Resetting to Factory Settings, Question

Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:

Step One - Back up your data:

A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.

B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.

1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.

2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.

3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right

side.

4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be

sure to opt for that.

Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal

startup drive.

Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:

1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.

2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.

3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.

4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.

5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer

Step Three - Install a fresh OS:

A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X

1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.

2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.

3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.

Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.

4. Install OS X.

5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.

6. Shutdown the computer.

B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)

Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because

it is three times faster than wireless.

1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X

Utilities window appears.

2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.

3. 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.

4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button

and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.

5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.

6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.

7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.

8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.

*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

Unless it came with Snow Leopard or earlier you should not install Lion or Mountain Lion if you purchased either. If the computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then read the appropriate warning:

*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

What came installed on the computer when you bought it? Let's start from that point. If it was Snow Leopard or earlier do you have the original discs?

Right. If it came with Lion pre-installed you will not have any restore discs. You will need to perform an Internet Recovery. This will involve some time because everything will be performed via the internet. You will start by connecting the computer to your active network - preferably by Ethernet since it's faster than wireless.

Restart the computer. As soon as you hear the chime press and hold down COMMAND-OPTION-R keys until you see a globe appear on the screen. You may be asked to select your network and provide your network's login password for the wireless if you are not using Ethernet.

Patienly wait until the Recovery HD screen appears. This may take 15 minutes, more or less. When it appears to this:

Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch

Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

Erase and Partition the hard drive:

1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.

2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the

left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Select one (1) partition from the Partition Scheme dropdown menu. Set the

format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Erase button and

wait until the process has completed.

4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.

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

This will take some time because the entire installer must be downloaded. It can take several hours.

i am not sure if it works on your one but shut down the macbook and restart it with the R pressed in then you must follow the steps

R = from restart

I'm afraid there is no such startup option:

Startup key combinations for Intel-based Macs.

it works on my macbook air

Reread what Kappy has said carefully..there is no restart with Lion or Mountain Lion using the R key alone. You must restart using Command-R or Command-Option-R to start from the Recovery Hard Drive.

What works is using COMMAND-R, but not R by itself.

If you need any interim help see: OS X (Lion/Mountain Lion)- About OS X Recovery.

ow i now it now i had confused it with a other command

it was command r