Factory reset question please help

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Factory reset question please help

Bought 2 used Macbook Air's.

Turned one on & went through the whole set up almost like a phone.

Turned the other one on & there were different questions. Fan started running.

After a few months, the latter wasn't running too well so I decided to factory reset it to see if it did the same thing as the first one that I opened. That is hubby's & his is running fine. No fan, no delay, etc.

So, today I factory reset and after 4 hours, turned it on, fan started running & it asked only a couple of questions. I go on home screen & there is notifications in my reminders that is on my phone. I never even turned ICloud on.

When I pressed safari it still had my favorites in website on the internet screen. And I do remember when I first got it, going on Safari & seeing web favorites on there but on my hubby's safari there was absolutely nothing.

And each of our icons look different on the tool bar on the bottom. ???

How can I get it completely wiped clean?

I would appreciate if anyone could help! Thanks so much!!!

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Dec 1, 2015 12:59 PM

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Answer 1

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Dec 1, 2015 1:27 PM in response to CTDET

You need to boot into recovery mode, erase the internal disk & install OS X otherwise the installer will simply leave existing user accounts & third party applications in place.

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

Follow the instructions from step 4 to see how to erase the system disk…

http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/18/clean-install-os-x-yosemite/

The Macbook Air should also support internet recovery, so use that if you cannot get into the normal recovery mode. Bear in mind both methods require internet access to download the installer (and the recovery OS in internet recovery mode).

It should install the OS that shipped with the Mac, upgrade via the app store if you want a newer version.

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Answer 2

CTDET Author

Level 1

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Dec 1, 2015 1:56 PM in response to Drew Reece

Thanks!

I did those exact steps this afternoon but I had those things stay.

That's why I am so confused. The one Air came in completely clean. And this one I think is not formatting for some reason.

When I set it up again, it only gave me the option of El Capitan to install.

Any suggestions??? Thanks so much!!!

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Answer 3

CTDET Author

Level 1

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Dec 1, 2015 2:22 PM in response to CTDET

I just looked at my history under safari & sure enough there is my stuff from last week!

If I cleared everything on that Air how in the world is my history on safari still there?!?!?!

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Answer 4

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Dec 1, 2015 2:57 PM in response to CTDET

Either you didn't erase the disk correctly or you have signed into iCloud & allowed Safari to sync history.

Look at the System Preferences to see if iCloud is active & what services are synced. If you didn't erase the disk I would expect to see history from the last owner, it wouldn't include your web history unless iCloud is pulling in that for you (I'm assuming you haven't use the browser on this machine).

Otherwise redo the install but be sure to erase the disk in Disk Utility first, that will reset it totally.

This seems to cover clean installing on El Capitan.

https://www.macsources.com/how-to-clean-install-os-x-el-capitan/

You can also try making a bootable USB installer, but it should not be required to erase & install…

http://applesutra.com/2015/10/05/clean-install-el-capitan/

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