I have a an iMac 2010 from a friend I was trying to wipe and re-install OS. I started it up holding Option/Alt + Command + R .... with an internet connection it said it was reinstalling. Some things seem to be gone and I had to update Safari but the previous owner and contacts are still here. What do I do now?
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
The 2010 iMac originally came with a 10.6 Install disc set and you will need to use that to erase and reinstall the OS X.
If your friend does not have the original install disc set, then you can also use a Retail Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD.
After you reinstall 10.6 Snow Leopard and set it up, then you can update it to 10.6.8 and access the Mac App Store for the later macOS updates.
The 2010 iMac originally came with a 10.6 Install disc set and you will need to use that to erase and reinstall the OS X.
If your friend does not have the original install disc set, then you can also use a Retail Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD.
After you reinstall 10.6 Snow Leopard and set it up, then you can update it to 10.6.8 and access the Mac App Store for the later macOS updates.
Once you locate Snow Leopard 10.6.3+ installer DVD ~ instructions (by kappy) may help:
How to do factory reset 2010 (from DVD) - Apple Community
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251094247?answerId=252072911022#252072911022
Good luck & happy computing!🌻🌤
Had the computer been upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery, could that be used?
Or is that more like fishing without bait, and no grocery nearby?
An older article suggests certain 2010 models could have ~ while may not have..
• Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202313
(At one point, if it'd seen EFI firmware update, it could be able to install OS X with 'create install media'.)
Yet OS X El Capitan downloads as a disk image that contains a file named InstallMacOSX.pkg. Open
this file and follow the onscreen instructions. It installs an app named 'Install OS X El Capitan' into your
Applications folder.
The bridge to upgrade Snow Leopard to El Capitan, could be near ~ IF Mac had seen this path.
Without knowing, 'trial and error' may be the course ahead, to get traction - that direction..
And if second mac and knowledge of how to create bootable installer for macOS, that could help.
Sorry to muddy the waters, if excessive back-paddling was observed in this thread.
There are instructions and different key combinations to use, the resulting effects
are noted ~ you could reinstall versions of supported macOS your Mac could use.
• How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
A version macOS Utilities is available from tools here (online or recovery partition)
and can be useful to erase, repair, and reformat; hard drives/SSD; also setup anew.
I was under the impression the re install would do that, but obviously not. Are there distinct instructions on how to wipe it.
I do not have an Admin password (previous owner does not know what that is) I have gone into Utilities and hit erase for the HD but only got an error code.. And perhaps you can answer another question, if I manage to wipe, I can upgrade this to 16GB but
will it accept more updated software then?
You messed up, the computer needs to be wiped clean and then reinstall Mac OS.
wipe computer and re-install Os
