Restoring iMac to factory settings

[Squidzit]

I've just ordered a new iMac (be here in time for Christmas, so excited!), and am going to give my old one to my daughter. I am wanting to return it to factory settings so she can start off fresh. I use Final Cut Pro X and lots of other photo and video programs that she won't need. She will be using it for school, light gaming and social media. How do I restore it? It's a summer 2010, 27" and didn't come with a setup or restore disc. Do I even have to restore it, or will deleting all those programs be enough? They eat up almost all the available ram!

I have figured out how to migrate the old to the new, I'm hoping a restore will be as easy. Thanks!

 

[Chris Parsons]

I've just ordered a new iMac (be here in time for Christmas, so excited!), and am going to give my old one to my daughter. I am wanting to return it to factory settings so she can start off fresh. I use Final Cut Pro X and lots of other photo and video programs that she won't need. She will be using it for school, light gaming and social media. How do I restore it? It's a summer 2010, 27" and didn't come with a setup or restore disc. Do I even have to restore it, or will deleting all those programs be enough? They eat up almost all the available ram!

I have figured out how to migrate the old to the new, I'm hoping a restore will be as easy. Thanks!

Ideally you don't want to restore it until AFTER you have your new one and have the information migrated. But you can follow the instructions outlined here once that is done - OS X Mavericks: Erase and reinstall OS X I assume you have Mavericks on it but if not, just say so and I can link you to a guide for a different OS. It's essentially the same in you have Mountain Lion - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11273

 

[Squidzit]

That sounds easy enough. I won't restore the old iMac until after I've successfully completed the migration. And I am on Mavericks.

Thanks for the help!