What is old is new

Greetings,

This topic may already exist but I am not sure where. Anyway I just received a used Mac book pro and the previous user info is still on it. I am new to Mac so I went online to find a way to reset it to factory setting and start anew. I found some sites that listed how to go about it. Most of them suggested pressing the "command and R" buttons after the chime or pressing the "options" key. The first option does not work the mac ignores this. The second option takes me to a pic of the HD but I cannot choose for it to do anything else. If I press the arrow under the pic it boots normally.

How do I get to the boot setup so that I can choose an HD recovery? It is a Macbook Pro A1226 (silver keyboard). I am not even sure what version OS I am running. Please lead me properly.

Order the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard discs and use it to perform a clean install. Afterwards run Software Update to install the latest updates.
Finding your Mac OS X version and build information

The mac is running version 10.6.5. I cannot find any build info. I am going to buy the Snow Leopard discs today. I will see how things turn out. Will post again tonight.

Sorry, I did not know that OS was not something carried in stores. I ordered online and am awaiting its arrival in store. Should be there by Friday. Will post when it gets here.

Question:

As I was reading the clean install article I saw there are three options for the install. Which one should I choose?


Erase a Volume. Use these instructions to erase an entire volume. Be sure to back up all of your data first.

Format a Hard Drive. Use these instructions if you wish to erase an entire hard drive, including any volumes/partitions it may contain, and not create any new volumes/partitions. Be sure to back up all of your data first.

Partition a Hard Drive. Use these instructions if you wish to erase and partition a hard drive. Be sure to back up all of your data first.


I am not sure if I need the partition or not. Do I need to partition the drive or can this be done sometime later down the line?

Question:

As I was reading the clean install article I saw there are three options for the install. Which one should I choose?


Erase a Volume. Use these instructions to erase an entire volume. Be sure to back up all of your data first.

Format a Hard Drive. Use these instructions if you wish to erase an entire hard drive, including any volumes/partitions it may contain, and not create any new volumes/partitions. Be sure to back up all of your data first.

Partition a Hard Drive. Use these instructions if you wish to erase and partition a hard drive. Be sure to back up all of your data first.


I am not sure if I need the partition or not. Do I need to partition the drive or can this be done sometime later down the line?

These would better answer your questions regarding volume and partitions better than I ever could.
Volume
Partition or Partitions

Formatting a hard drive will map out any bad blocks that the drive may have that would cause problems. Either erasing or formatting a drive will wipe out all the data on the drive so if you need to keep anything I'd suggest you create a backup of them onto CDs, DVDs, flashdrives or an external hard drive. I don't partition my drives so I can't inform you of the pros and cons of partitioning.