Bought a Late 2009 iMac 21.5 inch that worked almost like new. Had a user account already so I went into recovery mode to reset the Mac the set it up brand new. It now only starts up into recovery mode and will not launch normally. The account had been empty, but I was unaware you could change the name of the user account until after I had this issue, or else that would have appeased me 😅. The Mac is running High Sierra.
Earlier Mac models
BringBackiPod182 wrote:
By the way, it was properly cleared. They had just set it up with a clean account. I did not like the username they set up and did not know it could be changed, so here I am.
That is not properly cleared for resale.
If you can not create a new Admin User Account and the delete the old...?
You need to create a 10.13 High Sierra Installer on a USB Flash Drive, then use it to Erase and Reinstall the macOS.
BringBackiPod182 wrote:
By the way, it was properly cleared. They had just set it up with a clean account. I did not like the username they set up and did not know it could be changed, so here I am.
That is not properly cleared for resale.
If you can not create a new Admin User Account and the delete the old...?
You need to create a 10.13 High Sierra Installer on a USB Flash Drive, then use it to Erase and Reinstall the macOS.
This is why it is a bad idea to purchase a used Mac that has not been properly cleared for resale.
If you received the original gray Snow Leopard Install Disc set that came with the Late 2009 iMac...?
Then you can use Disc 1 to Erase and Reinstall 10.6 Snow Leopard, then upgrade to 10.13 High Sierra the hard way.
The other option, is to create a 10.13 High Sierra Installer on a USB Flash Drive, then use it to Erase and Reinstall the macOS.
Did the seller follow ALL the instructions in What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac prior to handing over the computer to you, if you cannot confirm or they did not then den.thed is correct, the seller did not favors for you at all!
If it was set up with a user account at all, it was not properly cleared.
Had it been properly prepared for sale, it would have come up to the ‘hello’ screen and had you create a new account from scratch.
By the way, it was properly cleared. They had just set it up with a clean account. I did not like the username they set up and did not know it could be changed, so here I am. This issue was completely self-induced.
It did not come with any discs, just the box, the Mac, the keyboard and mouse, and the power cable. I may try the other option though… I’ll let you know if we are successful.
By the way, it was properly cleared. They had just set it up with a clean account. I did not like the username they set up and did not know it could be changed, so here I am.
iMac 21.5-in. Late 2009 won’t boot properly.
