My 2011 MacBook Pro crashed. Hard. Not even a startup chime. Black screen. Worked two nights ago, was dead the next morning. Apple was no help at all - but that's okay. It is an older machine. I have a 2008 MacBook Pro that I managed to resurrect - sort of. I had Mavericks on a USB stick and managed to boot the machine. Figured I'd install the system on a 2.5" drive, copy files I need and proceed. Booted the USB with Command-R. Disks show up fine. I selected the target drive. clicked install, and the nightmare begins. Apple wants my Apple ID and password. Never mind that Apple is notorious for making sure you can't use a memorable password - I don't even remember my Apple ID because I kept it in a text file on the Mac that died. So I create a new Apple ID and password and enter them. I click "sign in" and I get a message, "This Apple ID has net yet been used with the App Store". Well, duh! I had to create it just to install the software on the USB stick I just booted from!! But all is not lost - there's a "Review" button which, in a SANE world might take me to a page that will let me chant whatever magical incantations Apple demands before I can proceed to recover my data. Except, on clicking the button, I get dumped right back to the page where one selects the install target, and upon selecting the drive again, I wind up back in App Store! Questions: 1: If I don't have my Apple ID, how am I supposed to download the right OS? 2: If I create a NEW Apple ID, and it works elsewhere (say, to post on the Apple forum), why doesn't it work in the App Store? 3: When I click "Review" - why am I not taken somewhere that I can "review" (and presumable make some change) to the account to get it to work? 4:What's the fix?
It gets worse! I rebooted and went to the App store. If I sign in, I get the same message. "This Apple ID has not yet been used with the App Store". When I click "Review" I get a "welcome to the App Store" page. When I click continue, I get the Apple lawyers page (Terms and Conditions). After I click through that, I'm taken to the "Edit Apple ID Details" page - which PRE-FILLS my email address, but when I fill out the rest of the page, generates an error message telling me that the email address is not available...
So if I sign in, I'm told I need to review my account information. Apparently, I can't use the same email address because it's already assigned (to ME!)
6: Why does Apple send someone to a "review" page where there's no way to "fix" the account?
Just to be clear, here's how I think this should all work:
Plug in the USB and select the target for the system install. Wait a few minutes. Done. A brand new system installed. If there are applicable updates, click updates, wait some more and Done!
To recover files, connect the Time Machine, select the target drive to restore files, elect which version to restore from. Click "go", go to bed, wake up the next morning with a full reinstall on the selected drive.
Any help in getting closer to how it "should" be would be greatly appreciated.
It gets worse! I rebooted and went to the App store. If I sign in, I get the same message. "This Apple ID has not yet been used with the App Store". When I click "Review" I get a "welcome to the App Store" page. When I click continue, I get the Apple lawyers page (Terms and Conditions). After I click through that, I'm taken to the "Edit Apple ID Details" page - which PRE-FILLS my email address, but when I fill out the rest of the page, generates an error message telling me that the email address is not available...
So if I sign in, I'm told I need to review my account information. Apparently, I can't use the same email address because it's already assigned (to ME!)
6: Why does Apple send someone to a "review" page where there's no way to "fix" the account?
Just to be clear, here's how I think this should all work:
Plug in the USB and select the target for the system install. Wait a few minutes. Done. A brand new system installed. If there are applicable updates, click updates, wait some more and Done!
To recover files, connect the Time Machine, select the target drive to restore files, elect which version to restore from. Click "go", go to bed, wake up the next morning with a full reinstall on the selected drive.
Any help in getting closer to how it "should" be would be greatly appreciated.