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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Desktop Hardware
Problem formatting old iMac
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<blockquote data-quote="pigoo3" data-source="post: 1414737" data-attributes="member: 56379"><p>You probably have a bunch of the "gray-colored" disks laying around...and as you probably found out...they don't work. They are "tailored" to work with the Mac model that they shipped with.</p><p></p><p>You could do a "trial & error" approach...assuming all of these gray disks belong to at least one of the iMacs...until you find the right match.</p><p></p><p>What you really need (to make things easy)...is a retail OS install disk. If these are older "white" iMacs they probably need an OS 10.4 or OS 10.5 install disk. If they are newer white iMac's...they probably need OS 10.5 or 10.6 (depends on the models).</p><p></p><p>The problem is these older OS install disk are no longer sold by Apple (OS 10.4 & 10.5)...and they can be expensive on e-Bay. You can still get OS 10.6 from Apple for $29 dollars.</p><p></p><p>These costs may not be worth it if your company is just getting rid of the computers...it may just be easier to just remove the hard drives...install them in an external hard drive case...and reformat/erase them via a USB cable with another working computer....and then reinstall the hard drives back into each iMac.</p><p></p><p>So to summarize...you have 3 options:</p><p></p><p>- the trial & error approach with the gray OS disks you have</p><p>- purchase the correct retail OS install disks</p><p>- remove the hard drives from each computer, erase/format them on another computer via an external case & USB cable, then reinstall the HD back into each iMac.</p><p></p><p>HTH,<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>- Nick</p><p></p><p>p.s. Of course there is a 4th option...ship all the computers to me...and I'll take care of it (and keep the computers)!<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pigoo3, post: 1414737, member: 56379"] You probably have a bunch of the "gray-colored" disks laying around...and as you probably found out...they don't work. They are "tailored" to work with the Mac model that they shipped with. You could do a "trial & error" approach...assuming all of these gray disks belong to at least one of the iMacs...until you find the right match. What you really need (to make things easy)...is a retail OS install disk. If these are older "white" iMacs they probably need an OS 10.4 or OS 10.5 install disk. If they are newer white iMac's...they probably need OS 10.5 or 10.6 (depends on the models). The problem is these older OS install disk are no longer sold by Apple (OS 10.4 & 10.5)...and they can be expensive on e-Bay. You can still get OS 10.6 from Apple for $29 dollars. These costs may not be worth it if your company is just getting rid of the computers...it may just be easier to just remove the hard drives...install them in an external hard drive case...and reformat/erase them via a USB cable with another working computer....and then reinstall the hard drives back into each iMac. So to summarize...you have 3 options: - the trial & error approach with the gray OS disks you have - purchase the correct retail OS install disks - remove the hard drives from each computer, erase/format them on another computer via an external case & USB cable, then reinstall the HD back into each iMac. HTH,:) - Nick p.s. Of course there is a 4th option...ship all the computers to me...and I'll take care of it (and keep the computers)!;) [/QUOTE]
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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Desktop Hardware
Problem formatting old iMac
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