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Apple released the MacBook Pro 15" Unibody, the second generation of the MacBook Pro, in October 2008 with a new aluminum upper case machined from a single aluminum block.

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How to unlock recovery hd & Mac hd & re-install without reset!?

1yr old refurbished mac book pro. Originally slow internet loading, and knocking me off wifi.

I was to to just update the software.

recently installed the new os x mountain lion/ then tried mavericks and etc. still slow.

I believe it did not install correctly. Totally forgetting to back it up while sitting there.

Stated to look online thinking that SMC would just fix the light problems and not effect my computer.

accidentally did a SMC thinking it would make it faster without backing it up first.

After powering it back on, reset full computer brought up options to re install, rest, utilities.

with OS X box. start up is super slow.

Shows utility disk needs to be repaired, but computer cant repair it.

I need the apps/info on it ,and do have a back up or I do not have a disks for Rosetta stone, Office 2013, full adobe which was installed.

Both recovery disk and Macintosh disk are locked and I am unable to just re-install.

Apple is saying they cant fig it out and we need to reset = erase it.

or go back to the store (after the 1+ hr phone call) to have them try to recover.

Is there a way around it!?? Please help.

I'm not the most technical savvy , so if you explain it easy (80 yr old grams style) I may understand :).

on phone with apple care, and it sounds like a reset since we don't know how to unlock the recovery or mac hd...

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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OK, first you need to create a recovery drive here. The recovery partition won't help you here.

>> But, before you start any of this make sure you have backed up your important files!

Get a USB thumb drive and down load from the Apps Store the OS installer if you don't already have it. You'll also need this tool: DiskMaker X. Use it to setup your thumb drive. I would also take the time to put a copy of the OS installer onto the thumb drive just in case you need to redo the drive.

Once you have created the bootable recovery USB drive. Use the Option key during the restart to then select this drive as the boot drive. Review this Apple TN: Startup key combinations for Intel-based Macs.

OK, how your ready to use Disk Utility from the USB thumb drive to fix your disk. Make sure to run fix permissions first a few times (until you don't get any errors). Then do the disk repair.

That should fix things!

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I can still back it up ? I have a 8gb usb, back up plus slim, and external hd.

Can I use any one of those?

The only thing that pops up is the OS X Utilities white box with the 4 options. Restore for Time machine, reinstall OS X, get help online and disk utility.

I am able to go into safri through online apple help,

will this restore is back to original settings before I pushed i downloaded the new system then smc ? I cant see anything as far as my past the os x utilities box.

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You'll need to build the recovery USB drive on a different system. Then use it to boot up your system.

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I'm not sure where to begin. I do not know how to back it up from the current stage it is in. I looked up diskmaker on macupdate.com pulled up recovery disk assistant to download but a box popped up saying there was not enough space to download. Ill keep looking for options for the diskmaker.

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Hit the blue URL links I've provided above to get to clean copies of the app & the Apple tech note.

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It sounds like you need some help here on the basics. See if you have a tech head of a friend that can help you out. Basically backing up is coping off the files to an external drive of some sort. As you are in limbo you'll need to first create a recovery driver as I outlined first, but you can't do this on your system due to it being in this limbo state. Dammed twice here! OK, so you find a friend with a Mac to create the needed boot drive and using it boot up your system and backup your stuff. Then and only then can you either go though the recovery process if it works or just just re-install the OS from the recovery drive.

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can you tell me step by step how unlock the recovery hd please

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