Reinstall macos monterey

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hi can i delete macOS monterey and reinstall it, i don't have macOS Monterey on disk, how do i do that
 
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hi can i delete macOS monterey and reinstall it, i don't have macOS Monterey on disk, how do i do that
Please clarify, do you have macOS Monterey already installed on your Mac? What model Mac is it? If you already have it installed, and maybe just hoping to update, you can do the software update from Systems Settings.The most up-to-date version of Monterey is 12.7.6 (21H1320), as far as I can tell. You can also boot into Recovery which will offer to install the most current version based on your Mac hardware. No need to delete the old version. Just install on top of it. Finally, make sure you have backups of your data.

Believe me, I just recently had to erase my internal SSD and reinstall macOS Sequoia. It’ can be a most harrowing experience if you’re not used to doing it. But sometimes we have to do what we have to.
 
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Please clarify, do you have macOS Monterey already installed on your Mac? What model Mac is it? If you already have it installed, and maybe just hoping to update, you can do the software update from Systems Settings.The most up-to-date version of Monterey is 12.7.6 (21H1320), as far as I can tell. You can also boot into Recovery which will offer to install the most current version based on your Mac hardware. No need to delete the old version. Just install on top of it. Finally, make sure you have backups of your data.

Believe me, I just recently had to erase my internal SSD and reinstall macOS Sequoia. It’ can be a most harrowing experience if you’re not used to doing it. But sometimes we have to do what we have to.

Hi, I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015, can't remember what iOS was on it when I bought it but it has been upgraded to macOS Monterey
 
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Please clarify, do you have macOS Monterey already installed on your Mac? What model Mac is it? If you already have it installed, and maybe just hoping to update, you can do the software update from Systems Settings.The most up-to-date version of Monterey is 12.7.6 (21H1320), as far as I can tell. You can also boot into Recovery which will offer to install the most current version based on your Mac hardware. No need to delete the old version. Just install on top of it. Finally, make sure you have backups of your data.

Believe me, I just recently had to erase my internal SSD and reinstall macOS Sequoia. It’ can be a most harrowing experience if you’re not used to doing it. But sometimes we have to do what we have to.
I would like to format the HD and reinstall but I am unsure how to do it,
 
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I would like to format the HD and reinstall but I am unsure how to do it,
I recommend first trying to reinstall macOS over your existing system. The safest way to do this would be through Recovery. Depending on the model of your Mac, if it is an older model, simply rebooting and immediately pressing command-R will bring up Recovery. For newer (Silicon) Macs, shut down and then press and hold the power button until it gets to the list of volumes plus Options. Options will bring up Recovery, where you can elect to reinstall macOS, or open Disk Utility (if you really want to erase your drive).

I would only do a reformat if I’m confident with my backups. I presently have three Time Machine backup drives in addition to redundant clones of the system using Carbon Copy Cloner, in addition to having an external USB thumb drive to install macOS, in case everything else fails. So I strongly suggest doing it first with Recovery. The main reason for opting to reformat your system drive first is if there is insufficient free space on it to perform the reinstallation or update.
 
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Startup the device from Off holding the Command-R keys until you see the Apple Icon. This will bring you to the Recovery Partition. There should be no need to Reformat your Mac but if you wish to be sure all is in order you will see on the Recovery widow an app called Disk Utility.
Click on that, select Macintosh HD in the sidebar (You may need to choose Show All devices) then run First Aid.

If all is well, and it usually is, quit Disk Utility from the Menu bar which will return you to the previous window. In that window choose Reinstall MacOS Monterey. This will take some time.
The procedure will not damage or erase any of your personal data.

Just to cover your other suggestion/question. You cannot reformat your HD from the device itself. Reformatting requires erasing the internal HD completely and obviously a computer cannot erase itself. To do that you need another "computer" on an external drive capable of running your device independently. eg. A custom made Bootable macOS Installer on a flash drive or similar.
 
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I recommend first trying to reinstall macOS over your existing system. The safest way to do this would be through Recovery. Depending on the model of your Mac, if it is an older model, simply rebooting and immediately pressing command-R will bring up Recovery. For newer (Silicon) Macs, shut down and then press and hold the power button until it gets to the list of volumes plus Options. Options will bring up Recovery, where you can elect to reinstall macOS, or open Disk Utility (if you really want to erase your drive).

