Confused on Steps to Take when Giving Away My Mac

Am getting a new macbook pro and giving my current mid 2012 macbook pro to my granddaughter. I have the steps down for what to do with the mbp that I am giving away thru the Erase Hard Drive step but am confused about... do I reinstall the operating system this mid 2012 came with or the current up to date version that is on it, El Capitan? and do I initially start (before I even do the erase hard drive step) with Command R or Command Option R to do both the erase step and install of the operating system.

I am an older retired person and have no trouble using a computer and learning new programs but the technical details of fixing the computer scare me and I am so afraid that I am going to get this mid 2012 (that I have had -0- problems with) into a big mess and at worst unusable because I don't know how to fix what I messed up!!! If someone can please type the correct steps that I need to take, whether Command R or Command Option R) thru the process, I would be so grateful!

You can use the CMD-R method to re-install El Capitan on the computer, when it is about to reboot just turn it off. The next time your granddaughter powers it on, it will go through the new user process and allow her to configure it for her use. The only caveat with this is that El Capitan was downloaded using your Apple ID and as such if she wants to re-install or do any sort of recovery whereby she wants to access El Capitan again, she'd have use your Apple ID and not hers.

One way around this is to install the original OS that your computer came with and then allow your granddaughter to install El Capitan using her credentials or grab a copy of El Capitan and make a installer on a USB Flash drive and give it to her.

Raz0rEdge said:

You can use the CMD-R method to re-install El Capitan on the computer, when it is about to reboot just turn it off. The next time your granddaughter powers it on, it will go through the new user process and allow her to configure it for her use. The only caveat with this is that El Capitan was downloaded using your Apple ID and as such if she wants to re-install or do any sort of recovery whereby she wants to access El Capitan again, she'd have use your Apple ID and not hers.

One way around this is to install the original OS that your computer came with and then allow your granddaughter to install El Capitan using her credentials or grab a copy of El Capitan and make a installer on a USB Flash drive and give it to her.

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Thank you for your quick response. I think the easiest thing for me to do is re-install the operating system it came with, Mountain Lion and then let her upgrade to El Capitan under her Apple ID, she has one. So then back to my original question, do I use Command R or Command Option R and do I use it before I even erase the drive? And according to what i have read on the internet as to the correct steps, before I even do the Command R or Cmd Opt , I am to sign out of my Apple ID. And if I do install the original OS back, will she have to pay to upgrade to El Capitan? Don't want to use a USB drive, she can get El Capitan even if she has to pay for it.

Perhaps a checklist will help to ensure that you don't miss any steps..

If you are going to install Mountain Lion, you should go into iTunes and under Purchases you will see the Mountain Lion image. Use the link in my previous post to create a installer with this image. Then boot with the USB flash and go through the erase and re-install cycle. Now when your granddaughter starts the machine it will be on Mountain Lion, using her Apple ID she can grab the El Capitan installer, which is free, and do the upgrade.

Im sorry, I am not trying to not listen to you or be difficult, but i don't have a USB Flash Drive and wouldn't know what to do with one if I did. You have to understand I am 69 yo and don't speak technical language. I don't even know what 'boot' means. I do understand the Apple steps for what to do when you sell a mac but just don't know whether to use Command R or Command Option R to erase and reinstall what originally came with this mid 2012 Mac. It was a refurbished model when I got it in January 2013 and Apple sent it loaded with Mountain Lion, the current OS at the time. Whether originally the mid 2012 came with ML, IDK. Whether it did or not, getting it back to what it originally came with, seems to be the easiest to me. As far as I understand, whatever that original OS was can be upgraded to El Capitan. But just need to know, what is best, start with Cmd R or Cmd, Option R? Trying to get that right so best chance that I don't mess anything up.

Do CMD-R, erase the hard drive, and install El Capitan.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#erase

MacWannabeNTX said:

Im sorry, I am not trying to not listen to you or be difficult, but i don't have a USB Flash Drive and wouldn't know what to do with one if I did. You have to understand I am 69 yo and don't speak technical language. I don't even know what 'boot' means.

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Firstly let me say that whenever you have a question about almost any topic…one of the first things you can & should do is an internet search (use Google for example). "God helps those who help themselves"! I probably do this 20+ times/day for various questions or curiosities I have.

Of course internet forums are great too. But you shouldn't rely on internet forums 100% for answers. Sometimes answers to questions take a while to get…while you're at home twiddling the thumbs. Pursue answers & information on your own as well.

Second. We have lots of folks in their 60's and 70's as members on Mac-Forums who are very knowledgeable. And many of these folks are not computing or electronics professionals. So please don't let age be a crutch or a barrier to learning new things.

MacWannabeNTX said:

I do understand the Apple steps for what to do when you sell a mac but just don't know whether to use Command R or Command Option R to erase and reinstall what originally came with this mid 2012 Mac.

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Third. Use command + r!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Firstly let me say that whenever you have a question about almost any topic…one of the first things you can & should do is an internet search (use Google for example). "God helps those who help themselves"! I probably do this 20+ times/day for various questions or curiosities I have.

Of course internet forums are great too. But you shouldn't rely on internet forums 100% for answers. Sometimes answers to questions take a while to get…while you're at home twiddling the thumbs. Pursue answers & information on your own as well.

Second. We have lots of folks in their 60's and 70's as members on Mac-Forums who are very knowledgeable. And many of these folks are not computing or electronics professionals. So please don't let age be a crutch or a barrier to learning new things.



Third. Use command + r!

