I'm starting the recovery process via the Internet. Recovering a MacBook after system crashes

To use your Macbook 100%, you need to be able to perform various operations. The most important of them are returning data from backup, restoring password characters, returning to original settings. The last operation is discussed in detail below, but the others are also mentioned. All procedures are easily performed using “native” tools. In difficult situations, an installation disk is required.

If the device on Mac OS functions with errors or the owner is preparing it for sale, you will need to perform a reset procedure. Before you begin, you should create a backup, since all information will be irretrievably erased during the operation. To do this, it is recommended to use Time Machine software. The copy is stored on an external hard drive. It should be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

After completing the preparatory steps, the algorithm of actions will be as follows:

  • Open the list of software and launch Time Machine.
  • Click on the disk selection section.
  • We indicate the external source where the backup will be saved and click on “Use.” disk".
  • The backup generation function will offer to erase the data present on the external drive. You must agree to this operation, otherwise creating a copy will not be possible.
  • If you need to include not all elements in the backup, proceed to the parameters section. There, using the “plus” button, we add to the list data that will not be included in the backup.
  • Once you've finished adjusting the values, the Time Machine slider will turn on. A complete backup operation will take a long time. After completing the procedure, you can return the original settings to the device. To this end, we move on to the next stage.
  • Reboot the MacBook by pressing Command and R.
  • Expand the utilities section and launch the disk drive.
  • On the left side of the panel, select the boot disk and go to the erase section.
  • Specify the format “Mac OS Extended” and click on the erase button.

After completing the procedure of formatting the disk and resetting the values ​​to the original values, exit the disk utility. We reinstall the operating system again, following the advice in the corresponding utility window.

Method for restoring data from backup

To get back all the information lost during the data reset process, you need to make a backup. The steps to create a copy are:

  • We connect an external drive with a copy from the MacBook.
  • Place the installation disk in the device. When the system starts, press the “C” element to enter the installer section. We select the language.
  • Open the utilities section and start the system restore operation from backup.
  • Click on the continuation element in the pop-up window.
  • Select the drive where the backup is saved .
  • Specify the date of the final backup .
  • Select the disk where we will restore the data.

After finishing calculating the time for this operation, click on the restore button. A warning will pop up about cleaning up the disk you are working with. Click the continue button and recovery mode will start. Upon completion of the operation, reboot the device. During the startup process, the system will be displayed as it was on the date the copy was created. All edits made after the operation will be cancelled.


Steps to recover password characters

You can reset your forgotten password using one of 3 methods:

  • Using the installation disc.
  • By ID number.
  • Using the terminal in recovery mode.

If you have an installation disk for the Mac OS X operating system, it won’t take hours to reset the password characters, just a few minutes will be enough:

  • Place the disc in the drive and reboot the device.
  • When you hear startup sounds, press the “C” item. Hold until a spinning gear appears.
  • Select the language and press the continuation element.
  • In the OS installation menu, select the utility software section and launch the password reset mechanism.

The wizard will reset the current key that you forgot and configure new symbols. This method is the easiest. But if you don’t have a disk with the operating room, nothing will work. In such a situation, try to enter the wrong password characters three times, an installation window will pop up via ID number.

However, there is a requirement here too. The option to recover password characters using ID must be active in the MacBook settings. If this is not the case, you should resort to the following method, which works on all variations of the operating system and always works 100%:

  • Reboot your device. To do this, press the Command+R elements at the same time until the loading indication appears.
  • Select Russian as the main language. The system will boot into recovery mode.
  • Open the utilities section at the top and launch the operating system.
  • Type “resetpassword” and click Enter.
  • Check the section where the user account is located.
  • Select an account and enter the new password characters twice.
  • Click on the consent element to confirm the data reset.

After discarding the symbols, restart the operating system. At startup, a warning will pop up about the impossibility of unlocking the keychain to log in. Click on the new login element and enter the characters of the password specified after resetting the previous key.

That's all the instructions on how to return your MacBook to factory settings, how to backup and restore the system. All these operations will not be difficult to perform on any model of Apple laptop – Air or MacBook Pro. They are necessary when various kinds of problems or errors arise. Every device owner should know how to reset to the original settings, because if the device is sold (or when you need to restore it), this is simply necessary. But before returning to factory settings, you will need a backup copy, because all data will inevitably be erased. The copying process is also very simple. The easiest way to do this is to use iCloud.

