Imac won't reinstall osx. It says my apple id hasn't purchased lion

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Imac won't reinstall osx. It says my apple id hasn't purchased lion

Hi, i recently decided to give my dad my imac (2011). So before i handed it over i cleared everything from the mac so it would be back to factory settings. All hat went fine. I then went to reinstall my operating system. Everything goes well until it asks me to enter an apple id. I enter mine and a message come up saying "this apple id has not purchased lion" as far as i am aware lion came with the mac when i bought it.

Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Nov 30, 2013 5:21 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

140,796 points

Nov 30, 2013 7:19 AM in response to kscobie

Macs built prior to August 2011 shipped with Snow Leopard. If yours shipped with Lion, no Apple ID is required to reinstall it. BootOS X Internet Recoveryby holding ⌘ option R (three fingers) when you start your Mac. Updating to Mavericks is free in either case. For complete instructions read What to do before selling or giving away your Mac

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Answer 2

kscobie Author

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Nov 30, 2013 7:33 AM in response to John Galt

When i start up my computer as I've managed to remove everything including my operating system it takes me to the same screen as it would if i hold cmd + r. Once in that screen i click on reinstall osx at then end of this it still asks for my apple id to which it replies this account hasn't bought lion. The other options are restore from timeline (which i do not have) get help online or disk utility. As reinstall osx doesn't work is there any other way to get an operating system on my mac.

The way i see it the only problem seems to be that i haven't purchased lion with my account. Is this the case? If so how can i purchase it?

Thanks.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

140,796 points

Nov 30, 2013 7:53 AM in response to kscobie

The way i see it the only problem seems to be that i haven't purchased lion with my account. Is this the case?

Yes. Any 2011 iMac that did not have Lion already installed shipped with its predecessor Snow Leopard, and included system and applications restore discs.

If your Mac did not ship with Lion already installed, there is no need to purchase it since you can upgrade directly from Snow Leopard to Mavericks. Upgrading to Lion or Mountain Lion are options as well, but they are not free.

Boot from its original grey System Install DVD. Install that OS, install all applicable Software Updates from Apple, then upgrade to Mavericks by downloading it from the App Store. Follow these instructions: Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard: How to Erase and Install

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Answer 4

Choot Em

Level 1

9 points

May 28, 2014 3:54 PM in response to kscobie

Easy fix. Go to your Mac App Store. Find Mavericks. Click download. It will give you some crap about you already have it whatever. Click continue to download the installer. In the top menu bar click purchases. You will see it downloading. Click pause. Click restart. Hold command R at the startup chime. Click reinstall OS X. Since you use your Apple ID to download the full installer, you just use your Apple ID to purchase OSX. For free. Problem solved.

I literally just had to do this

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