questions for computer people

[Sasquatch Jim]

Ten or twelve years ago I bought a computer new. In the box with it came complete directions on how to use it. No computer comes with directions anymore.
Piss on the computer companies for that.
Also included in the box were two discs. One was to completely wipe the computer clean
and empty of everything. The second disc was to re program it back to what it was when purchased. Is it possible to buy these kind of programming discs or chips anymore?,
I can take it to a computer shop and they can do it, but I would prefer to do it myself.
When the shop does it , I have to wonder if they put in some kind of spyware in the fresh programming. The same goes for doing it by down loading from the internet only I am more certain that having it done by the internet is even more risky for spyware being included. Since Steve Jobs died, Apple has gone very far in this direction. Is there a way to purchase reprogramming devices that work with Mac air since it does not have any discs, it is solid state?

[fotoguzzi]

all computers come with directions, now loaded on the computer not on paper.. and they have a website support page.

and it probably has a program like disk utility on board that can do what you want without a disc..

[charlie b]

Last time I tried to get a set of system disks was Win98.  Even back then I had to pay for them.  And yes, instructions for just about everything now days is on the disk itself.  Many times you can print it out but sometimes it is structured to be difficult to do that  (screen vs printer formatting).

More and more software is going to a 'lease' type system where the program, or part of it, is in the 'cloud'.

If you really want more control over your computer then get Linux and load it on a freshly repartitioned hard drive (yes, the installation instructions cover how to do that and you can print out the instructions or read them off the 'disk').

BUT....if you get on the internet your browser and the individual programs will do things separately from your operating system.  For example, some malware is tied to the browser and not the operating system.  Somewhat easier to get rid of but still a PITA.

[Triple Jim]

If you really want more control over your computer then get Linux and load it on a freshly repartitioned hard drive...

Those are wise words.

[twowings]

+1 on using Linux! Loading a distro like Ubuntu would completely repartition and format the hard drive...and most every Linux distro is free...

But, it sounds like you want to discard this computer and want to wipe your personal information off completely? If that is the case, there are any number of Apple User Forums where you can turn for help...

[charlie b]

FWIW, if you take it to an Apple store they will put it back to original for you and it will be just as you bought it.  No extra spyware or anything like that.  Had to do that to an iPad when we first got it.  Never found out what the problem was but it was fixed while we waited.  It does not remove the intrusive nature of Apple and Win10 operating systems.  For that you have to get into the guts of the system.

[afulldeck]

+10 on moving to Linux.

However, when you get a new windows computer you need to build a boot-able usb as your first step. Essentially it loads a usb with all the microsoft necessities to rebuild your operating system. I usually make two USB and tape them to the computer.

[Wayne Orwig]

Ten or twelve years ago I bought a computer new. In the box with it came complete directions on how to use it. No computer comes with directions anymore.
Piss on the computer companies for that.
Also included in the box were two discs. One was to completely wipe the computer clean
and empty of everything. The second disc was to re program it back to what it was when purchased. Is it possible to buy these kind of programming discs or chips anymore?,
I can take it to a computer shop and they can do it, but I would prefer to do it myself.
When the shop does it , I have to wonder if they put in some kind of spyware in the fresh programming. The same goes for doing it by down loading from the internet only I am more certain that having it done by the internet is even more risky for spyware being included. Since Steve Jobs died, Apple has gone very far in this direction. Is there a way to purchase reprogramming devices that work with Mac air since it does not have any discs, it is solid state?

You power it on. It has a display that displays instructions (enter your email address, wifi password, etc., etc.). Who needs paper AND electrons?
Systems now have a built in partition, or something similar, with the factory fresh reinstall. There is a built in menu, or custom key sequence, often both, that will reload the factory fresh system. No need to have a CD to lose.

On my windows PCs, one of the FIRST things I do now is a Macrium Reflect. That puts an image of the freshly booted machine AND the recovery partition on a backup hard disk. I Piece of cake to replace a crashed hard disk. I assume the fruit people have something similar.

[Aaron D.]

Linux was a computer saver at work. Much nicer to run, mostly because no bloat ware.

[paulbr]

They expect you to download it these days. I think you boot holding down the apple key and 'r'. You should get a menu asking if you want to reinstall. Assuming you've got an internet connection (and enough speed and quota) it will download the licensed os version and install it. There should be a utility to setup wireless etc in the recovery menu.

Windows is much the same these days. They just give you a key and you have to download windows. I suspect if you completely trashed the disk this wouldn't work - windows at least has the recovery partition on the disk but most of the time it's the software that's the problem, not the hardware.

[GearheadGrrrl]

The problem with OS and software delivery by the internet is that they assume you have "all you can eat" wireless. Where I live the only broadband internet access is cell modem "hotspots", and $10 a gigabyte is the going rate. After the "geniuses" at the Apple Store managed to lose all my data while doing a simple OS upgrade that was designed to be idiot proof (Apple hires real idiots) it cost me nearly $100 in data charges to replace all the software and data on that Apple Mac. The hard drive crashed a couple weeks back and I had to reinstall the OS, fortunately our local librarian doesn't blink when I come in with a keyboard and monitor and spend hours downloading. Got the Mac Mini up and running again booting off a 128GB USB thumb drive, works well enough that I may not bother spending $75 for a new hard drive.

Same problem with the $200 Windoze cloudbook, it blew through 5 gigs and $50 of data in 36 hours just "calling home" before I blocked it's access to the cell modem. Thus I'm not so sold on this whole "connected" thing they're trying to sell us!