Need help with reinstalling OS

Hi everybody,

I just got a 4 year old mac book (white one) from a friend to use it.

The machine is very slow and also pretty buggy. Thats why I would like to reinstall the OS. Now I have no idea how that works with Apple. I do not have a installation cd myself. I could get one from a friend with a new mac book pro.

Is there another chance to get this done. Do they have a recovery on the HD?


Thank you for your help!!!

 

You have to use the actual restore DVD's that originally came with that Mac as they are machine specific. Using someone else's discs won't work unless they have the exact same machine. You could buy Snow Leopard from Apple ($29 US) and install it. That should work just fine.

 

So snow Leopard is their OS? And it just cksts 29USD???? Wow.

 

Ok I tried Snow Leopard. But it cant be installed on this mac. I think it is probably to old for it...

Mac Version is Mac OS X 10.5.8

All I want is a clean install with just the OS only. Isnt there another way?

Please I really need this machine to write an important paper.

Thanks everybody!

 

Snow Leopard requires at least 1GB of RAM and an Intel processor, that is it. ALL MacBook systems have Intel processors so you have that covered, you just might need to upgrade the RAM to 1GB (which shouldn't cost much at all since 1GB is a rather low amount and an older MacBook is going to use older RAM which is also less expensive).

So upgrade the RAM to 1GB and you can use Snow Leopard. You may also want to post the specs of your system since there are 3.94X10^1000 different MacBook configurations. Also make sure that you have a MacBook and not an iBook.

As previously pointed out, the only way to perform a clean install on your system is to use the DVD that came with it or to go buy Mac OS X and perform the clean install that way. Your system is running OS X Leopard (not to be confused with Snow Leopard) so you can try buying that but, from what I have come across, it is more expensive than Snow Leopard even by the time you factor in the cost of upgrading your system's RAM to 1GB. So that is why I suggest going out and buying a 1GB stick of RAM that will work with your system. You will have to lookup the information online but you should be able to easily find compatible RAM on websites such as Amazon and Newegg. You might also be able to find the RAM at Best Buy or a Microcenter (if you have one of those near you) if you don't mind paying more so you can have it now. Again, you need to lookup the specs online as not all RAM is created equally. A 1GB stick that fits in a MacBook Pro may or may not work with what you have.

 

buy a retail copy of snow leopard ($29)
put the cd in, then restart and hold the "c" key, it'll boot off the dvd. Then goto menu-> disk utility and select the hard drive, partition it with 1 partition, use GUID partition, and format.
after that, close disk utility and then install OSX onto the GUID partition drive.

note it may/should already be set to GUID and have 1 partition, in that case just click format and format the drive then install.

 

If you tried Snow Leopard from your friends disc that came with their Macbook Pro... no it will not work. A retail disc is made to install on many models, but the disc that comes with a machine will only work with that specific make/model of machine.

Leopard is Mac OS X 10.5 (what is on there) and is the highest a PPC Mac can go... so if you don't really have a MacBook and it is a iBook or Powerbook then you cannot ever go higher than 10.5

Snow Leopard is Mac OS X 10.6, it requires an Intel Processor, so any machine with "Macbook" in its name will work, but you'll need to upgrade with a retail version of the Disc you buy for $29.99.

You may want to just clean up the system a bit, it might be slow just because its old or has junk running on it and doesn't really need a reinstall.

 

Thanks for your help so far!

Well I do have 2 GB of Ram in the machine. Can I download the retail OS from somewhere? Do not really want to go to the next Apple store...

 

Honestly man, from the response you wrote from my earlier post I thought you were excited that SL only cost $29 USD. Sounds like you're doing something shady. You said you tried SL? How so? Myself including others said you can't use someone else's disc. Now you're asking us to help you illegally download it? If you have to write such an important paper I can't see why you just don't go out and buy a legitimate copy rather than doing it illegally.

 

Yeah, it seems like they tried something shady and didn't actually buy Snow Leopard as the retairl copy would have worked unless they are actully using an iBook (since the OP still refuses to give us any specs aside from having 2GB of RAM). My guess is that they torrented it or tried their friend's copy which we already said 3478678638446 times that it wouldn't work.

 

Well from the sounds he obviosly did not goto the Apple store and by Snow Leopard since he said that he didnt want to go to the Apple Store, and if it was his buddies disk from his computer it should have worked and would have already had Snow Leopard 10.6 on it and not Leopard 10.5

Sounds like he already tried to torrent it and it didnt work and for him not wanting to goto the Apple store makes it sound really really fishy.

 

Na, even if i would like to i cant dowload it...

But the electronic store is sooo far away...

 

You're officially full of it. LOL. Why ask where you can download Snow Leopard if you can't download it?

Why not just write that "important paper" you need to write (on a saturday night) from that computer you're typing from?

FYI, you can buy SL from other brick n mortar's such as Best Buy or Fry's. I think the forum has figured out what's going on here.

 

I think someone needs to go back to there old posts if there going to try to lie a little better.

 

Lol. Nope. Seriously, if i wanted to download it from torrent I would have done it long ago! I am typing on my ipad which is obviously not perfect for wriing an essay...

I was just wonderin if there was a option in the apple online store or something simlar to do that...

 

You can buy Snow Leopard from multiple places so I don't know why you keep asking these questions. You could have already driven to your local Best Buy, picked up a copy for $30, and installed it. Instead you decided to drag things out for an entire day, constantly change your story, and flat out lie. Responding with "lol" (that phrase should be illegal to say) only solidifies your ineptness for wanting to do things properly. lol.

 

You could've checked the Apple online store yourself. You didn't need a forum for that. "lol". This is my last post here. Now, onto others who really need legitimate help on the Mac forum and are not here to drag out a thread for their own pleasures or shady practices.

 

Well sorry for ghe missunderstanding and thanks for the help!