Problem with OS installation

[sjgoel]

I have a Macbook Pro which had Mavericks installed when purchased. I do not have much experience with Mac OS. I installed EL Capitan a few days ago, and it started to freeze thereafter. So I wanted to reinstall it, but did something wrong after Command+R, and as a result cannot install any system - neither Mavericks nor El Capitan.

The latest situation is:

Using Command+R recovery system: Tries to instal the original OSX Mavericks. Then gives a message - "You can't upgrade this version of OSX because a newer version is installed."

using Internet recovery Command+Option+R: It downloads the latest OS X EL Capitan, reboots and gives a message: "OSX could not be installed, volume contains OSX installation media. Quit the installer to restart your computer & try again." Same gets repeated on restart.

Using Start-up disk: The instaltion progress bar goes till the end, and gets stuck there. Even after hours, does not end the installation. Force reboot leads to same starting ....

Any pointers on how to proceed next?

Thanks

 

[Bending Pixels]

Follow these directions on how to create an OS X 10.11 installer. If the MBP supports USB 3, use a USB 3 flash drive. It'll take about 5 minutes (vs. 30+ minutes) to create the USB installer when you run the Terminal script.

Also, once you boot to the install, use the disk utility to erase the drive so that nothing old carries over. Rename the drive Macintosh HD.

Yes, it'll take a bit longer to reinstall everything, but a clean install is sometimes what's needed.

Don't forget to back up all of your "stuff" before erasing the drive.

 

[sjgoel]

Bending Pixels - thanks. Followed your advise. Everything turned out perfect. Great.