Trying to do a reset on a Mac Book Pro 2010 mid that someone gave to me that can't find her password.
I need to install O/S. It's running High Sierra now. I'm not sure if that's highest O/S X I can run or???
It's going to be my first MAC SO...
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Here is what the previous owner should have done before getting rid of their Mac:
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
As long as the laptop does not have a firmware password lock enabled, then you/they should just be able to boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to access the online macOS installer.....hopefully for macOS 10.13 High Sierra since older online installers tend to have more problems these days. Unfortunately some Macs may only boot to the older online installer for the OS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory regardless of the keys used for booting.
Or you can boot from the original gray OSX System Restoration DVD which shipped with the laptop from the factory in order to install OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. After installing Snow Leopard and updating it with its latest patches, then you can next install macOS 10.11 El Capitan. Once you have upgraded to macOS 10.11, then you will be able to access & download the macOS 10.13 High Sierra installer. You may need to download the Snow Leopard update patches and macOS 10.11 installer .dmg files using another computer (any computer & OS which can access the Internet will do) & transferring them to this 2010 laptop running Snow Leopard so you can update & upgrade it.
You will need to either erase the whole physical internal drive (macOS 10.11+) or you will need to partition & format the physical drive (macOS 10.6). No password is required even if Filevault is enabled.....assuming there is no firmware password lock. If a firmware password lock is enabled, then there is nothing you can do without having the correct password since Apple will not remove it without acceptable proof of purchase & ownership (usually only the original owner will qualify).
How to reset a MacBook Pro without the password
