Need to reinstall system on Macbook Pro that came from Ebay

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Need to reinstall system on Macbook Pro that came from Ebay

Macbook Pro (early 2011) came with El Capitan installed and other software. I want to erase it all to start fresh again with El Capitan and my identity on this machine.

I already have a time machine backup on an external HD to import my data from my old Macbook laptop.

I have been leaning toward the Disk Utility Erase all method that reinstalls the system. Looks like it will download El Capitan at the end of the Erase process and install.

Macbook Pro early 2011

Processor 2 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 14, 2016 7:56 AM

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Answer 1

Jeff_W.

Community Specialist

Jun 15, 2016 8:33 AM in response to carl1064

Hi Carl!

I understand you've purchased a used MacBook Pro and would like to start fresh. Congratulations on your new (to you) Mac! You are correct that you will want to erase and reinstall the operating system, though El Capitan will not be installed by default. The original version of OS X that came with your Mac will be installed, then you can update to El Capitan through the App Store. You can find instructions here under "Erase a drive and install OS X":

How to reinstall OS X on your Mac

Thanks for contacting Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

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