I thought maybe I could just create a generic one at that time. It gave an error and locked me out. It said to reset my password or unlock my account. I followed their process and it gave no option to unlock, but it made me reset my password.

So I did all that and proceeded. It asked me if I wanted to require a password for any purchases, which I said yes. So this time it does the install and I wasn't automatically logged in, etc... like the first time. So is this a clean wipe or no? I did enter my ID at one point?

Just wondering if I can just leave it like it is or if I should go through the whole process again doing it the way you mentioned?

I printed up the guide from Apple on the different ways to do this, but didn't know which was the right one.

Thanks!

 

[Weaselboy]

Its sounds like you are not erasing the drive before you try to reinstall.

After you command-option-r boot are you seeing this globe?

After the globe you should see the recovery screen. From there start Disk Utility and in the erase tab select the drive brand name at the very top of the left column. Then select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down and apply that format. Then quit Disk Util and click reinstall at the top. You should not be prompted for an AppleID at all to do this.

 

[aman74]

Its sounds like you are not erasing the drive before you try to reinstall.

After you command-option-r boot are you seeing this globe?

After the globe you should see the recovery screen. From there start Disk Utility and in the erase tab select the drive brand name at the very top of the left column. Then select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down and apply that format. Then quit Disk Util and click reinstall at the top. You should not be prompted for an AppleID at all to do this.

View attachment 600635

Here's the guide I used:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

The third one. It did ask for the Apple ID for the download, but not after at any point. I was able to skip for the actual install. I couldn't do step 6 the way you and Apple say with the journaled option as I did step 5 which was the secure erase so there was then no option for it....just kicked me back to the main screen to choose the install.

Is it ok to leave it this way or should I do it yet again with the Command-Option-R instead?

 

[Weaselboy]

Here's the guide I used:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

The third one. It did ask for the Apple ID for the download, but not after at any point. I was able to skip for the actual install. I couldn't do step 6 the way you and Apple say with the journaled option as I did step 5 which was the secure erase so there was then no option for it....just kicked me back to the main screen to choose the install.

Is it ok to leave it this way or should I do it yet again with the Command-Option-R instead?

You are okay as it is. It sounds like you are talking about entering the AppleID at the setup screen AFTER the install, and you don't need to do that. But if you were able to erase and reinstall, you are good.

 

[aman74]

You are okay as it is. It sounds like you are talking about entering the AppleID at the setup screen AFTER the install, and you don't need to do that. But if you were able to erase and reinstall, you are good.

No, I skipped that part for sure. It was before that to initialize the install. I think because it was on El Capitan and it was downloading El Capitan and not what it shipped with like mentioned earlier?

 

[Weaselboy]

No, I skipped that part for sure. It was before that to initialize the install. I think because it was on El Capitan and it was downloading El Capitan and not what it shipped with like mentioned earlier?

Correct... if you updated to El Capitan it would ask for your AppleID to do the install, but as long as that is the only place you put the AppleID it is not retained on the computer anywhere.... it is just used to authorize the IS download.

 

[aman74]

Correct... if you updated to El Capitan it would ask for your AppleID to do the install, but as long as that is the only place you put the AppleID it is not retained on the computer anywhere.... it is just used to authorize the IS download.

Thanks for all the help!