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Hello,
I have a mid-2009 macbook air and the hdd is failing. I can't boot into the system but I can boot into the recovery using Command + R.
How do I reinstall the system if I fit in a new HDD? I've lost my mac osx installation disk btw.
Thank you
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7)
The 2009 MBP cannot boot into Internet Recovery mode so you are going to need a bootable hard drive. If you are using TimeMachine and the TimeMachine drive was connected to the computer when you installed the OS it will have the recovery partition too. This would let you restore your computer from the TimeMachine backup. Failing that:
The fact that you can boot into the Recovery Partition suggests that the hard drive is functional but that the currently installs OS is damaged. It is possible you could reinstall the OS on the HD so you can boot to the desktop, download the OS again and create a bootable flash drive. Perhaps a better solution would be if you have a friend or family member with a Mac is that you could download the OS and create a bootable flash drive.
Of course you can call AppleCare and request a new installation disk. There’s a nominal fee (I don’t recall what it was when I had to do that for my Black MacBook which gives you an idea how long ago it was. I was surprised at how quickly it arrived.)
It is for emergencies of this variety that I have two different backups for my computer. One is TimeMachine and the other is a cloned copy. The clone can be used to boot up to the desktop unlike TimeMachine.
Is there any way to reinstall the OS to a external hdd connected via usb? In the disk utility it says that the original hdd is broken. How do I reinstall the OS to external hdd? When I try to reinstall it is stuck at "loading instalation information".
Thank you
The download of the OS while in recovery mode can only go to the drive, you can't choose where to download.
Oh ok. So I have a friend who also has a macbook air but newer generation. How do I create a bootable flash drive and boot it, then install the OS into a new hdd?
Thank you
Have him log out of the Apple App store and then you log in. You’ll see your download history and you should see your OS as one of the options. Download it. It will appear in his Applications folder.
To make the installation flash drive you’ll need at least an 8GB USB flash drive. This application can be used to create a bootable flash drive from the download. Also if you google “make bootable **** flash drive” and replace the asterisks with your version of the Mac OS “make bootable Lion flash drive” for example, you’ll find instructions to do the job manually.
What to do if I dont remember my appstore login?
Replacing broken hdd macbook air mid-2009
