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User profile for user: Fmpeb1
Fmpeb1 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Factory Reset Issue MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

I am having a problem with resetting early 2011 MacBook Pro to factory settings. For background basically bought this from his former roommate, after the roommate spilled my sons beer on the laptop. Needless to say I ended up with the laptop to either repair or sell for parts. After sitting for a year or two, I finally plugged it in and it seemed to power up (though the battery doesn't hold a charge) and functioned just fine. However I didn't have the admin password or former roommates log info and since the beer incident ended the relationship, no way to recover either. Because of this, I tried to perform a factory reset by going in using ctrl + R, utilities, and wiping the hard drives (there is a partition) and trying to reinstall the OS from online. When the computer reboots and attempts to load the new OS, from online, the action bar shows up and you can see the system working, but it eventually shuts the computer down without completing the install and won't power up again without disconnecting the power. After reading though the community posts, it appears that I need a disc or thumb drive to install the original Snow Leopard 10.6 OS. Is this correct, and could this be causing the issue? Do I need to do something else? The system HAD High Sierra 10.13.6, until i removed it, but based on what I keep reading it doesn't appear that this matter. I though I'd add it just in case.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Mac Pro

Posted on Apr 17, 2020 8:32 PM

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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,753 points

Posted on Apr 17, 2020 8:45 PM

How To Do A Factory Reset


Factory Reset Your Pre-Lion Mac Follow these instructions until you get to Step 6 of Factory reset of your Mac - Apple Support. At Step 5 you will need a Snow Leopard DVD or the installer disc that came with the computer.

    1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disk or the Disk 1 that came with your computer.  Insert the disk into the optical drive and restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the  "C" key.  Release the key when you see a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
    2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities' menu. After Disk Utility loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (out-dented entry - mfgr.'s ID and drive size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.  Set the number of partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended (Journaled), then click on the Apply button.
    3. When the formatting has finished quit Disk Utility.  Proceed with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
    4. If you are planning to sell or give your computer away, then do the following: After you reformat your hard drive and reinstall OS X, the computer restarts to a Welcome screen and asks you to choose a country or region. If you want to leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup of the system. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the Mac, the Setup Assistant will guide them through the setup process.


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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,753 points

Apr 17, 2020 8:45 PM in response to Fmpeb1

How To Do A Factory Reset


Factory Reset Your Pre-Lion Mac Follow these instructions until you get to Step 6 of Factory reset of your Mac - Apple Support. At Step 5 you will need a Snow Leopard DVD or the installer disc that came with the computer.

    1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disk or the Disk 1 that came with your computer.  Insert the disk into the optical drive and restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the  "C" key.  Release the key when you see a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
    2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities' menu. After Disk Utility loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (out-dented entry - mfgr.'s ID and drive size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.  Set the number of partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended (Journaled), then click on the Apply button.
    3. When the formatting has finished quit Disk Utility.  Proceed with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
    4. If you are planning to sell or give your computer away, then do the following: After you reformat your hard drive and reinstall OS X, the computer restarts to a Welcome screen and asks you to choose a country or region. If you want to leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup of the system. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the Mac, the Setup Assistant will guide them through the setup process.


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Factory Reset Issue MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

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