Reinstalling old Hard Drive before giving away my old Macbook Pro 13" 2009

[Jack Orion]

Hi there,

I've just ordered a new Macbook Pro Retina 13" to replace my trusty 2009 Pro, and I'm going to give my old computer to my Dad when the new one arrives.

I upgraded the ram and hard drive on the 2009 and kept the old 250gb in an external case to use for backing up my itunes library but, as my dad won't need the 500gb drive that's currently in the computer, I thought I'd put the old one back in.

I was just trying to get my head around how I could do this - when I installed the new one I just restored from time machine but I want to give my Dad a completely fresh computer with nothing on it.

Hope you guys can help!

 

[chscag]

You're "assuming" your dad won't need a 500 GB drive, however, why not let it remain? If he doesn't need the extra space he won't use it. More space is better in any event.

If you want to give him a clean computer, make sure you remove your Apple ID and password first and then format the hard drive with your original install DVD. And then install whatever version of OS X the machine came with. Maybe Leopard or Snow Leopard depending on when it was purchased. Your dad will then have a clean machine and can upgrade it himself if so desired.