Restore iMac

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Restore iMac

Hi,

I have a iMac with OS X 10.5.8. I would like to restore it to the factory settings before I give it away. I have tried the following link:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4982644?searchText=iMac restore

The problem is when I start the computer as instructed there is no utility to choose from. Just the hard drive. I did try the disc, but I am unable to select the utility and I get a message that there is not enough space for the operating system.

Is there a way I can manually delete all the programs to make room? I have deleted the basics, photos, music, documents.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Liz

iPad, iOS 7.0.4, LCD TV

Posted on Feb 3, 2015 8:37 AM

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Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Feb 5, 2015 9:26 AM in response to Bruin07

Hi Bruin07,

The instructions you appear to have been following were for the newer OS X Recovery system (introduced in 10.7) that allows reinstall from a special partition on your hard drive. If you are running 10.5.8, you would need to do a more traditional erase/reinstall from the original install discs/DVDs. You may find the information and steps outlined in the following articles helpful (the second article is aimed at 10.6, but the steps should still apply to an install disk Erase & Install in 10.5):

Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard - Apple Support

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard: How to Erase and Install - Apple Support

Regards,

- Brenden

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Answer 2

Bruin07 Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 6, 2015 3:00 AM in response to brenden dv

Good morning Brenden,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question. I followed the instructions and had some luck.

I had the Snow Leopard DVD so I was able to use that to zero out everything. Half way there. When I re-started the iMac and the install screen came up I thought I was in luck and would be able to install 10.6 instead of 10.5. It asked the language, I chose English and hit the right arrow, but the message I got was "Not enough Ram for this OS X" So I will have to find or purchase the 10.5.8 Leopard.

So now the iMac starts up and just the desk top loads, no programs at the bottom and at the top I have listed, the apple, file, edit, etc. All of these are grayed out so I can't click on any of them, understandable, because I think I was successful in deleting everything. The 10.6 DVD is in the drive spinning and I can't eject it because there is no eject button in the top row. Do you know if there is a manual way to eject the DVD. I am hoping that once I do that and purchase the 10.5.8 DVD I can install it.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Have a good day.

Liz

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Answer 3

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Feb 6, 2015 2:59 PM in response to Bruin07

Based on your description (limited desktop, DVD spinning, etc), it would sound like you are actually booted to the Install disk instead of the hard drive, which would make sense if you have erased the hard drive but were unable to reinstall the OS. You may want to try holding down the mouse button when restarting the computer, which should eject the disc (as noted below):

Get help with the slot-loading SuperDrive on your Mac computer - Apple Support

Regards,

- Brenden

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