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How to reinstall OS on macbook A1181

K

kissdemon74

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 18, 2008
3
0
I bought a secondhand Macbook A1181. I'm new to mac and not familiar with the installation process. Problem is that I have no software disk and presently Windows 7 is installed on it and password protected. Long story but it's all legit.

I want to reinstall the OS ......but

First...which operating system should I install?
Second...where would I be able to get it?
Third....how do I install it?

I'm assuming that once I get a disk, it'll prompt me...

Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction as I'm new to Apple.

Thanks in advance...
 
If the system was made in the past couple of years, then you'll be able to hold Cmd-Opt-R at the boot chime to get into Internet Recovery. This will let you reinstall the original version of OS X.

Once you have the original install back on there, you can buy an upgrade to the latest version (10.8) through the App Store if you want to. I recommend upgrading as 10.8 fixes a lot of issues with 10.7.
 
A1186 refers to several MacBooks from 2006 to 2009, thus Internet Recovery might probably not work.
Anyway, as the 19 USD Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD available from the Apple Online Store works without problems on those models, it is the best bet yet.

To create a Clean Install (formerly known as Erase & Install) of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (the 19 USD Upgrade DVD is a fully working retail version of Mac OS X and does not need a prior installation of Mac OS X on the Mac), follow one of the following guides:
 
kissdemon74 said:
I bought a secondhand Macbook A1181. I'm new to mac and not familiar with the installation process. Problem is that I have no software disk and presently Windows 7 is installed on it and password protected. Long story but it's all legit.

I want to reinstall the OS ......but

First...which operating system should I install?
Second...where would I be able to get it?
Third....how do I install it?

I'm assuming that once I get a disk, it'll prompt me...

Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction as I'm new to Apple.

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...

What are the specs of your MacBook (Like processor, RAM, Model identifier)? To check, go to the :apple: menu and click "About this Mac" and "More info"
 
I will probably buy snow leopard from the apple store. I was hoping to be able to do something without a new disk...I thought maybe the old operating system was still in there.

So far I've tried to boot holding cmd - R....no luck
Also tried opt -cmd - R

When i hold option, it is the screen with the choice of which volume to boot from but only the windows 7 volume shows.

No matter what I've tried, it boots to Windows password screen where I can't do anything. Any more suggestions before I buy new software?
 
kissdemon74 said:
When i hold option, it is the screen with the choice of which volume to boot from but only the windows 7 volume shows.
Click to expand...

It looks like the previous owner completely removed OS X. You'll need to either:

- Buy the 10.6 (Snow Leopard) install DVD from Apple for $20, or
- Call AppleCare and ask for the original restore DVDs, which I believe will also cost $20.

The advantage of the second choice is that you'll get iLife (iPhoto, iWeb, GarageBand, iMovie) too, but may only end up with OS X 10.4 or 10.5.
 
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