Trying to Reinstall After Erasing Disk to Free Space

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Level 1

4 points

Trying to Reinstall After Erasing Disk to Free Space

I’ve got an older Mac Desktop (2009-2014) that was using its latest software version Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10 I’ve done every step as to erasing and restarting. But when I get to this step in trying to install OS X into Macintosh HD, I run into an issue of 403 error forbidden after being prompted for me to Sign in with Apple ID in which I have and I’m stuck with this error, any help would be appreciated. I just want to use the same software with a clean disk. Now I can’t even use my computer.

Posted on Aug 30, 2025 11:35 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

66,686 points

Sep 1, 2025 04:19 PM in response to 0LeMau

The only other way to reinstall macOS is to create a bootable macOS USB installer using another working Mac that is compatible with an OS your "broken" Mac can run.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

If your Mac came with gray OS restoration DVDs, then you can use restoration DVD to reinstall macOS. It needs to be OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in order to install/upgrade to later versions of macOS. If the restoration DVD is not 10.6.x, then you will need to use the retail OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD instead. Even with 10.6 installed, you will need another computer to download the macOS 10.11 El Capitan installer so you can transfer the installer to it.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

66,686 points

Aug 31, 2025 12:01 PM in response to 0LeMau

Try booting into Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R instead which should prevent the need to authenticate with your AppleID to verify your purchase of the OS (even if it was a free upgrade).

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