Help me factory restore my Macbook

[abundance]

I want to completely wipe my HD and reinstall the OS fresh. I have a late 2013 pro model, without a CD drive so I have no clue how to do this. My biggest fear is wiping everything, not being able to reinstall and ending up with a paperweight. I have a 2008 Macbook and several external HDs which i'll be using to store the files I want to backup.

Can someone give me a basic breakdown of what i'll need to do to achieve this? I've reformatted Windows PCs several times, but never a Mac. It's very important that I wipe the HDs as much as possible, because I want to start fresh.
thx

 

[Cory Cooper]

-Is this related to your other post?
-Did those suggestions help?

How to reinstall OS X on your Mac

C

 

[honestone]

OK, you need to take the following steps before installing a new OS:

1. First of all, what OS are you now using?
2. Next, what OS do you want to upgrade to? For example, if you are now using the last version of Mavericks (OS 10.9.5), and want to upgrade to Yosemite, you'll need to have the last version of Yosemite, OS 10.10.5).
3. For any third party software that you are using, do you have the latest version of each that would be compatible with the OS you want to move to?
4. Once all of that is done, you'll need to make a backup of your current system, including any software upgrades. You can either use Time Machine (just backs up your non-Apple stuff, and any recovery would be somewhat of a burden), or use a backup/cloning program like SuperDuper! to make an exact backup of your entire system. The advantage of using SuperDuper! (Carbon Copy Cloner is another one) is that it makes a bootable backup of your current system, and thus recovery is a snap. You can use the "free" version of SuperDuper!, and can get it from here:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

or here:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/13803/superduper

 

[abundance]

-Is this related to your other post?
-Did those suggestions help?

How to reinstall OS X on your Mac

C

it's sort of related, sort of not because i want to start from scratch regardless. i'm worried i got some type of virus or tracker or something, because i've been extremely careless with my security and feel like this mac has "aged" must faster than my last one. too many problems for a mac that's just a year old.