How come I didn’t see a disk Utility option to erase my drive? 2010 MacBook Pro, running El Capitan, recovery mode installing High Sierra. No drop down menu offered Disk Utility! I used command-R when starting up and saw the spinning globe.
MacBook Pro
Did the macOS online installer actually finish booting? I'm not sure El Capitan allows you to boot into Internet Recovery Mode at all. You may only be able to access the local recovery mode on the hard drive. If so then there should be an option on the main screen for Disk Utility. There should be no need to use a menu to access Disk Utility. See this Apple article for details:
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204904
You may find it easier to create a bootable macOS USB installer:
Did the macOS online installer actually finish booting? I'm not sure El Capitan allows you to boot into Internet Recovery Mode at all. You may only be able to access the local recovery mode on the hard drive. If so then there should be an option on the main screen for Disk Utility. There should be no need to use a menu to access Disk Utility. See this Apple article for details:
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204904
You may find it easier to create a bootable macOS USB installer:
No disk Utility/ Erase option in recovery mode
