Sold my MBA, problem??

[Joe-M]

I decided to sell my MBA and have reset it to factory specs. Seems that I've read somewhere that the new owner would have some kind of problem with the OS once they set the machine up. Something about that the OS is only available to the original owner. Am I right about this or have I completely misunderstood what I think I've read??

Thanks for any insight about this....

 

[martinm0]

I decided to sell my MBA and have reset it to factory specs. Seems that I've read somewhere that the new owner would have some kind of problem with the OS once they set the machine up. Something about that the OS is only available to the original owner. Am I right about this or have I completely misunderstood what I think I've read??

Thanks for any insight about this....

You should be fine assuming you did a fresh install. I've done this numerous times and have had no issues. As long as you didn't log back in with your Apple ID and enable location services, it should be totally fine.

 

[Weaselboy]

I decided to sell my MBA and have reset it to factory specs. Seems that I've read somewhere that the new owner would have some kind of problem with the OS once they set the machine up. Something about that the OS is only available to the original owner. Am I right about this or have I completely misunderstood what I think I've read??

Thanks for any insight about this....

It depends on how you did the clean install.

If you did a command-option-r boot to Internet recovery, and erased the entire disk then reinstalled... that will give you the OS version that came from the factory. The new buyer will be able to do whatever they want with it with no AppleID needed.

But if you updated the OS from the factory version, and when you did the reset, you only wiped the Macintosh HD partition, this will give you the version you updated to and the AppleID used to purchase that version will be required to reinstall if the new owner ever chooses to.

Which method did you use and what OS version came with the machine vs. what is on there now?

 

[Joe-M]

I honestly don't know version was on the machine when I bought it. Whatever what was on it in late 2011, when I bought it. I have upgraded to Mavericks and that's what reinstalled when I reset it. So, how do I get the machine back to the point where the new buyer won't have a problem? Fortunately, the buyer isn't going to pick it up till Sunday nite.

 

[Weaselboy]

I honestly don't know version was on the machine when I bought it. Whatever what was on it in late 2011, when I bought it. I have upgraded to Mavericks and that's what reinstalled when I reset it. So, how do I get the machine back to the point where the new buyer won't have a problem? Fortunately, the buyer isn't going to pick it up till Sunday nite.

Lion came out in July 2011, so if you bought it new in late 2011, it would have come with Lion.

The way you have it now, if the new buyer ever goes to reinstall Mavs he will be asked for your AppleID.

I think the best is to get you back to Lion, then the new buyer can login to the new machine a go to the App Store under their AppleID and "purchase" the free Mavs upgrade under their own name.

So, to get back to Lion do a command-option-r boot to Internet recovery. Once the recovery screen comes up start Disk Util and select the drive itself at the very top (above Macintosh HD) and erase the drive in Mac OS Extended.

This will erase the entire disk, including the Mavs version recovery partition.

Once the disk is erased, just quit Disk Util then click install OS and you will get Lion installed from Apple's servers. You will not need your AppleID, since this install is tied to the machine's serial number.

 

[Joe-M]

Lion came out in July 2011, so if you bought it new in late 2011, it would have come with Lion.

The way you have it now, if the new buyer ever goes to reinstall Mavs he will be asked for your AppleID.

I think the best is to get you back to Lion, then the new buyer can login to the new machine a go to the App Store under their AppleID and "purchase" the free Mavs upgrade under their own name.

So, to get back to Lion do a command-option-r boot to Internet recovery. Once the recovery screen comes up start Disk Util and select the drive itself at the very top (above Macintosh HD) and erase the drive in Mac OS Extended.

This will erase the entire disk, including the Mavs version recovery partition.

Once the disk is erased, just quit Disk Util then click install OS and you will get Lion installed from Apple's servers. You will not need your AppleID, since this install is tied to the machine's serial number.

Thanks, Weaselboy, I'll give it a try.

 

[Joe-M]

Tried the reset you suggested, Weaselboy, and it worked. Thanks again. I feel a lot better turning the machine over to it's new owner.

 

[Weaselboy]

Tried the reset you suggested, Weaselboy, and it worked. Thanks again. I feel a lot better turning the machine over to it's new owner.

Glad this worked out for you. The new owner can now just use his own AppleID to get Mavericks and be all set.