I have been given a used Macbook with High Sierra OS and the original user’s details. He has given me his username and password but not his iTunes log in details and I can no longer contact him. Will this prevent me from reinstalling the OS in my own name and, if so, will I be able to use my iTune log in details? I recognise that there are numerous posts on this subject on the internet but many are old, outdated or contradictory.
If the New User what's full control of this computer and get rid of the previous Owners Association of this machine to their Apple Account
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac
If the New User what's full control of this computer and get rid of the previous Owners Association of this machine to their Apple Account
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac
Sure, no need to reinstall the OS really, just make a new admin user, log unto that & delete the previous account...
Open System Preferences>Users & Groups, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
For BDAqua: that seems to be straightforward but wouldn’t that leave all the settings, such as wifi and apps there? in addition, the Macbook seems a bit slow so my thought was that reinstalling the OS would get rid of any residual items slowing it down.
The Previous Uses Password for iTunes will only affect the Previous Owners Authorization of devices on their Account.
Once the computer has been erased and reinstalled under your Apple ID and iCloud account - presto all done and no issues.
For BDAqua and P. Phillips:
I went for the easy option of creating a new administrator and deleting the old one. After tidying up some apps that I didn’t need, the Macbook is working well. At some point, I may try reinstalling the OS but there is no need right now. I found that trackpad had severely broken - it turned out that the battery had swollen and forced up on the trackpad. A new battery and second-hand trackpad from Fleabay cost £30 (about 150 thousand US dollars - only kidding!) and 15 minutes work sorted it out.
For P. Phillips: as far as I can see from the link, I still need the original users’s iCloud account sign in details and, possibly, the same for iTunes.
For P. Phillips: that sounds as though the computer will remain on the original user’s account and prevent me from authorising it on my account. Is that the case?
No everything from Old is gone.
Thank you BDAqua and P. Phillips - I shall give both solutions a try.
Keep us posted on you progress - time permitting
Thanks for the report, take care my friend! :)
reinstalling OS on a used mac