- Nick

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Thank you all for responding to me. I always research before asking on forums but the internet was what caused my confusion. I was understanding the steps to erase and reinstall using the Command R and at the bottom of the info it said 'Option - use Command Option R to reinstall what OS came on your Mac' without an explanation as to which type of command was best. And I do try to not let my age hinder learning my 'toys' i.e. my iPad, my Mac, my Smart television Apps/Receiver but I am a user only and there are some terms that I am not familiar with. I do learn but it is not second nature since I didn't grow up with it. But thank you all again, I will use Command R and reinstall El Capitan and hope I am successful.

The only issue with giving it to her with El Capitan on it is it will be using your Apple Store account. Going with Mountain Lion would be the best choice. If you can download the Mountain Lion installer from the App Store I can find you a tutorial of how to make either a Flash drive installer or other ways to install. It's easy with the instructions and she can upgrade to EC with her own Apple account.

I just bought a used but mint 13" Macbook like yours and it came with El Capitan installed. I was unable to update apps, log into my apple account in the app store and get my applications. I ended up doing Command+R and erasing the drive and then putting in my El Capitan Flash drive and re-installing and give it my apple account and it works great!

Sorry for being such a pest. I was reviewing back thru my notes that caused my confusion in the first place. I read that it is not correct to re-install El Capitan because it was upgraded to that OS using my Apple ID and so will cause problems when my granddaughter sets up the Mac using her Apple ID.
Sooo, if one of the first things to do when preparing a Mac for give away is to sign out of your Apple ID (among other things to do) then the last thing in preparing for this give away is to erase and re-install, how could I even re-install El Capitan if I have already signed out of my Apple ID.
BUT there are no written steps for how to perform the whole process correctly (after signing out of your Apple ID) when selling/giving away a Mac on Apple's website just an option of using Command Option R down at the bottom of the steps to perform erase and re-install current OS you had on your Mac before all this sale preparation.

ETA: was composing this message while dtravis7 was posting. Is there no way to just use this mid 2012 map itself to get all this accomplished and leave out a flash drive. Can I use Command Option R, erase the hard drive and reinstall Mountain Lion and then let her take it from there and upgrade to El Capitan after she sets up the mbp with her apple id? I mean will I have a mess by doing it this way?

MacWannabeNTX said:

Sooo, if one of the first things to do when preparing a Mac for give away is to sign out of your Apple ID (among other things to do) then the last thing in preparing for this give away is to erase and re-install, how could I even re-install El Capitan if I have already signed out of my Apple ID.

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I think that the consensus opinion in this thread was NOT to reinstall El Capitan (but to install the original OS…Mountain Lion). So the reinstall El Capitan question is moot.

MacWannabeNTX said:

BUT there are no written steps for how to perform the whole process correctly (after signing out of your Apple ID) when selling/giving away a Mac on Apple's website just an option of using Command Option R down at the bottom of the steps to perform erase and re-install current OS you had on your Mac before all this sale preparation.

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Did you carefully review the link (Apple document) that was provided above? Which specifically mentions the things to do prior selling or giving away your Mac computer. Within that Apple document…there are further links on how to accomplish each step. Here's the link again:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065

- Nick

Yes, I did look at the link and all the further links within it. And I am still confused but I think I will just have to try it. I am going to log out of all that is suggested on Apple's website. Go into Disk Utility and erase the hard drive, get out of that, turn off and turn back on using Command, Option R and go from there installing whatever original os it suggests. My mbp sits right next to the modem so I hope when it has to find my network in the internet recovery procedure it does.

MacWannabeNTX said:

My mbp sits right next to the modem so I hope when it has to find my network in the internet recovery procedure it does.

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Good deal & good luck. I've done this many times…and Internet recovery works fine.

- Nick

Keep us posted on how it goes and if you run into issues. Good luck!

dtravis7 said:

Keep us posted on how it goes and if you run into issues. Good luck!

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I did this overnight and it looks successful!!! I have a Welcome screen ready for her to start the setup with selecting correct country. It is a dreary looking welcome screen with a linen background and grey, not meaning greyed out, just everything is shades of grey. I thought it was beautiful tho.mI guess that pretty colorful Mountain Lion will show after she completes setup.
For anyone in the future researching these steps. You must start with Command R to get to the utilitiy screen where you can pick Disk Utility and erase. Mac Extended Journaled is already selected by default. That final hard drive step to erase takes about as long as it does to erase a photo, guess I was expecting it to take longer. Quit out of that then and shut down.
You can then hold down Command, Option, R, power up and get that spinning world globe which then took 18 minutes to connect to Apples servers, there was a progress bar showing that countdown. Not bad, I thought.
Installation of Mountain Lion took 5 hours but was very straightforward, I had no hiccups. My new Mac arrives today. I am doing a clean setup did not want to transfer any junk in case there was any. Thanks again for your help.

Glad everything went swimmingly on its own..and enjoy your new Mac!

Thank you for great information. I bought a MacBook Pro mid12 and needed this info. Unfortunately the download I needed was El Capiton not Lion.

jnpj3839, welcome back! Only two posts in years! You have to visit more.

I'm not sure what the problem is for you. El Capitan is the version currently in the Mac App Store, so you can download it anytime with your AppleID. As long as your system will support ElCap, it will download.

jnpj3839 said:

Thank you for great information. I bought a MacBook Pro mid12 and needed this info. Unfortunately the download I needed was El Capiton not Lion.

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Yes...like MacInWin mentioned. If you need El Capitan. Just download it...and install it. It's free.

- Nick