Senior needs help preparing to give old 2007 MacBook to a friend

The fact that you have the discs makes this all really easy, actually!

That computer came with either OS X Tiger (10.4) or OS X Leopard (10.5) if it's from 2007.

The original CDs may have that written on them. Otherwise, click on the Apple icon in the upper right corner & choose About This Mac. A little window will come up; click More Info... and the System Information window will come up.

You should see something like "MacBook 13-inch, Mid-2007."

Let me know what you see there and then we'll work on the rest of the steps.

🙂

~Lyssa

Ok, so it most likely came with OS X 10.4 (Tiger).

In order for it to have Lion, you must have installed Snow Leopard at some point - Snow Leopard is a required upgrade in order to get Lion or a newer OS installed.

Do you have the Snow Leopard disc also? If not, you will need to buy a replacement disc before you pass the computer on to your friend.

You'll want to start with this document about reinstalling OS X using the discs that came with the computer: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1561. We need to figure out how many discs your computer came with.

My thought here for getting the computer ready for your friend is this:

1) Erase the computer & install OS X 10.4 (Tiger) along with the bundled software

2) Upgrade to Snow Leopard

3) Work with your friend and get an Apple ID created for her & use that ID to purchase a download code for Lion.

~Lyssa

Those MacBook Pro discs will only work on that particular computer so they're no help here. Snow Leopard is only available as a DVD. You can buy it here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

You will have to buy a redemption code for Lion also - that's another $20 and available here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion

I would have your friend buy the code for Lion, just to make sure it's associated with her account.

~Lyssa

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

I wouldn't worry about doing anything with it, just keep it handy & include it with the MacBook when you pass it on to its new owner 🙂

You should be fine wiping it clean & starting fresh, but do come back if you have troubles 🙂

Best of luck to you!

~Lyssa

Hi Jean -

I haven't been on the boards for a few days, and seeing this has made me very happy indeed 🙂

It's definitely a big project to reinstall everything - I hope you had other things to do in the meantime so you weren't just staring at the screen 😉

For your iPhone, I personally would back up to the computer, rather than iCloud, but that's your choice. Then, follow the steps here to make sure it's no longer associated with your Apple ID.

After that, you'll be all good to go!

I hope your friend gets many years of enjoyment out of that ol' MacBook - mine's still chugging along so I'm sure yours will do the same 🙂

~Lyssa

I hang out in the iPhone forums too, and I've seen several posts similar to "I've been restoring from iCloud for X number of hours and it's not done...." iTunes will be a faster restore and I think you can more easily see its progress also. They're essentially the same in the end, but I'm old school and would rather be "wired in." 😉

All the best to you!

~Lyssa