Creating Apple ID for an used MacBook pro

Those are good points, but not what I was referring to. This is a case of buying a Used MacBook Pro that falls into a vexing category -- the modern download features were not completely implemented when it was released.

The thorny problem in this particular case was getting the critical initial software onto a MacBook that cannot boot up anything. It does not have Internet Recovery in its ROM, and cannot boot from the "Full Retail" 10.6.3 DVD. Recovery on the drive was still available, but it only wanted to re-load the previous owner's copy, but needed the previous owner's Apple-ID and password to do so. The current owner had no "purchased" Mac OS X downloadable versions on the Mac App Store, and no Mac OS X running after erasing the drive.

The Genius Bar used "Magic" to load El Capitan onto the drive in a way not available to mere mortals. In order to NEVER be here again, I wanted appzenny to make sure there was a copy of Mac OS X waiting to be re-downloaded under THEIR Apple-ID.

The Genius Bar used "Magic" to load El Capitan onto the drive in a way not available to mere mortals. In order to NEVER be here again, I wanted appzenny to make sure there was a copy of Mac OS X waiting to be re-downloaded under THEIR Apple-ID.

I gettit...

😉

Did he use YOUR Apple-ID to do the download?

- No ( It was a she though )

If they did not associate it with your Apple ID, then at least test to see if you have access to your Purchases and Updates at the app store. If you do not, you will need to return to the store. Having your Apple ID associated with the app store download is extremely important or you will not be able to update any apps or reinstall the OS.

Well put.

Any advice on El Cap for an unknown amount of RAM on said MBPro? 😉

Also well put. 🙂

If you have a Recovery_HD, that only gets installed with 10.7. But a "purchased" 10.7 is tagged with the original purchaser's Apple-ID, and will not re-load without that same AppleID and password.

You might also want to consider increasing the RAM you have; 4 GB is generally recommended as a minimum, more is much better.

Once again, well put ✅

There is every indication that some Apple Services (such as Contact Support) are having "bad days" for some folks for the past few days - dunno if it is related