Today I demonstrated my MacBook to my colleagues and told them that it can do THIS, and THIS, and even THIS. Talking about all the delights of OS X, I decided to show the reboot speed and the ability to restore the system from the recovery partition.

And imagine my surprise when, when I turned on the MacBook with the Alt/Option button held down, I did not find a system recovery partition in the boot manager.

Today I will tell you where the Recovery partition on the MacBook “disappeared” and how to restore MAC OS X Yosemite now.

Well, let's start with the fact that the Recovery partition never disappeared. It's still there on your hard drive. To verify this, enter the following command in the Terminal:

The thing is that with the installation of OS X Yosemite SSD, the hard drive in your MacBook was converted into a so-called partition CoreStorage. CoreStorage is essentially a partition manager for OS X and was created specifically for use with fusion drives (SSD+HDD in one case) and, most importantly, for a file encryption system FileVault.

Most likely, during the installation process of OS X Yosemite, you confirmed the use of FileVault encryption, and now FileVault uses the recovery partition to start the system and access the encrypted CoreStorage drive.

I messed something up with the explanations. If you don't understand, don't bother. Just know that FileVault's encryption system uses your Recovery disk as a boot disk, so you won't see it in your download manager.

In order for the system recovery partition to appear there again, you must disable FileVault. This can be done in Settings > Protection and Security > FileVault. Below is a screenshot of unencrypting (disabling FileVault) on my MacBook Air.


Now that you have disabled FileVault file encryption, the Recovery partition will again be available in the download manager when you press the Option key.

If for some reason you cannot disable FileVault file encryption, but at the same time want to launch the system recovery wizard (Recovery mode), then you need to press and hold the Command + R keys immediately after the beep when you turn on the computer.

I hope that this article helped you deal with the disappearance of the recovery partition in OS X Yosemite and now you can reinstall the system on your MacBook without any problems.

In one of the following articles we will talk about buying used MAC computers and the nuances that are worth paying attention to. Subscribe to updates using the form below. No spam guaranteed.

What is the best way to restore a Mac without a recovery partition?

If the problem is serious, you may need to reinstall your entire Mac operating system using the recovery partition. But how do you recover a Mac that is missing a recovery partition?

It's possible to restore a Mac without a recovery partition, but it can be difficult (especially on older Macs). You have two approaches:

  • Use Internet Recovery to reinstall OS X on a Mac with a missing recovery partition.
  • Create an OS X installation disk from your old USB Thumb Drive and reinstall OS X.

We'll cover both of these options in this feature - but first, let's quickly explain what a recovery partition is.

How to Recover a Mac Without a Recovery Partition: What is the OS X Recovery Partition? (What are partitions anyway?)

Most people don't really think of hard drives in terms of partitions (and volumes). They simply see the entire disk as one.

The hard part is usually one volume, but then it is broken up into several areas called "partitions". Think of your hard drive as a house, and the partitions as different rooms.

You're used to seeing only one room in the house, which has its own desktop, folders and applications. But there are four partitions, and one is used in extreme cases where you might want to completely reinstall OS X. Even if you completely wipe OS X and start again from scratch, the recovery partition will be there to go in and reinstall OS X.

This is a problem if the recovery partition is missing. After all, how are you going to reinstall OS X from scratch? This happens: If you put a new hard drive on your Mac or accidentally destroyed the recovery partition by installing Windows, Linux, or another OS on your Mac, you may not have a recovery partition to work with.

How to Recover a Mac Without a Recovery Partition: How to Check If Your Recovery Partition Is Working

First you should check that your Mac definitely does not have a working recovery partition. It used to be that pressing the Option key in OS X would create boot disks (including the recovery partition). But now it only shows OS X system drives (typically just your main hard drive).

Here's how to boot into Recovery Drive:

  1. Turn off your Mac. (Apple menu > Shut Down.)
  2. Hold down the Command and R keys at the same time and press the Power button.
  3. Continue holding Command and R until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Release the keys and wait until your Mac shuts down. (This will take longer than usual.)
  4. You should be faced with a screen that says OS X Utilities. This is the recovery partition. If you have this, stop worrying. You're good to go.

If your Mac boots into OS X, or if you're faced with a completely blank screen, then you don't have a recovery partition. If your Mac boots into OS X, you can also check Terminal to see if there is a recovery partition:

  1. Open terminal.
  2. enter Scout list.

You should see a list of all volumes and partitions on your computer. The first drive (/dev/disk0) should have a partition (usually listed as "3" with Apple_Boot Recovery HD after it). Try again using the Command-R process. Before you move on to reinstalling OS X, try a few of these tips:

  • Reset your PRAM. Complete Mac work and hold Command-Option-PR while loading. Wait for the chimes and let go.
  • Check your keyboard (especially if it's a Bluetooth keyboard). If possible, use a wired keyboard.

