Help instal new operating system

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I have a 2009 macbook pro and I would like to absolutely wipe it clean and start again how ever I have lost the installation discs that came with it. Does anyone know how I can do this please? I have upgraded the os constantly but do not have the original disks. Can I buy them anywhere on line?
 
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chas_m

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It is very unlikely that you would find *exactly* the same model's discs, so I'd suggest a simpler solution would be to call Apple and order (for $20) a retail copy of Snow Leopard, which your 2009 MBP should be able to run.

Use the disc to wipe the hard drive and install the OS, update it to 10.6.8 then go forward from there. Your machine should be able to run all the way up to Mountain Lion (mine does) and support up to 8GB RAM, possibly more.
 
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Hi Do I have to make sure that I get the utilities disk also? I can buy one on ebay you see.
 
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chas_m

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Nope the Snow Leopard DVD was self-contained and included all the applications apart from iLife (which you'll need to buy separately unless you've bought them from the Mac App Store before, in which case they'll be a free re-download.

The one on Ebay will likely not work because its probably not the retail Snow Leopard DVD. But on the off chance that it is, I'd be quite surprised someone selling it for less than Apple so what's the point?
 

bobtomay

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Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
What is the current version of OS X you are running?

If you're running 10.7 or 10.8, just re-download it, wipe the drive and then install that - no reason to go back to a previous version and then go through all the upgrades again.
 
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I am running the very latest in the App store. Would you be able to tell me how to do that though please? I thought you needed disks to do a fresh install
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini i5 (2014 High Sierra), iPhone X, Apple Watch, iPad Pro 12.9, AppleTV (4)
If you're running OSX Lion or Mountain Lion (10.7 or 10.8) - Click the Apple symbol top left then About this Mac to check you have two options:
1. Hold CMD + R on boot to access the recovery partition. From you you can download and install a fresh copy
2. Open the Mac App store - go to purchased. Hold option and you'll be able to re-download Lion or Mountain (whichever you bought). Once that's done use LionDiskMaker to create a DVD or USB installer
 
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this maybe a stupid question but can I use liondiskmaker first? I am not sure what I will be doing when holding the CMD + R
 
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You can use either option. No need to do both. So yes. Always good to have a physical disc anyway. You'll need that should the hard disk ever fail etc.
 

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