I’m preparing to reinstall a Mac soon for the very first time and here are some questions I have:
- Does the installation know the model number and serial number of my Mac?
- Is there a serial number for the installation to be “active”?
- Is there a Mac-equivalent of “Windows Genuine Advantage”?
- Does it matter that I’m using a copy of a genuine Mac OSX disc to do the installation? Will I run into any problems that I should know about?
- Do I need to be connected to the internet while installing the OS? Or more importantly, does the installation try to contact Apple during the installation process?
- Is there an option during the install process where I can choose to completely wipe out my hdd and do a clean installation rather that “fixing” the installation and keeping all of my current settings (assuming that I’ve already done backup of my data)?
- What the hell is packed into 7GB+ of this dual-layer operating system disc that requires it to be that big???????
- Is there really a limit to how many times I can install/re-install OSX on my computer (somebody told me this)?
If you can answer any of these questions, that’d be awesome. THANKS!
As far as I know, the only problem I’ve gotten into is that you have to reinstall the OS X that came with your computer, ie. I had ‘Tiger’ and I tried installing ‘Leopard’ and wouldn’t let me do it. I had to install Tiger than upgrade (using a copied DVD)
Otherwise, there’s no serial that I had to enter, no limit on how many installs you can do, none of the Windows bs whenever I’ve done it.
You can do a complete wipe of the system.
It doesn’t need to contact Apple if you “don’t have internet available”. It asks you to connect to WiFi, but you can prevent it from clicking.
Yea, dont worry theres nothing that checks if its a real copy or not.
You can still update and everything. Apple doesnt have serial numbers and stuff, because you cant really install it on anything other then an apple.
Yep, there’s no “Windows Genuine Advantage” check for Mac. I just finished reinstalling Leopard again for my Mac. It really doesn’t matter if you use the genuine Mac install disk or not, just make sure you’re able to download the genuine image off the internet. I left my install disk back at school so I downloaded the image, load it onto an external and install from there. They don’t check for your Mac model, at least I don’t think so I’m sure they’re all the same. Actually when I installed Leopard, my function keys on top like the volume and LCD brightness keys were messed up I’m guessing I downloaded an older version on the install disk but I was able to quickly fix that with the Apple updates and no there is no serial for the Mac install disk. Haha if you don’t have a blank dual layer disk like me, you can just find an 8gb external that you don’t mind wiping and transferring the image onto that, the install process would be much faster anyway. I don’t know about the limited amount of time you can install Leopard. Last but not least, you should wait a bit since Snow Leopard is coming out soon haha :).
great!
wow this is good. this is exactly what i was looking for the whole day! i was afraid that i might not be able to reformat my mac again cause my i only have the copy of the installer. i have a 2nd hand macbook. the original owner just gave me a copy of the installer. i just hope that it would really work.
anyway, i have another question: HOW DO YOU MAKE A COPY OF THE INSTALLER THAT YOU HAVE? cause when i open the disc as a folder, it only shows that it contains only 400mb of files. i can’t see why the whole dual dvd thing (8gb) should be a requirement. i hope that you can help me. thanks.