Need advice for reinstalling a MacBook Air 13'' A1304 (2009)

[grink]

Hi,

I need advice to legally restore a MacBook Air A1304 (2009) to the latest supported version of OS X.

The computer was purchased on the second hand market and the previous user reinstalled it but in the wrong language for me.

I tried reinstalling the system from the recovery partition.
But after connecting to the Apple Store, is an error message told that the item was temporarily unavailable.
I tried low level formatting the main partition, but this did not change anything.

In fact, the recovery partition comes with OS X Yosemite, which should be unofficially supported: https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility
But although the previous owner may have purchased Yosemite, I never purchased it myself and I assume that the problem comes from there.

At my disposal, I have:
a) A used DVD of Snow Leopard 10.6.3
b) A brand new sealed DVD of Snow Leopard 10.6.3
c) A unused license key of Lion that I had purchased in the past.

So, my questions are:

1. Is there a way (possibly via the terminal) to legally resinstall the original 10.5 version of OS X?
Then, are there free upgrades available?

2. Would it be better using my Lion license and should I install Lion using a bootable USB?

3. Can I use the already used Snow Leopard DVD to install temporarilly and then legally purchase a license via iTunes?

4. Is the easiest/best option using my sealed DVD of Snow Leopard and then upgrade with the 10.6.8 combo?

Thank you very much for your support.

 

[harryb2448]

1. To install Leopard OS X.5 you will need a system install DVD.

2. Personally I would give Lion a miss.

3. Depending on the colour of the used Snow Leopard DVD. A silver/grey original system DVD will work only with bthe model it was released with. If white with the Snwo Leopard on, boot from that, format the drive and install. Update to OS X.6.8 and from there use the App Store and your App Store Account to download El Capitan, OS X.11, the latest operating system that will run on your MBA. You do not need to purchase a license.

4. If Optio0n 3 does not work, then yes use the new OS X.6 DVD. Again if it is the white disk only.

 

[pm-r]

The computer was purchased on the second hand market and the previous user reinstalled it but in the wrong language for me.

As for your language problem, just change it to the one you want.

Apple's kb article explains how:
Change the language used…
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202036

Or maybe better:
How to Add & Switch Languages in Mac OS X
http://osxdaily.com/2016/04/26/add-change-language-mac-os-x/


PS: If that MacBook Air still only has 2GB RAM memory installed, I'd install and run the Snow leopard option or just use whatever OS X is installed for now. Then add memory if and when you update to a later OS. OS X 10.11.x is the last it can use.






- Patrick
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