I would only do a reformat if I’m confident with my backups. I presently have three Time Machine backup drives in addition to redundant clones of the system using Carbon Copy Cloner, in addition to having an external USB thumb drive to install macOS, in case everything else fails. So I strongly suggest doing it first with Recovery. The main reason for opting to reformat your system drive first is if there is insufficient free space on it to perform the reinstallation or update.
when i try to restore from time machine,it says you need to use transfer assistant to transfer data from this backup? reinstall macos if necessary,then use transfer assistant to transfer data from your backup,when i press install macos and i select macintosh hd i get this message,the action could not be performed. (com.apple.buildinfo.preflight.error error 21
 
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when i try to restore from time machine,it says you need to use transfer assistant to transfer data from this backup? reinstall macos if necessary,then use transfer assistant to transfer data from your backup,when i press install macos and i select macintosh hd i get this message,the action could not be performed. (com.apple.buildinfo.preflight.error error 21
Time Machine is not for “restoring” data as you imply. The data on your system drive would be identical to the latest data on the Time Machine drive. I know, it’s quite confusing. The most common use for Time Machine restore is for going back in time. For example, you are working on a data file and just saved it. Then you realize that your last input was wrong and you need to get back to the version before that. That’s when you select the “bad” file in Finder, then launch Time Machine.app and then go about the routine of going back in time until the “good” file shows up, and give the command to restore it. That’s what I use Time Machine for the majority of the time, after I make the “oh no!” moment of saving a bad version of the file by mistake.

But the most important role of Time Machine is restoring whole sets of file after erasing and reinstalling a new copy of macOS on your main drive, or importing/restoring users that you found necessary to delete during the present time. You should take some time playing with simple TM restores to become familiar and comfortable with how it works.

For the scenario that we are talking about, restoring you system after installing/updating macOS, this is what Time Machine was intended for. It could be a slow process if you have a great deal of data. That’s why I find it more convenient to use a cloning app such as Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! for restoring, but I opt for non-bootable backups that simply clone the data portion of your drive assuming that the system you just installed is in pristine condition.

I understand that the process can be overwhelming, and that’s why instead of waiting for things to go from bad to worse, you should play around with the process at your leisure in order to become comfortable with it.

Finally, the best example of restoring from Time Machine is when you just purchased a brand new Mac and you need to bring it up to the state identical with your previous Mac.
 
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I recommend first trying to reinstall macOS over your existing system. The safest way to do this would be through Recovery. Depending on the model of your Mac, if it is an older model, simply rebooting and immediately pressing command-R will bring up Recovery. For newer (Silicon) Macs, shut down and then press and hold the power button until it gets to the list of volumes plus Options. Options will bring up Recovery, where you can elect to reinstall macOS, or open Disk Utility (if you really want to erase your drive).

I would only do a reformat if I’m confident with my backups. I presently have three Time Machine backup drives in addition to redundant clones of the system using Carbon Copy Cloner, in addition to having an external USB thumb drive to install macOS, in case everything else fails. So I strongly suggest doing it first with Recovery. The main reason for opting to reformat your system drive first is if there is insufficient free space on it to perform the reinstallation or update.
how do i restore to factory settings ?
 
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when i try to restore from time machine,it says you need to use transfer assistant to transfer data from this backup? reinstall macos if necessary,then use transfer assistant to transfer data from your backup,when i press install macos and i select macintosh hd i get this message,the action could not be performed. (com.apple.buildinfo.preflight.error error 21
hi have fu it this guide shutdown and start in Recovery Mode: Shut down your iMac completely. Then turn on the computer by holding down the Command (⌘) and R keys at the same time until you see the Apple logo. Select the Recovery Menu: In the Recovery Menu, select "Disk Utility". Erase your hard drive: Select your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD) in Disk Utility. Click "Erase", then select "APFS" or "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the file system. Reinstall macOS: After the hard drive is erased, close Disk Utility and select "Reinstall macOS" from the Recovery Menu. Follow the instructions: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of macOS, but am a little scared to do so, should I choose is it the Macintosh HD one then it says APFS system devices should not be removed individually. you can choose to remove all the devices in a device group or delete the device ?. The Macintosh HD system drive is part of a device group, that is, a set of drives that contain macOS and user data, including the Macintosh HD data drive. Should I choose Delete Device Group or Delete AzpFS Drive?
 

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I still recommend a simple macOS reinstall from Recovery mode, for now, bypassing the erase step. See how it will perform after the installation. Your iMac17,1 (make a note of your model ID) will run macOS 12.7.6 (21H1320). If Disk Unitily gave you an option to reformat the drive as APFS, then it means you have an SSD instead of a hard drive, or worse, a Fusion Drive.

Nevertheless, for now just opt for reinstalling macOS, then reboot. Take a sigh of relief if it came back to life, and from there, see if there are other signs of trouble that would necessitate farther repairs. You can use Disk Utility to perform Disk First Aid on your system drive.

Your system should be in pristine condition at this point, and any other problem would be a result of third-party app problems or damaged data files. Erasing your startup drive should be a last resort.
 

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