Q: Senior needs help preparing to give old 2007 MacBook to a friend
I have kept my old MacBook (Apr. 2007) as an emergency backup. It is running 10.7.5, the latest available for this model. I have a bff whom I am trying to help out (we are both seniors). I am giving her my iPhone 5 when the 6 comes out and I want to give her this old MacBook so she has a convenient way to backup her iPhone. I hope it will also help her overall with technology because she does not have a laptop, just a dated desktop PC.
I am not worried that she will use any of my personal info nefariously but I guess it would be easiest for her if I wipe the MacBook and give her just the basic OS. I still have the original CDs that came with the MacBook but I can't find anything that says what version of OS X came with the MacBook. I think I will need to repurchase for the MacBook any updates that I made to the OS because the ones I bought are tied to my Apple ID, is that right? Does anyone know how much that will cost or how I can figure that out? And I assume I would need to do the wipe and reinstall with her so she can create her own Apple ID and I could just pay for the updates? If there is anyone willing to help me figure this out, I would be most grateful. I want to be ready to roll when the iPhone 6 launches.
MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), Apple TV2, iPads, iPhone 5, iMac
Posted on Aug 19, 2014 4:17 PM
Jean -
I think you've got it
Deauthorize iTunes before you do anything else. It is a maximum of 5 computers that can share iTunes authorizations. Technically, it is also 5 devices that can share content, but iPads, iPhones & iPods don't handle authorization the same way. You'll have to do a mass deauthorization if you have more than 5 computers trying to play iTunes music but you're OK if it's just iDevices + 1 computer.
Then, yes, you use those original CDs to install 10.4 and the basic apps (that's things like iPhoto). No need to do updates after that install is complete. You'll be asked to create an account - either create one for her, or you can create one for you to use & create a second administrator account later on & delete the one you created. You don't want to mess around with changing names as it can get complicated!
With the Snow Leopard disc, all you need to do is insert it while you have the computer running & then double-click on the "Install Mac OS X" icon that should pop up automatically. From there, it'll upgrade to 10.6.
At that point, you run Software Update until all updates have been downloaded. The base install of 10.6 doesn't include the Mac App Store, which is necessary for you to download Lion. Running Software Update will get that installed for you.
Once that's all done, you'll be able to use the code she'll be emailed for Lion in the Mac App Store to get a copy downloaded. Then it's one more installation to do and she's all set!
Hopefully that all makes sense...if you find yourself getting stuck anywhere along the way, let me know.
~Lyssa
Posted on Aug 19, 2014 6:18 PM