Bought 21.5 inch imac 2009 from friend. My friend had already restored to factory settings. Followed instructions online to reinstall osx but received message that 'this item temporarily unavailable' after entering my apple id and password. What do I do please?
iMac
If you tried to install a version of OS X prior to El Capitan, then you received that error because no versions prior to El Capitan can be downloaded from the App Store except through your Purchases page as a re-download.
If you tried to install a version of OS X prior to El Capitan, then you received that error because no versions prior to El Capitan can be downloaded from the App Store except through your Purchases page as a re-download.
ok so purchases page in Apple Store. Will try first.
I am being rather dense here apologies. I cannot get my friends purchases as I have no more contact with him so therefore no purchases etc. I have an apple id etc but obviously will not be able to access purchases . Bit stuck about what to do? I have a mac but cant use!!!
You will have to reinstall via recovery mode. I think your computer should be new enough.
THe he process will initially install the operating system that came with it then you can upgrade to El Capitan from the App Store.
OR, make a USB install disk from the El Capitan download and do a clean install.
Recovery mode is described here: OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
I'm afraid you have never downloaded OS X using your Apple ID. You cannot get a copy from a purchase using a different Apple ID. You need to restore your computer to Snow Leopard then download the upgrade by signing into the App Store with your Apple ID. Do the following:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
(Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
Assistant. After you finish Setup Assistant will complete the installation after which
you will be running a fresh install of OS X. You can now begin the update process
by opening Software Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your
installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Not possible on a 2009 model. He has to erase the drive then reinstall Snow Leopard either from the disc that came with the computer or the retail DVD, whichever is more recent. For his model that would be the retail DVD, but any previous version of Snow Leopard will do the trick.
reinstalling osx from factory settings get message 'this item temporarily unavailable' after entering apple id and password
