Help: Need to reinstall osx 10.6.8 not working

[neale]

Hi i am new to forum and in desperate need of help. Tried to restore os x 10.6.8 to factory settings by holding option on start up, holding command+r on start up and inserting os disk and holding c on start up and none of these would take me into the right place, mac just kept starting up as normal. Took someones advice by creating a new admin account and erasing the old one but (stupidly) didn't back up and now half my apps are gone and replaced by question marks on my tool bar. I have no clue why i can't get into the system backdoor on startup. I am using an imac with bluetooth keyboard/mouse. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[neale]

Basically i need to restore to factory settings but none of the startup commands are working, even with the os disk. Could this be an issue with the bluetooth keyboard not being recognised upon startup?

 

[Kaveman]

Some of the old Mac dont like their orignial DVDs as they have had firmware updates.

But you are right prime suspect is the keyboard.

You can do it from System Preference > Startup Disk

Select the DVD and click restart.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

half my apps are gone and replaced by question marks on my tool bar.

Drag those question marks right off the dock and they will go up in a virtual puff of smoke.

Open up your Applications folder and drag the missing apps onto your Dock and wait until the icons part to make room for the new addition then let go.

 

[Kaveman]

The Apps are not normally installed with in an Account, they are in a separate Applications Folder.

 

[neale]

I seem to be missing all my apps on my harddrive and my mac wont even open system preferences so im assuming somehow they have all been deleted?

 

[Kaveman]

Have you done a full reinstall or is this after just deleting that account?

 

[neale]

Deleting the account. Do you think creating a new account could fix it? How can i do that with no pref's
I just installed combo and now system prefs is back on my dock with a Q mark. Same with mail and iCal. I have also lost most of my utilities

 

[Kaveman]

Don't worry about the Dock they are just shortcuts and mean nothing.

You remove the old question marks and drag in new Apps from the Applications Folder.

iLife doesn't come with OS X, they are separate install.

 

[neale]

Yeah sorry i realise that. I just downloaded system preferences but start up disk wont recognise the os x dvd. Am i doomed to never be able to re install my os?

 

[Kaveman]

Does it show up on the Desktop or Sidebar?

 

[neale]

System prefs does but if you mean the dvd then no.

 

[Kaveman]

So there is a problem with the DVD or Drive