Okay, so either your recovery partition is missing or not working and you've tried everything. So, it's time to look at reinstalling OS X. You should first take the time to back up OS X if you can use Time Machine. This will allow you to recover all your files, folders and applications after reinstalling OS X.

How to Recover a Mac Without a Recovery Partition: Use Internet Recovery to Reinstall OS X

If you don't have a recovery partition on your Mac, you'll need to reinstall OS X. Even if OS X works, you should probably consider reinstalling because a missing recovery partition isn't good sign. But mostly you will face this problem when OS X is not working and you are not able to restore it in the normal way.

The first approach is to use the Internet Recovery feature. New Macs can boot directly from an Internet connection, even without using a recovery drive. Here's how to use OS X Internet Recovery:

  1. Turn off your Mac.
  2. Hold Command-Option-R and press the Power button.
  3. Hold down the keys until a spinning globe and the message “Starting Internet Recovery” appears. It can take some time ".
  4. The message will be replaced with a progress bar. Wait for it to fill out.
  5. Wait for OS X Utilities to appear.
  6. Click "Reinstall OS X" and follow the installation procedure.

There are problems with Internet Recovery. It only works with networks that use WEP and WPA security. This is most home Wi-Fi networks, but if you are on a proxy or PPPoE network then you will have problems. In these cases, it's usually better to find another network rather than create a USB Recovery Stick (our next step). If you have Internet Recovery, use it to reinstall OS X if possible.

How to Recover a Mac Without a Recovery Partition: Create a Bootable OS X Installer from a USB Drive

If you don't have internet recovery, you're left with final version. This is done to create a bootable installer from a USB drive (at least 8GB in size). Note that this completely erases the USB drive, so be careful to delete all files from it first.

There are two ways to create a USB flash drive installer. One is to use the terminal, the second is to use the DiskMaker X application. Here is the terminal approach.

Open your Applications folder and check the "Install OS X El Capitan" box. If it's not there, open it App Store and click "Buy", then click "Download" next to "El Capitan". Wait until the file is completely downloaded.

1. Attach a USB storage device.

2. Open Disk Utility.

3. Select the volume (under External) from the sidebar. Volume is the top section, not the section (which is at the bottom).

4. Click Erase.

5. Make sure the Name field is set to Untitled. Don't change it. Click Erase.

6. Open terminal.

7. Cut and paste the following line into the terminal:

sudo / Applications / Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume / Volumes / Untitled / -applicationpath / Applications / Install OS X El Capitan.app/

You will need to enter the administrator password. Then enter "y" and press Return. It will first drain your flash drive and then turn it into a bootable installer.

8. Wait until the process completes completely.

If this process is a bit complicated, then consider downloading DiskMaker X. This program automates the process of creating an OS X installer

How to Recover a Mac Without a Recovery Partition: How to Use the Bootable OS X Installer

Then follow these steps to use the bootable installer:

  1. Make sure the bootable OS X installer (USB stick) is connected.
  2. Turn off your Mac.
  3. Hold option and press the Power button.
  4. A boot device list window will appear with a yellow disk with the OS X El Capitan installation underneath it.
  5. Select it and press Return. Wait until the progress bar fills.
  6. Select Disk Utility.
  7. Select the drive under Internal (Primary Hard Drive).
  8. Click Erase.
  9. Give the disk a name; "Macintosh HD" is traditional, but you can choose. Make sure the format is OS X Extended (Journaled) and the layout is GUID Partition Map.
  10. Click Erase.
  11. Click Finish.
  12. Select Disk Utility > Exit Utility.
  13. Select Install OS X and click Continue.
  14. Follow OS X settings.
  15. Select Macintosh HD as the installation disc if present and click Install.

OS X will now be installed on your hard drive from the bootable OS X installer. The entire process may take about half an hour. You will then have a blank installation of OS X along with a new recovery partition.

Quite often, Mac users are faced with the following problem - how to return the computer to factory settings, resetting all user information, and reinstall the operating system completely. Instructions for this process are presented below.

The Mac, like most other Apple devices, is intended for personal use. This means that usually computer owners fine-tune the system for themselves and another user will not be entirely comfortable working with it. If there is a need to completely get rid of existing data and settings, then you need to follow the simple steps described below.

