Restoring macbook to factory settings

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Level 1

4 points

Restoring macbook to factory settings

Hi,

I've had my macbook for just over 3 years now. I was recently advised by someone working at the Genius Bar to restore my macbook to its original factory settings so that it would run more smoothly. Can anyone else recommend that this is a good idea?

The Genius Bar guy said all I had to do was to copy my whole Mac Hardrive onto my external hardrive, restore my mac to its original factory settings and then copy the hardrive back onto my mac from my external. Is this is a good way to go about it? I've been reading some articles/discussions which talk about a Mac OS CD to reinstall some applications, do I need this if I have copied them over onto my external as well?

Finally.....how do I actually restore the original factory settings on my macbook? I could only find references to uninstalling stuff using the Mac OS CD or by taking something out of my mac by unscrewing it...???

Thanks in anticipation of your advice,

anna x

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Dec 22, 2009 8:35 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Dec 22, 2009 8:58 AM in response to annasymms

how do I actually restore the original factory settings on my macbook?

You boot from the Mac OS X installation disk that came with your system, or the latest retail disk you have if you've purchased a new version of Mac OS X since your system shipped, erase the hard drive (how you do this will depend on what version of Mac OS X you use), and then reinstall Mac OS X.

copy my whole Mac Hardrive onto my external hardrive, restore my mac to its original factory settings and then copy the hardrive back onto my mac from my external.

No. If you really did copy the entire hard drive, all you'd be doing would be putting all the old files and settings right back again.

Before you go to all this trouble, I'd suggest you post what actual problems you're having that leads you believe this necessary, and see what suggestions people have for resolving them. There may well be solutions to clear these up short of a complete OS reinstallation, something which is only rarely necessary.

Regards.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

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