Trying to access OS X Utilities screen on start up CMD+R

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Level 1

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Trying to access OS X Utilities screen on start up CMD+R

I am trying (without luck) to reformat my MacBook Pro. I do a lot of photography and it is becoming sluggish. I have went through the following process:

*deleted all non-essential files/images

*made a back up on TimeMachine to an external Hard Drive

*made a Yosemite reboot disk to a flash drive

Now, I'm trying to get into the OSX Utilities screen by holding down "Command" + "R" and it will NOT do anything but reboot as normal. This step is essential to being able to totally wipe my MacBook clean. And, I'm in a time crunch...I have some photos that i need to process!

If anyone can provide some advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

Jacki

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), null

Posted on Apr 19, 2015 7:57 AM

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Answer 1

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,684 points

Apr 20, 2015 12:34 PM in response to JByrd3

The solution for repairing or erasing a system on 10.6 is to boot from the install DVD.

If the Yosemite installer is working that can be used too, just select Disk Utility from the options.

Hold alt to enter the 'boot picker' at startup & select the DVD or the 10.10 install USB disk.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

125,374 points

Apr 19, 2015 10:57 AM in response to JByrd3

Hold down the option key as you reboot. Eventually, you will be presented with a line of icons — one of which will be your recovery partition. From there, you can boot into Recovery and gain access to the Utilities menu.

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Answer 3

mns579

Level 4

1,170 points

Apr 19, 2015 3:51 PM in response to JByrd3

Your signature says you're running 10.6.8. A Snow Leopard machine won't have a recovery partition.

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