Clean installation of macOS: preliminary steps

IMPORTANT: Before a clean installation (reinstallation, flashing, factory reset) of a Mac, be sure to check:

  • Is the Mac tied specifically to yours and not to any other
  • Do you remember the credentials (username and password) of your Apple ID. You can check, for example, by logging into this page (from your computer).

The fact is that if the function was activated on the Mac (located along the path: System Settings → iCloud → ), then after reinstalling the system (resetting to factory settings), the system will ask you to enter the Apple ID to which the device is linked.

ON THIS TOPIC:

How to reset Macbook, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro to factory settings (how to reinstall macOS)

Boot Mac into Recovery Mode

1. Make sure you have an Internet connection (for later installation of macOS), as well as an electrical connection in the case of a MacBook.

Attention! Further actions will lead to the complete deletion of ALL data on the Mac - save the necessary information on external media in advance;

2. Restart your computer (or turn it on if it was turned off) using the  menu → Reboot;

3. During the reboot process, press and hold the key combination that suits you best:

⌘Cmd + R– installing the version of macOS that was running on the computer before problems arose. Those. your Mac will install exactly the same version as before.

⌥Option (Alt) + ⌘Cmd + R– Update to the latest version of macOS that your Mac is compatible with. For example, if the Mac was running High Sierra, and the breakdown occurred after the final build of macOS Mojave was released, the system will download Mojave from the Internet and install it.

⇧Shift + ⌥Option (Alt) + ⌘Cmd + R– installation of the version of macOS that was originally installed on the computer (or the closest available version to it).

Note: requires macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or higher a new version OS.

4 . Then the window “ macOS Utilities"(on versions lower than macOS High Sierra may be called "macOS Utilities"). Here you need to select " Disk Utility" and click " Continue";

1 . Select in Disk Utility your drive in the menu on the left (usually a Macintosh HD, it's at the very top).

2 . Click on the inscription First aid.

3 . Click Launch. The application will check the boot disk for “health status”, i.e. functionality and correct existing errors. This process may take some time.

4 . After checking is completed, click Ready.

Erasing the boot disk

1. In the application Disk Utility, select a verified boot disk, go to the section "Erase"(at the top of the screen);

2. On the menu "Format" select APFS (for computers with macOS Sierra installed and an older version of the OS, select Mac OS Extended) and press " Erase";


3. Once the disk formatting process is complete, click " Complete" to exit Disk Utility.

Reinstalling the macOS operating system (factory reset)

Reinstall macOS using the appropriate item (screenshot below) and follow the instructions. The latest version of macOS will be downloaded from the Internet and the macOS reinstallation process will begin. During this time, the computer may restart.

Note: If you're installing from scratch, you'll have to configure your Mac and program settings all over again.

In this article, one of the editors of the WoW It team will share his sad, but much-needed experience of using a MacBook. One day the question arose about buying a laptop, and since I had been using Windows for quite a long time, I was pretty fed up with it. It was decided to go over to the side of evil, as they say they have livers) Considering that for quite a long time I wanted a MacBook and OS X on board, the decision to buy a MacBook Air was quite easy. And now, the happy owner of a MacBook Air 11. As befits an experienced system administrator who has never held a Mac in his hands, the tinkering began. So say check for fault tolerance, and of course inexperience won! OS X went down in just two days). Question: “What should I do, how can I reinstall OS X or can it be restored, and if so, how can I do it?” There was only one thought in my head: “It’s Apple, it’s probably all simple.”

Having come across the first article on the Internet that you need to format the screw and repartition it to an earlier file system (Error! DO NOT do this). So that later, during the installation of the new OS X, he himself will repartition it, until latest version along with the installation of OS X High Sierra. But again, inexperience only aggravated the situation, since now Recovery with data saving was also killed. Further realizing what had been done, the appeal went to a single, correct source, the official Apple website.

How to Reinstall OS X in Recovery Mode

The first thing you need to do is check Recovery; if you have a live recovery disk, you should try to recover it. To start your MacBook in recovery mode you need to:

  • CMD+R.
  • Next, select Recovery and go through the recovery procedure accordingly.

But if you are greeted by a picture (image below), then you have hit the jackpot of incredible experience!


How to reinstall OS X using network recovery mode

And so, instead of disk utility, you see a network system recovery window in front of you, what to do. It's quite simple. The MacBook could not detect the system recovery disk, and there are two options: either just delete everything remotely, or, which is much worse, the HDD or SDD died, depending on the configuration. In order to try to install the system via the Internet and at the same time check whether your disk is dead, you need to:

  • After loading the network system recovery, select your home Wi-Fi network or connect via wire if possible.

