imac setup assistant

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New to mac's and need some guidance. I came across an open box imac (2.4 GHz) at Best Buy tonight and bought it. It was supposed to have been purged/reset or whatever you call it. When I powered it up, the setup assistant didn't run and it looks like the computer is named for the original owner. So, is there a way to force setup to run so that I can name the computer and create my account? Doesn't look like there is any data so I was wondering if reinstalling from the setup discs is a better option? Sorry, probably a very basic question but..... Thanks in advance!
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15.4" 2.4g, 4gb Ram | iPod Touch 8GB
setup from the original setup disc's is probably your best option, and will truly make it yours. when bestbuy resells them, they only require the original owner to remove any personal information, but that doesn't always happen.
a clean install is probably what you want to do.
 
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It's always a good idea to do a fresh install on a used/demo computer.
You never know what the previous user has put on it.
 
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Hope I did this right! The imac came with two install discs. When disc 1 was put in, it showed the previous owners name and wanted the administrator password that I didn't have. Restarted the computer and held the "c" key and was able to change the password. Now if I do the fresh install, will it erase the original owners info, passwords etc? When it restarts will setup assistant run so I can create my own name and account? Thanks!
 
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It will if you do an erase and install, or clean install. Don't do an archive and install, you'll be right back where you started.
A clean install will erase everything on the drive and install a new system.
 
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cradom....don't recall being given the option of erase vs archive....but whatever it is doing is taking a while. Probably took an hour or two for disc 1 and haven't gotten to disc 2 yet. Sound right?

Love the Foxworthy quote!
 
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Shouldn't take that long...depends on your computer.
In the installer, just before you hit the install button, there should also be an Options button. That is where you specify Erase and install or Archive and install.
Or, when the installer starts up, in the menu bar, select Disk Utility, and erase the drive with that. Then install.
 
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Got it....worked great. Thanks very much for the help!

Still lovin the quote!
 
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I change it every once in a while...stay tuned.....

Glad you got it sorted out.
 

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