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The "I already INSTALLED Lion, so how do I get the .dmg for a clean install?" Thread

Savage

Savage

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 12, 2008
468
207
I am one of these people and still have not found a working solution. I already installed Lion, but now I want to do a clean install instead from a USB stick, and cannot find a way to re-download Lion, which is necessary to get access to the .dmg file.

Holding the option key when I click the Purchases tab in the App Store does not work.

Holding the option key when I click OS X Lion in the Purchases tab brings me to Lion's page with "$29.99" as the install button rather than "Installed", but when I click it, it tells me I already have a newer version of this app installed.

Please help the many of us that made this... "mistake"?

Edit: I finally figured it out. You need to quit the App Store, reopen it, and without doing anything else, hold the option key and click Purchases. Lion should then be downloadable again for free.
 
Last edited:
That doesn't answer the question. I know how to do it, but I can't because I already installed Lion and therefore need to re-download it to continue the clean install process, but I can't find a working way to re-download it from the App Store.
 
I fell in to the very same trap. (Installed before burning the DMG) It looks like I'll have to wait till I get to work, download it on to my work iMac and then take it from there!
 
I finally figured it out. You need to quit the App Store, reopen it, and without doing anything else, hold the option key and click Purchases. Lion should then be downloadable again for free.
 
So thanks for letting everyone know how to redownload it, but now how do we stop it from installing? I know the regular way you could just quit it on the dock before it began, but since it now downloads to the launchpad, how do you make it stop, or will it figure out on it's own that Lion is already there?
 
JCA90 said:
So thanks for letting everyone know how to redownload it, but now how do we stop it from installing? I know the regular way you could just quit it on the dock before it began, but since it now downloads to the launchpad, how do you make it stop, or will it figure out on it's own that Lion is already there?
Click to expand...

The installer will start when it's finished downloading, but you can just hit Command-Q to quit it (or click on the "Install Mac OS X Lion" menu and then click "Quit Install Mac OS X Lion"). The installer downloads to your Applications folder.. the Launchpad is just a list of shortcuts to your Applications. If you look in /Applications, you'll find the "Install Mac OS X Lion" installer there as an app. From there you can right-click it, choose "Show Package Contents", go to Contents/SharedSupport, and pull out the InstallESD.dmg.
 
lion also makes a recovery partition on your drive so if you hold alt/option on bootup you can select the recovery and do a clean install from there.. just fyi
 
I posted this in the other thread but in case you missed it (I was in the same boat):


FYI to get the dmg for if you didn't make a bootable dvd before the install completed:

I just went back in time to my time machine backup just before I clicked the install button and the mac os x lion installer was in /Applications, I just restored it and Im ready to rock out the bootable dvd!!
 
right on

Savage said:
I finally figured it out. You need to quit the App Store, reopen it, and without doing anything else, hold the option key and click Purchases. Lion should then be downloadable again for free.
Click to expand...

your method worked like a charm
 
whitethunder said:
I posted this in the other thread but in case you missed it (I was in the same boat):


FYI to get the dmg for if you didn't make a bootable dvd before the install completed:

I just went back in time to my time machine backup just before I clicked the install button and the mac os x lion installer was in /Applications, I just restored it and Im ready to rock out the bootable dvd!!
Click to expand...

Thank you, I was just trying to find it myself after downloading it and knew to find it before clicking on install. Cheers
 
re install lion

Savage said:
I finally figured it out. You need to quit the App Store, reopen it, and without doing anything else, hold the option key and click Purchases. Lion should then be downloadable again for free.
Click to expand...

I am going crazy here. I go to apple store. using firefox. I don't see purchases anywhere. I go to accounts and recent order and nothing shows there. There is a purchases on the itunes store but I still do not know how to find lion where it says purchases.... can you maybe post a screen shot of were you went?
 
fusedd said:
I am going crazy here. I go to apple store. using firefox. I don't see purchases anywhere. I go to accounts and recent order and nothing shows there. There is a purchases on the itunes store but I still do not know how to find lion where it says purchases.... can you maybe post a screen shot of were you went?
Click to expand...

The "App Store" application....not the Apple Store on the Apple web site......

S-
 
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