White MacBook Questions

[AzDesertTroll]

Hi all and thanks in advance for your time and input.

I am fairly new to the Apple world, I just bought my first MBP last year and have been lurking around this and several other sites since then learning what I can but I have a few questions that I am hoping someone can help me with. I am currently working in Iraq with a friend who bought a used MacBook, white body running 10.6.8. He got a super good deal on it and is using it to just test the waters to switch from PC to Mac. So far he is liking it and on his next trip home plans on buying a new MBA and turning this MacBook into a gen pop computer for his younger children to use at the house.

In the mean time

1. How can we completely wipe the previous owners information off the computer and set it up to the new owner? (We have no disks of the OS or of the programs that are on the computer.)

2. Is there a way to set up iChat (5.0.3) so that it supports Yahoo accounts?

3. Does his version support FaceTime?

And finally not really a MacBook specific question, and I have suggested that he wait until he is stateside and can get to an Apple store when he buys his new MBA to work on this one.

4. He, his wife and their older child share Apple and iTune Store IDs. Is there a EASY way that they can break these up without some or all of them loosing the already purchased iTunes store items? They don't want / need to share calendars or address book contacts or receive iMessages from when they are messaging with someone other than each other.

Again, thanks in advance for any and all suggestions on this.

Jake

 

[DrakkenWar]

Here we go...

1. The simple answer? Source 10.6 SL either from ebay, amazon or whatever online retailer you prefer. Do a bit a research, prices can vary.

2. The short answer? I believe so. The only SL machine I have is my wife's macbook and she is on an extended TDY in Texas ATM. However, this link might help a bit.

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/39745/configuring-yahoo-messenger-on-ichat

3. Facetime? Aye, take a read:

http://www.apple.com/support/mac/facetime/getstarted/

4. There are quiet a few threads on this subject already. If you do a bit of searching on the forums you will find the short answer? Nope, it's not easy. There are a few third party apps that are out there to help with this. Some do alright, others? meh. Do your homework, know there will be a financial investment out the get go, and let us know what you chose and how it worked.

Hope it helps!

 

[AzDesertTroll]

Drake,

Thanks for the info. After that and all the searching that I did the owner of the machine is just going to wait until he gets home and have the Apple store mess with it all when he buys his new MBA. He is only 53 days away from going on leave anyway, so saves me the headache of messing with it.

Thanks again, have a good one.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Hi all and thanks in advance for your time and input.

I am fairly new to the Apple world, I just bought my first MBP last year and have been lurking around this and several other sites since then learning what I can but I have a few questions that I am hoping someone can help me with. I am currently working in Iraq with a friend who bought a used MacBook, white body running 10.6.8. He got a super good deal on it and is using it to just test the waters to switch from PC to Mac. So far he is liking it and on his next trip home plans on buying a new MBA and turning this MacBook into a gen pop computer for his younger children to use at the house.

In the mean time

1. How can we completely wipe the previous owners information off the computer and set it up to the new owner? (We have no disks of the OS or of the programs that are on the computer.)

2. Is there a way to set up iChat (5.0.3) so that it supports Yahoo accounts?

3. Does his version support FaceTime?

And finally not really a MacBook specific question, and I have suggested that he wait until he is stateside and can get to an Apple store when he buys his new MBA to work on this one.

4. He, his wife and their older child share Apple and iTune Store IDs. Is there a EASY way that they can break these up without some or all of them loosing the already purchased iTunes store items? They don't want / need to share calendars or address book contacts or receive iMessages from when they are messaging with someone other than each other.

Again, thanks in advance for any and all suggestions on this.

Jake

My advise to both of you would be to upgrade to Mountain Lion. It automatically has a way for you to iChat between Yahoo accounts (though I doubt you guys can actually videochat that way). If you want to videochat I assume the Yahoo Messenger app has a way for you to do that. Another reason why I suggest this is because you can wipe you HD without using a CD when you upgrade to the more recent versions of OS X. Here's a link that I used and it also shows you how to clean install the OS (http://osxdaily.com/2012/07/25/how-to-clean-install-os-x-mountain-lion/). All macs that support 10.6.6 and above support FaceTime. With iCloud (only available for OS X 10.7 and above) iTunes has the ability to save ALL your purchased history, so since they have the same Apple ID, all they have to do is redownload all their music, app, movies and tv shows. Plus its free! Hope I helped you guys out

 

[AzDesertTroll]

My advise to both of you would be to upgrade to Mountain Lion. It automatically has a way for you to iChat between Yahoo accounts (though I doubt you guys can actually videochat that way). If you want to videochat I assume the Yahoo Messenger app has a way for you to do that. Another reason why I suggest this is because you can wipe you HD without using a CD when you upgrade to the more recent versions of OS X. Here's a link that I used and it also shows you how to clean install the OS (http://osxdaily.com/2012/07/25/how-to-clean-install-os-x-mountain-lion/). All macs that support 10.6.6 and above support FaceTime. With iCloud (only available for OS X 10.7 and above) iTunes has the ability to save ALL your purchased history, so since they have the same Apple ID, all they have to do is redownload all their music, app, movies and tv shows. Plus its free! Hope I helped you guys out

On my MBP I did the upgrade to Mountain Lion without issue. On my buddies white MacBook when we tried to upgrade through the store we got an error message saying that it could not be downloaded because the computer is not compatible or supported....something like that. Since it was used when he got it I am unsure of what year it was made and as far as I know SL 10.6.8 might be it's limit as far as upgrades...not sure on that one.

On the FaceTime issue about 10 minutes after I posted my original questions I did a simple search ( which I should have done first) and found out he could get it. Which he did and it is working fine.

Thanks for the link it looks like an easier way than trying to find SL disks and have them shipped here. Getting mail around here is like pulling teeth from a bobcat.

Thank you for the help, I can use all I can get.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

On my MBP I did the upgrade to Mountain Lion without issue. On my buddies white MacBook when we tried to upgrade through the store we got an error message saying that it could not be downloaded because the computer is not compatible or supported....something like that. Since it was used when he got it I am unsure of what year it was made and as far as I know SL 10.6.8 might be it's limit as far as upgrades...not sure on that one.

On the FaceTime issue about 10 minutes after I posted my original questions I did a simple search ( which I should have done first) and found out he could get it. Which he did and it is working fine.

Thanks for the link it looks like an easier way than trying to find SL disks and have them shipped here. Getting mail around here is like pulling teeth from a bobcat.

Thank you for the help, I can use all I can get.

If you go to the Apple logo on the top left of the menu bar you can click on about this mac, then click on more info and it tells you which MacBook you have. For example mine says (MacBook 7,1).Here are the ones that support ML:

iMac 7,1 and later

MacBook 5,1 and later

MacBook Pro 3,1 and later

MacBook Air 2,1 and later

Mac Mini 3,1 and later.

 

[AzDesertTroll]

If you go to the Apple logo on the top left of the menu bar you can click on about this mac, then click on more info and it tells you which MacBook you have. For example mine says (MacBook 7,1).Here are the ones that support ML:

iMac 7,1 and later

MacBook 5,1 and later

MacBook Pro 3,1 and later

MacBook Air 2,1 and later

Mac Mini 3,1 and later.

Cool, thanks I will check his stuff out ASAP. Maybe he can upgrade after all.

Thank again.