Restore Hard Drive

[alansmallen]

Hey, my optical drive is broken and I don't have the install disks, but I have to restore my computer to new. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mlts22]

You should be able to use any USB DVD drive with the Mac. Instead of the "C" key, you likely will need to hold down the option key during boot for it to show you the external drive.

 

[angemon89]

Yeah, you will need an external drive.

 

[misterredman]

Alternatives to an external optical drive require an external hard drive with the OS install disc in one partition (you can goolge for that, of coourse you will need a working optical drive to do it like a another mac). Another way is to have another mac in target disc mode connected with firewire, with the OS disc in its working optical drive. The optical drive will appear in the other mac and you should be able to install from it.

But if you don't have the install disc there is no way to restore the mac properly working optical or not.

 

[sickmacdoc]

Since you have no installation disks, you have two alternatives-

1. Purchase a retail Leopard installation disk

2. Call Apple and provide them with your Macs serial number- and tell them you need to order replacement "fulfillment disks" which is their term for the restore disks that originally shipped with your computer. There will be a moderate charge (when I recently ordered some for a DP 2.7 G5 that I am going to sell and the charge was $32 shipped for the two disks). The disks will be identical to the original disks, so if your computer shipped with Tiger the fulfillment disks will be Tiger too. If it shipped with Leopard, then the disks will have Leopard, etc.