Macbook Pro Factory Reset Problem

[Lautermilch]

I work in a pawn shop and we have a Macbook Pro that a customer did not want. I looked up the factory restore procedure and did the first step of formatting. But when I get to the install via the drive or the web restore, I get the request for a valid Apple ID that bought Lion. Anyway around this and if money who can do it and how much should it be?

 

[pigoo3]

What's happening is…in order to do the reinstall of the OS…the computer is asking for the Apple ID and/or password that the computer is associated with. The previous owner probably purchased the Lion OS from the Mac App Store…so the computer is simply verifying the previous owners info before starting the process (since Lion is a download OS).

The solution to the problem is (for a different owner)…is purchasing the OS version that someone wants to install. Depending on the computer model…this could be:

- 10.6 Snow Leopard (on disk) = $19.99
- 10.7 Lion (download) = $19.99
- 10.8 Mountain Lion (download) = $19.99
- 10.9 Mavericks (download) = Free
- 10.10 Yosemite (download) = Free

The problem is…none of the downloadable OS versions can be downloaded until the computer has access to the Mac App Store. Which requires 10.6.6 or later. So if no OS is on the computer…the process must start with a 10.6 disk (if the computer is old enough to run 10.6). If the computer is too new for 10.6…then you could try "Internet Recovery"…which should install the OS version that originally came with the computer:

OS X: About OS X Recovery

HTH,

- Nick