How to delete ALL data and restore to factory settings?

Discussion in 'Mac OS X Lion (10.7)' started by entatlrg, Jan 19, 2012.

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  1. entatlrg, Jan 19, 2012

    entatlrg macrumors 68040

    entatlrg

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2009
    Location:
    Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
    #1
    I've tried the cmd R and erased but after the reinstall the files are still there.

    I've searched here and on the Apple forums and can't find a solution.

    The first problem I have and the reason i want to reinstall Lion is I have only about 70gb of data on a 256 ssd, but it shows it has 230gb of data used.

    It shows something called 'other' is occupying 160gb of space, I have no idea what 'other' is, not a time machine back up or anything.

    I tried reinstalling Lion but all data/apps werent deleted ... I want to delete ALL the files and reinstall Lion.

    Thanks
     
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  2. Heebeejeebies, Jan 19, 2012

    Heebeejeebies macrumors regular

    Heebeejeebies

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    Location:
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    #2
    If you're going to reinstall Lion, you can just format the drive when the installation process begins.
     
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  3. entatlrg, Jan 19, 2012

    entatlrg thread starter macrumors 68040

    entatlrg

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
    #3
    Thanks, but I can't find a way to do that.
     
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  4. Heebeejeebies, Jan 19, 2012

    Heebeejeebies macrumors regular

    Heebeejeebies

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    #4
    How are you installing Lion? A USB stick? Or an upgrade from SL?

    Other is just filetypes that Lion doesn't really understand. You may have a bunch or movies in .mkv format which would fall under "other."

    Try using programs like DaisyDisk or DiskInventory X to see what is taking up all that space.
     
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  5. Weaselboy, Jan 20, 2012

    Weaselboy Moderator

    Weaselboy

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    Location:
    California
    #5
    Once you get to the beginning install screen look under the Utilities menu for Disk Utility and use that to reformat.

    Make sure you have a backup because this will wipe the OS and all your apps and data.
     
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