how do i restore my mini?

[acrahm]

i am selling my mini to a friend and want to restore it like the way it came from apple, i.e. first time you turn it on you do all the settings (lanuage, internet connection, registration etc)

how do i do this?

 

[Nukemkb]

if memory serves, put in the install disk, hit restart and hold down the C key...someone correct me if wrong

 

[acrahm]

when you say "C" do you mean control command or the letter "c"?

 

[Nukemkb]

letter C...been a while but it should work ok...give it a try!

 

[acrahm]

no luck i restart the mini, hold C as soon as the screen comes on but it still comes back to the same stuff. any suggestions?

 

[Nukemkb]

with the disk 1 in the optical drive?

 

[acrahm]

yup

 

[emt1]

Then you're doing it wrong. Hold down C IMMEDIATELY after turning on the computer with the disk in the drive. Continue holding it down until you see the Apple. You will have to reinstall OS X to get it back to how it was when you bought it.

 

[ADent]

Put in DVD. Go to System Preferences. Open Startup Disk. Select the DVD.

Or put in DVD and select install the OS - it will reboot on its own.

 

[pacmania1982]

Don't forget you can only use the restore media that came with your Mac, i.e. you can't use an iMac restore DVD to restore a Mac mini, especially if its an Intel iMac's media.

You could also try putting the DVD in your Mac mini, restart, as soon as you hear the chime, hold down the option key. (The one to the left of the Command key (the one with the Apple on it)) Keep it held down until you see a boot screen similar to the one below. Note the Windows partition won't show on a G4 Mac mini (this was all I could find on images.google.com) but instead should show a CD icon.

If it doesn't work, then perhaps try booting the media on another computer (yes it will complain that it won't work on this model of the Mac but at least you know the media isn't hosed). If you have another G4 or G5 Mac, try starting the Mac mini up in Target Disk Mode with a firewire cable connected between the two and doing a remote install?

Hope some of this helps

pac