reinstall Mavericks says "disc locked"?

[wildernessbob]

i'm trying to reinstall mavericks but in the osx utility, (when i finally click on "install") i get a msg that says can't install because the disc is locked. pretty cryptic, doesn't say what disc. what does this meen and what do i do now. i think the os is corrupted so i want to repair it.
wb

 

[Weaselboy]

Did you maybe have Filevault encryption turned on? In Disk Util look I believe in the File menu for an Unlock selection.

 

[wildernessbob]

it's greyed out, can't select it. i also noticed that another of my machines has encryption turned on, but i don't have the same issue on that one.

 

[Weaselboy]

it's greyed out, can't select it. i also noticed that another of my machines has encryption turned on, but i don't have the same issue on that one.

What led up to this? It could be the drive is dead.

Is everything backed up so you can wipe the drive? If so, try selecting the drive brand name itself above Macintosh HD and in the erase tab reformat the whole disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

 

[wildernessbob]

we are afraid that there might be some malware. we really don't want to do a whole erase and restore, just a reinstall so we don't have to mess with restoring all the user stuff and pref etc. i'll check the drive but it's not showing any signs of failure.

 

[Weaselboy]

we are afraid that there might be some malware. we really don't want to do a whole erase and restore, just a reinstall so we don't have to mess with restoring all the user stuff and pref etc. i'll check the drive but it's not showing any signs of failure.

A reinstall without erasing will not fix a malware issue.

Can you still boot back to the normal Mavericks install? Try running this adware scanner and see what it finds. Also look for any new extensions in your browsers.

 

[wildernessbob]

thanks, i'll look for the extensions. i was told that if there is malware it would be in the os partition and that a reinstall will write over it. i'll give the adware thing a go too.
wb