Early 2009 iMAC 20" problem

[Galaxybr8]

Hi All!

Im new to the forum so I hope Im posting this on the right part here.

I have a problem with an Early 2009 iMAC that was gifted to me a few days ago. My friend wiped the hard drive completely and told me that I could just go to the app store, make an ID , password and get the OS I needed for this unit.

Well I'm living the 7th circle of hell trying to get an OS for this thing.
I power up the machine and press cmd+r as he told me to. When I try to get El Capitan
I get an error message saying "This apple ID has yet to be used with the app store"
I've browsed several online forums and found a lot of information. Some say folks can buy
10.5 Leopard off Ebay and install that , then download El Capitan afterwards.
Then I see people saying that you have to physically 'BUY' something from the appstore
so that Apple appstore will recognize your ID and password, thus allowing you to download
the aforementioned OS.

After reading I became pretty confused, and decided to call the support number.
The support person I talked to basically told me that I needed to take my iMAC to
and authorized dealer and have them install the OS for me. Which I personally think is a
huge crock of ****.

I downloaded iTunes on my windows notebook, and tried to "Buy" a song form iTunes thinking
that I could use my ID and password thus opening up my account so to speak so I can download El Capitan.
I get the same message "This apple ID has yet to be used with the app store" So, Im lost.
I have a pretty decent mac. it looks brand new.But to me its a pretty nice boat anchor.
Someone please tell me what I can do to get an OS on this thing.

Any and all help and guidance will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time

Galaxybr8

 

[Ledgem]

The AppleID issue is a weird one. I take it you don't have any other Apple devices - no iPhone, iPad, or iPod?

I wouldn't buy Leopard or Snow Leopard from eBay. Surely you can find an image and burn it yourself, or possibly make it a bootable USB volume, and install that way. Apple no longer sells it directly, so it's technically not piracy. That's probably your fastest and easiest way to get past this step.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Apple Online sell Snow Leopard OS X.6 system install DVD for US$19.99 and suggest you purchase it there and get free postage. Much better than pirating it and getting who lnows what added as a little 'bundle of joy'.


https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

 

[Galaxybr8]

Hi Ledgem, No I dont have any apple devices in my home/ Thanks for the reply
Just curious, would I download an .iso .dmg file and how do I make a bootable flash drive?
I know it sounds stupid but I've never made a bootable anything ever!


Thanks ,

Galaxybr8

 

[Galaxybr8]

Hi @nambuccaheadsau.. I can buy the snow leopard on or around the first. So I what, just put the cd in and go from there or what? Will it offer to partition my HDD? And .. Thanks for the link!!

Galaxybr8

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Pop in the CD, restart and hold down C as soon as it chimes and it should boot the the DVD. Then you can go to Disk utility, format the drive Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and partition GUID. Do the install. When it is finished and you have updated to OS X.6.8 using software update, you can goagain to Disk Utility booting from the DVD and start your partitions.

 

[Galaxybr8]

Thanks! Snow Leopard arrived today and Im already upgrading to El Capitan.. Thanks for all the help folks!

Thanks !

Galaxybr8