Help me kill and resurrect my '08 13"?

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Okay, so if this is a common question I apologize, but I searched several variations of my question and don't believe i know the proper terms.

I have an early '08 white 13" macbook that has become quite buggy (10.7.5).

What I want is to wipe my macbook as completely as possible, then restore it to a 'barebones' back-up of my files.

I would do this using a bootable USB with 10.7.5 on it.

Q1 What would be the most thorough way to return my laptop to 'fresh from factory' state?

Q2 Would I be able to back up my files to the same USB I'm using to boot the OSX?

Q3 what's the most minimalist way to save all my files?
 
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Factory fresh would be earlier than OS X.7 Lion. It originally came with leopard OS X.5.2. You say a bootable USB do you mean a USB thumb drive or a USB external hard drive? If the latter clone the internal to the external using SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner, boot from the external, go into Disk Utility, select the interior boot drive and run Erase and format Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then simply clone from the external to the internal.
 
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chas_m

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If I might make a suggestion: that MacBook is pretty old, RAM limited, has a terrible video chipset and so forth. Putting Lion on it was, IMHO, a mistake.

I would suggest ordering a copy of Snow Leopard from Apple ($20) and installing that. As for your own stuff, I'd suggest using Snow Leopard's Migration Assistant (which will run automatically when you first boot from it after its installed on the wiped HD) and use that to restore your stuff and apps and so forth from your backup (either Time Machine or a cloned copy as mentioned by Harry above).

Trying to get a copy of Lion (very difficult now), create a USB bootable version of it, etc is probably going to put your right back where you are. For that machine, Snow Leopard is the best OS option IMHO. PS. If you haven't done so already, I'd also suggest maxing out the RAM on that machine, which I think will be 3.3GB (2x2B, it can't see the full 4GB) or just 3GB (1x1GB module, 1x2GB module).

And start saving for your next machine ... that one isn't going to hang on in terms of usefulness too much longer.
 
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You say a bootable USB do you mean a USB thumb drive or a USB external hard drive?

I mean thumb drive.




I would suggest ordering a copy of Snow Leopard from Apple ($20) and installing that

Yeah, I noticed the reductions in speed and stability when i upgraded. I was condiering doing this, thanks for reaffirming.


PS. If you haven't done so already, I'd also suggest maxing out the RAM on that machine, which I think will be 3.3GB (2x2B, it can't see the full 4GB) or just 3GB (1x1GB module, 1x2GB module).

Been done for years, and it can actually recognize 4 GB (as shown in 'about this mac')

And start saving for your next machine ... that one isn't going to hang on in terms of usefulness too much longer.

I'm tempter to throw an ssd in this guy.

Okay so if I go back to snow leopard will I not be about to go the USB thumb route? What should I save my files on?
 
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Despite Apple saying 4GB that model will actually handle 6GB. Check it out with a handy little application called MacTracker.
 

pigoo3

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Regarding running Snow Leopard or Lion on an '08 MacBook. I have a 2.4ghz 2008 Macbook, I'm running Lion on it...and it runs super! The main "trick" is to have at least 4gig of ram in it.

When I first got it (OS 7.5)...it had 2gig of ram...and there were some speed issues. But after upgrading it to 4gig...it ran great (e-mail, internet, You Tube videos run smooth, light gaming, etc.).

- Nick
 

chscag

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Despite Apple saying 4GB that model will actually handle 6GB. Check it out with a handy little application called MacTracker.

Harry is correct. I owned that exact model MacBook before selling it several years ago and it will indeed hold and "see" 6 GB. I don't know where chas_m is getting his info from about it only seeing 3.3 GB? He is correct about the graphics though (Intel GMA X3100).

That machine will run Lion but as chas pointed out, Snow Leopard is a much better choice. An SSD will also improve the speed if you're willing to spend the money on one for that old a machine. Frankly, I would just replace the hard drive with a 7200 RPM fairly large drive which you can get for less than half the price of a small SSD.
 
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chas_m

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My mistake, I thought 2008 MacBooks couldn't see more than 3.3GB. Thanks for the correction, gents!
 

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