I just got a refurbished MacBook Pro from mid-2012 on Ebay and have a few quick questions...

You should perform a clean install of macOS by first erasing the whole physical drive before reinstalling macOS. You don't want to be left with any of the previous owner's possible software problems or unknown configuration settings. Also you are not entitled to the paid MS Office apps if the previous owner happens to be still using them. You need to purchase your own copy of MS Office or use an alternative option such as the free LibreOffice suite.

Here is how you can perform a clean install including instructions for erasing the drive:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496

You can either boot into Recovery Mode (Command + R), Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R), or create a bootable macOS USB installer.

Here is what the previous owner should have done prior to selling the laptop:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065

You should at least perform step# 7 yourself (even if the previous owner already did so just to be safe).

Also make sure to have frequent & regular backups. Apple includes Time Machine to make things easier, but you can use other options as well.

FYI, since you have a 13" model keep in mind that the hard drive SATA cable on this specific model has an extremely high rate of failure so if you start to have problems remember to consider having this cable replaced (especially if you are using or upgrading the drive to an SSD).

Anne Frances wrote:

PLEASE SEE PHOTOS BELOW MY QUERY

On this refurbished MacBook Pro I have, the Startup disk (or is it the hard drive?) is referred to as ?.,MNBVCXZ- is there someway I can change this and make it say something more sensible, like MacBook HD?

In addition to this, there are some folders in ?.,MNBVCXZ including some I can't access in a folder entitled 'Guest' in 'Users'- should I just leave this all as it is?

I don't mind the folders being there, I am just curious and don't want to mess anything up. My personal feeling is that the folders don't need to be there and can just be deleted eventually; I just won't delete them while the laptop is within warranty.

My next issue is about the Microsoft Office. When I got the laptop it already had Microsoft Office on it (I think it was a version from 2011); then I upgraded it from High Sierra to Catalina and now I no longer have access to Microsoft Office applications for free anymore and have to subscribe to it. Is there any other option other than subscribing to Microsoft Office 365 for MacBook laptops, i.e. could I use an older version for free or is that now not possible now that I am using Catalina rather than High Sierra?

Change the name of your drive—

Rename files, folders, and disks on Mac - Apple Support

Update your Office software, if you want it to run on macOS Catalina

Office for Mac running macOS Catalina

If you have Office 2011 for Mac or before WILL NOT run.

Office 2016 for Mac needs to be v15.35 or later.

Update the software

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac


The current Office for Mac; Office 365 or Office 2019 (One-time purchase) are OK with Catalina

How do I upgrade Office?

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-do-i-upgrade-office-ee68f6cf-422f-464a-82ec-385f65391350

compare:

https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?&activetab=tab:primaryr1

Office Home & Student 2019:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-home-student-2019/cfq7ttc0k7c8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Office Home & Business 2019: This stand alone includes Outlook—

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-home-business-2019/cfq7ttc0k7cq?activetab=pivot:overviewtab