Have been given an old macbook without the back up discs. I'm having trouble with limited space and want to restore it and start again. Any ideas on how to do this without the discs? How much woudl the Genius bar charge me?
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.4)
I called AppleCare 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273) to check on how much they charge for the gray restore disks that originally came with the MacBookand was quoted $16 dollars per disk plus S & H. Which would be $32 for the two disks. Just give them the serial number of your MacBook and they'll know which ones you need. With the original disks you also get the iLife that was current when your MacBook was bought included on the #2 disk.
Or you can get Snow Leopard for $29. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY You won't need the box set unless you want the full iLife '11 and iWork '09. If you only want iPhoto or other single apps from iLife '11 you can get them from the App Store after you've upgraded to 10.6.6. iPhoto, iMovie or Garage Band for $15 each and Pages, Keynote or Numbers from iWork '09 for $20 each.
As for the cost of having the Apple Store do it you'll have to check with them on that.
Without the restore cds/dvd, I believe you would just need to buy an OS disk (OSX Lion). You should be able to just run a fresh install and be fine. If you want to get the original restore disks, that might be a little harder. You would have to take your machine down to an apple store, and talk with a genius bar. They dont keep older model parts or supplies in the stores, so they may have to special order the disks if it's possible, they would definitely let you know the price. Your second option would be to contact a local mac user group, and talk with them. They often are made up of mac technicians and have access to old copies of restore disks and OS versions that aren't available through Apple anymore.
How much would it cost to restore my laptop?
