how to restore mac os x lion to factory settings without cd

How to restore mac os x lion to factory settings without cd install#
How to restore mac os x lion to factory settings without cd update#

What if you forget the reinstall Lion step during the restore process? You now have a drive with Lion installed (via your backup) but no Recovery HD partition. The reinstall creates the Recovery HD partition. This means that a Lion restore requires an extra step: Reformat, reinstall Lion, and restore. Restoring from a mirrored backup does not reinstall the Recovery HD partition. However, with Lion, a reformat typically means that you erase the Recovery HD partition. Pre-Lion, all you would need to do is reformat and restore. Further, suppose you decide that you need to reformat/repartition your internal drive before restoring from that backup.

The other alternatives here are to use either of the Internet-free methods covered in the previous section. If the system was upgraded from Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard to Lion, the external recovery drive can be used with other systems that were upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion.” Apple states: “If the computer shipped with Lion, the external recovery drive (created by Disk Assistant) can only be used with the system that created it. Once again, the 2011 Macs that ship with Lion represent a special case. If this advice is coming too late, you can redownload a copy from the Mac App Store (by holding down the Option key when selecting the Purchases tab). If you plan to use it again, save the application before it gets deleted.

How to restore mac os x lion to factory settings without cd install#

One complication here is that the Install OS X utility is moved to the Trash as part of an update/install to Lion. To do this, you’ll need a copy of the Install Mac OS X utility from the Mac App Store. The first is to set up a bootable Lion install disc. If you want to reinstall Lion without the need for an Internet connection, you have two main alternatives. Reinstalling OS X 10.7 via Recovery HD requires an Internet connection, as the installer has to both download OS X software and verify your computer’s eligibility. In such cases, you’ll have to rely on the Recovery HD option to reinstall Lion.

How to restore mac os x lion to factory settings without cd update#

They even have a separate update to Mac OS X 10.7.1. These Macs have their own separate version. The version of Install OS X Lion available from the Mac App Store will not install Lion on these Macs. To do this, you again start up from the Recovery HD partition and go directly to the Reinstall Mac OS X option.Īll of this gets still more complicated if you have one of the new Macs that come with OS X Lion preinstalled (the 2011 MacBook Air and Mac mini). If you are only concerned about corrupt system files, you may be able to skip a restore of your data and just reinstall Lion.