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Wipe my iMac without a disc

I have a late 2009 iMac that I am trying to wipe clean to sell.

I no longer have the disk it came with.

Can I create a bootable USB drive to do this?

I created a bootable disk of High Sierra (the oldest OS I could find).

When I restart and hold down the option key and then select the jump drive I just get the grey "no entry" symbol.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Mar 13, 2020 7:15 PM

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Posted on Mar 13, 2020 7:31 PM

Yes, a bootable USB drive should work, and High Sierra should work on a late 2009 iMac.

Did you follow the instructions here for creating that bootable USB installer?

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

If High Sierra doesn't get the job done, try Sierra or El Capitan. The instructions for those bootable is linked in the same document above.


note- "Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6"

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 13, 2020 7:31 PM in response to acedj1

Yes, a bootable USB drive should work, and High Sierra should work on a late 2009 iMac.

Did you follow the instructions here for creating that bootable USB installer?

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

If High Sierra doesn't get the job done, try Sierra or El Capitan. The instructions for those bootable is linked in the same document above.


note- "Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6"

Mar 14, 2020 8:38 AM in response to acedj1

"A circle with a line or slash through it means that the selected startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a macOS that your Mac can use. You should reinstall macOS on that disk." - Apple Support


When you restart you Mac, press and hold the Option key until the startup disk choices appear. If the usb installer doesn't appear then you'll have to redo the installer using the link in my previous post.


Please also look at a couple other options you have when restarting the Mac:

Command (⌘)-R to reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac (recommended).

OR

Shift-Option-⌘-R to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.


See more about these options here:

How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support



Mar 14, 2020 5:37 PM in response to babowa

Holding down the option gets me to the screen pictured below.

However, when I click on "Install macOS High Sierra" it just goes back to that no entry screen.

It looks like the only option I have left is to track down a OS DVD.

Is there a way to download it from Apple and burn it onto a disc? Or put it on a jump drive?

Mar 14, 2020 6:50 PM in response to acedj1

Unfortunately not. Apple stopped making install DVDs available with 10.6 Snow Leopard (that was the last OS on DVD); the following 10.7 (Lion) was the first to be available via download only. The Apple store just recently stopped offering it and I do not know of any available anywhere. You could call the Apple store and ask if there is a chance they still have some - it's version 10.6.3.



Wipe my iMac without a disc

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