Restore To Factory Settings

[firstmajor]

Hello,
My mac has become extremely slow and i was planning on doing a factory reset.

i have

1. Restart the Mac in Recovery Mode (hold down Command and the R key during restart).
2. chose re-install os, chose mac hdd, singed in and verified
3. waited all night , woke up and saw my mac logged to the old OS.

i have done this multiple times with the same result.
any suggestions, i do not want to alter any files and not be able to re-install the correct version i am eligible to install.

any suggestions,
Thanks in advance

 

[T5BRICK]

Between step 1 and 2, open disk utility and format the HDD.

 

[firstmajor]

i c , but what would happen in the case of a failed reinstall attempt, wouldn't i lose the eligibility to do it again? or some files that the Apple checks online to see if i am eligible stays in the mac?

thank you

 

[T5BRICK]

i c , but what would happen in the case of a failed reinstall attempt, wouldn't i lose the eligibility to do it again? or some files that the Apple checks online to see if i am eligible stays in the mac?

thank you

You're only formatting the partition that OSX is currently installed on. By default, OSX also creates a recovery partition(that's why you're booting from when you hold down command + R). When you reinstall it should use that, if available, instead of using internet recovery.

Either way, if your Mac is from 2010 or later, it has the ability to download and install OSX directly from Apple, you just need to sign in with your Apple ID before the install process can happen.

 

[firstmajor]

Thank you, appreciate it,

i will try that now, although it seems to only the internet recovery and not the the partition. thats what making me fear