how do I wipe and restore

Question

Level 1

35 points

how do I wipe and restore

I was moving around some files from an old to a new macbook pro and i ended up deleting some files so now whenever I try to put a file on the desktop it says that I don't have permission to do that operation.

I just got this macbook and cant access my old one at the moment, so the question is:

how do I totally wipe the hdd and install osx lion again?

is it possible to open my macbook in target mode and delete everything then when I start it up, open it in recovery/rescue mode and install lion again from the servers, or do I need to wait and get my macbook again?

I just want to use it like a brand new machine (no personal data on it)

I already tried reinstalling lion, but that did nothing.

Is this safe to do or what should I do instead?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1), Quad Core i7 15" 4GB RAM

Posted on Jun 11, 2012 5:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 11, 2012 5:37 PM in response to andrewbatz

Install or Reinstall Lion from Scratch

If possible backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive.

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

Erase the hard drive:

Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
Quit DU and return to the main menu.

Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Install button.

Reply