  • Wait for all the necessary files to download and begin installing the operating system that was installed when you purchased the device by clicking on the reinstall OS X button.

Reinstall OS X from a USB flash drive

In principle, in most cases it can be stopped here, but there are also sad endings. For example, you may receive error -4403F - this may be due to a poor connection or the use of a proxy or VPN on your network. Try repeating the process or connecting to a different network. Sometimes it would start the third time.

Next, your scenario unfolds according to several strategies.
First strategy.
You have an old MacBook, you took it from your hands, which when purchased came with OS X Lion. But you obviously don't have it in your AppStore purchases. Then, when you try to install the operating system, after entering your AppleID credentials, you will be given the following - it is currently impossible to install OS X, try later. - Then you need to reinstall OS X from the flash drive.

How to create a USB flash drive from MacOS on Windows and reinstall OS X from the flash drive

There are a lot of manuals on how to create a bootable USB flash drive on MacOS; you can easily find them on the Internet. But, if you don’t have another Mac at hand, then you need any Windows PC.

How to burn a USB flash drive with OS X:

  • You need to download the image operating system no older than Lion, everything will definitely work with it. You can download from any torrent exchanger.
  • Download the program to unpack the image TransMac install and run as administrator. You can download it from the official website. The real version is available for 15 days, which is enough to create a bootable MacOS USB flash drive.

  • On the left in the list of devices, select your flash drive and right-click on it Format Disk for Mac, then click Yes


  • After the flash drive is formatted, again right click and select Restore with Disk Image then click Yes. Then select the image downloaded on your PC and deploy the image to the USB flash drive.


That's it, after the image is completely installed on the flash drive, you can connect it to your MacBook according to the old scheme:

  • Turn off your MacBook completely by holding down the power key for 6 seconds.
  • Turn on the MacBook, hold down the keys when turning it on CMD+R.
  • Select a flash drive

Click to reinstall OS X

We wait for the installation to complete, go through the first setup and update to the latest version available to you.

Full MacBook reset, PRAM and NVRAM reset.

But that's not all. It seems that I have already tried everything and have already made a flash drive 100 times trying to reinstall OS X from it and tried all possible versions of MacOS, but still it throws out some errors. Then you need to act more radically. You need to completely reset your MacBook, reset the BIOS. Since the Mac was not created by stupid people and has the most secure nature of use, it has a lot of hidden parameters and settings. They are stored in any case. Sometimes this is the stone. Looking ahead, I’ll say that this is what helped. And so, to reset the MacBook, namely, reset the PRAM and NVRAM memory cells, do the following:

  • Turn off your MacBook completely by holding down the power key for 6 seconds.
  • Turn on the MacBook, hold down the keys when turning it on CMD+Option+P+R.
  • Hold until it reboots again and there is a greeting sound.

In this particular case, everything fell into place. This manipulation helped, the strange marked disks stopped being displayed, and most importantly, the installation process continued without errors.

Reset SMS on MacBook

Although there are situations when this does not help. Then we need to hit on all fronts and flattery further into the forest. Mac has the so-called SMC System Management Controller. The stability of the entire system depends on it, and often resetting its settings cures a number of problems such as:

— constantly rotating cooler at high speeds even without heating;

— The system freezes when going into sleep mode;

— Error in the operation of external monitors, as well as other peripherals and system loading errors;

In order to reset SMS, you need to do the following:

  • Turn off your MacBook completely by holding down the power key for 6 seconds.
  • Connect the power adapter.
  • Simultaneously press Shit + Control + Option + Power and hold until the MagSafe adapter indicator changes color.
  • Release all keys and press Power.

If you have an older model with a removable battery:

  • Turn off your MacBook completely by holding down the power key for 6 seconds.
  • Disconnect the power adapter.
  • Remove the battery.
  • Press and hold the Power button for at least 5 seconds.
  • Release the Power button, insert the battery, connect the power adapter and turn on the laptop.

But if you are the owner of Desktops (iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro), then we will help you:

  • Completely disconnect from power
  • Wait 30+ seconds
  • Connect power, wait 5-10 seconds and turn on the device.

Something like this will help you! If you still cannot cope with the problem, our editors and our readers are always happy to help you with your problem. Remember, you are not alone) We will be waiting for your comments and questions.