iMac 2008 Can't go into the recovery mode.

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Level 1

10 points

iMac 2008 Can't go into the recovery mode.

I have an iMac (20-inch, Early 2008), it has installed the OS X Yosemite.

I want to install the fresh OS again as the current one is too heavy to run, but it won't let me into the recovery mode. I have tried all 3 key combinations mentioned on this website watched many YouTube videos but still, I can't go into the recovery mode.

Can anyone please help me with that?

PS: I already know that I can't install the macOS Sierra in it (due to the old model) and I just want to re-install the current OS so it can run my programs smoothly.

iMac, null

Posted on Jul 18, 2017 2:51 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,280 points

Jul 18, 2017 8:04 AM in response to Maahi381

See if any of the following articles can help:

About macOS Recovery - Apple Support
How to set up and use an external Mac startup disk - Apple Support
OS X: About Recovery Disk Assistant - Apple Support
How to reinstall OS X if your Mac fails - Macworld
How to Make a Mac OS X Recovery Disk - techradar

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Answer 2

JimmyCMPIT

Level 7

29,306 points

Jul 19, 2017 7:42 AM in response to Maahi381

You can not use it, it's not available. Your 2008 iMac was developed before recovery was offered, and Apple does not even have the firmware patch for the systems that predated it but could use it later.

Your best bet as stated by MacJack is to get the disks that came with the computer and restore the system that way.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

Jul 18, 2017 12:55 PM in response to Maahi381

Do you have a backup you can restore from? If so, download the installer and quit it. You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you. Boot off of that and reinstall the OS.

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X oruse Apple’s method Create a bootable installer for OS

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

Jul 18, 2017 12:56 PM in response to Maahi381

Do you have a backup you can restore from? If so, download the installer and quit it. You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you. Boot off of that and reinstall the OS.

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X oruse Apple’s method Create a bootable installer for OS

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Answer 5

Maahi381 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 19, 2017 1:33 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

I can see that my iMac is not here on the list. So it means that the command-R won't work for me, right?

Is there any other easy way I can get this fixed?

This is my first time I'm using macOS, I used Windows my whole life so I don't know much about macOS.

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Answer 6

Maahi381 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 19, 2017 3:19 AM in response to Eric Root

I don't have a backup. But I can download the OS X image from Apple's website.

Will it work like we create bootable USB in Windows using Rufus and install the windows? And once I've created the bootable USB, how can I start the setup? I want to install a fresh OS and wanted to clean the iMac completely.

Apple's method is too complicated.

I am sorry for all the questions, but I am new to the mac and don't know much about it.

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