Problemes formating MacBook Pro

[Mathias Kanne]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying for formate my old Macbook as I have bought a new one and want to sell the old one. I start up the computer while holding down command + r to as instructions describe, but when I do so the only thing that happens is that I get this screen:



From here nothing else happens - any suggestions to what I might be doing wrong or what causes this?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Several things can cause that issue, so we'll need a little more info:

-Which exact model of MacBook Pro and did it come with install discs?
-Which version of OS X is installed on it currently?
-Does it have Internet connectivity - Ethernet or Wi-Fi?
-Have you tried Option-booting to see if there is a Recovery partition present that way?

Depending on the answers, we can try and troubleshoot with you.

C

 

[Mathias Kanne]

After I read your post I tried Option-booting and I have now managed to solve the problem - thank you for your help!

 

[honestone]

Glad to see your issue is resolved, Mathias. And, once again, Superman Cory Cooper comes through! I don't know what we'd do without him. He definitely deserves all our kudos!

I would like to add that it would be good (and strongly recommended) that you start doing backups (if you are not already). There is Time Machine, which is good, but it does not make a bootable backup for quick, instant recovery. For such bootable backups (actually a clone of your system at that point in time), you can use either SuperDuper! ("free" version available), or Carbon Copy Cloner. Either of them are well reviewed, and do an admirable job.