How to completely restore OSX Lion

[Kauai]

Hello,

First of all, yes, I did do some google research. And followed all the instructions. But whenever I try to find out how to restore Lion all that comes up is information on how to recover it.

I went through the whole CMD + R thing where I reinstalled it; but I want to wipe the computer completely clean with a fresh copy of Lion (which I downloaded from the App store) sans all files; like a new computer. Is this possible?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Yes, that is possible.

Perform a Clean Install of OS X Lion on Your Mac

 

[phyrexia]

When you CMD+R you need to enter Disk Utility and reformat your hard drive. This will ensure a clean install occurs. It will also delete everything on your hard disc, so you should attempt to back up your data before formatting.

 

[Kauai]

When you CMD+R you need to enter Disk Utility and reformat your hard drive. This will ensure a clean install occurs. It will also delete everything on your hard disc, so you should attempt to back up your data before formatting.

If I reformat the whole drive will that wreck up the install; though, since the installer is on my computer? (I know it's internet-based too, but the actual installer is on my computer no?)

 

[tyrell456]

If I reformat the whole drive will that wreck up the install; though, since the installer is on my computer? (I know it's internet-based too, but the actual installer is on my computer no?)

Whenever you install Lion on a Mac (or it comes pre-installed), it creates a separate, small partition with the Recovery files on it. When you use CMD+R to boot into the Recovery mode, it boots into this partition. You can fully wipe and format the partition that the OS is installed on from here, and then re-install a fresh copy of Lion.

 

[phyrexia]

Whenever you install Lion on a Mac (or it comes pre-installed), it creates a separate, small partition with the Recovery files on it. When you use CMD+R to boot into the Recovery mode, it boots into this partition. You can fully wipe and format the partition that the OS is installed on from here, and then re-install a fresh copy of Lion.

My early-2011 MBP 17" will boot to Recovery mode with no hard drive installed. The recovery partition is not located on the hard disc. After I installed my SSD I was able to boot straight into Recovery mode. This was with a blank, freshly opened, unformatted SSD.

Several months ago there was a firmware update for 2011 macs which apparently installs Recovery into firmware.

I don't think this is the case on macs built before 2011. I am not sure of the specifics; this is how it works on my MBP.

 

[Bear]

...Several months ago there was a firmware update for 2011 macs which apparently installs Recovery into firmware.

I don't think this is the case on macs built before 2011. I am not sure of the specifics; this is how it works on my MBP.

There are several models of Macs from 2010 and 2011 which have firmware updates - see Computers that can be upgraded to use Lion Internet Recovery.