Trying to fix my screw up...

[DanLTaylor]

My boss is handing down to me his MacBook Pro 15" Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 Ghz to replace my black MacBook that is four years old. I helped him transfer all his personal data from the 15" to his spankin' brand new MacBook Pro 13" machine. Then I promised him I would zero out his data using the Disk Utility program. Well, I think I over did it. Now the the 15" that I am inheriting won't boot up. I get the flashing gray folder with a question mark, and I have followed all the steps on the Apple support website with no luck, so I think I zeroed out EVERYTHING including the system folder and start up folder. Of course, no one knows where the original installation DVD is for the 15". I can use the installation DVD for his new 13" to boot it up the 15" and use the Disk Utility program and I have run First Aid on it twice, but still not booting up.

Now, I still have my black MacBook and I have all the data backed up with Time Machine, plus I back up the whole HD once a month on another external drive for extra measure. Could I plug my Time Machine that has been backing up my black MacBook into the 15" MacBook Pro run the restore in Disk Utility and no one would be the wiser?

I have been reluctant to do anything else because I haven't wanted to screw anything else making my situation worse. Or am I screwed and going to have to go to the local Apple store and buy the operating system again to install it?

Looking for an ingenious answer!

Dan

 

[Walrus666]

Hello,
You erased the hard drive and as a result it's not going to boot up. Why don't you use the installation dvd to install the operating system?

 

[DanLTaylor]

No one knows where the original Installation DVD for the 15" is. I tried using the Installation DVD that came with the new 13" but when I try I get the message that Mac OS X cannot be installed.

 

[Walrus666]

Ah, it appears that the installation disc is machine specific. You could try cloning your Black MacBook to your new MacBook using Carbon Copy Cloner, or better yet, buy an installation disc for your MacBook.