

The system should eventually boot into the installer, where you first must choose a language. Hold down the ‘c’ key as soon as you hear the chime, then let go when you see the Apple logo.
#Iphoto for mac 10.6.3 mac os x
If you plan to install Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6), or any previous system, insert the appropriate Mac OS X install disc and restart the computer. Note that, for the purposes of these instructions, I will assume that you have a backup clone (ie, an exact copy of your hard drive’s current state) made with something like Carbon Copy Cloner.Īlso, note that if you’re running Lion or later (Mac OS X 10.7 and up), before making that clone backup, it would be extremely helpful if you were to run the following command in the Terminal (to make sure your user Library folder is visible on your backup): chflags nohidden ~/Library Step 2: Erase the hard drive I highly recommend Time Machine to back up to one hard drive or a Time Capsule, and Carbon Copy Cloner to back up to one or more additional hard drives. Before erasing the hard drive, make sure you have a minimum of two completely separate backups, on completely separate media, and preferably made with two different backup programs. That’s an extremely vulnerable state to be in. If you only have one backup, remember that when you erase your hard drive, those backups become the one-and-only copy of your data. So how do you do it right? Most importantly, make redundant backups.

You must do it right, or you will risk losing data. However, any time you propose erasing your primary data storage, it becomes critical. Step 1: Back up!īacking up your data is something you should be doing on a regular basis – every single day, for most people. Fortunately, there are some easy steps you can take to do the job right.īefore I start, note that if you are trying to get the machine ready to sell, you should follow some slightly different directions. Further, if you do the job wrong, whatever problem you’re trying to solve may not even be solved. The possibility of data loss looms any time you erase your primary hard drive. Regardless of the reason, this is not something to be undertaken lightly. April 11th, 2013 at 11:11 AM EDT, modifiedįor whatever reason, you have decided that you want to reinstall the system from scratch, restoring your machine to an “out-of-the-box” state.
