2011 iMac 27, need help installing os.

[AustinInDallas]

It was a return and I think the warranty started when it was first sold

 

[Childs]

OS X recovery disk assistant requires a working os

Thats why I said to install to a thumb drive or boot from another Mac.

Restarted unexpectedly might mean RAM. Have any to swap out? If not, you could run memtest for awhile and see if it catches anything. Otherwise, you could just use the warranty. Unfortunately, there is not much to test in these iMacs that you could test hardware wise.

 

[TheStu]

It was a return and I think the warranty started when it was first sold

Right, did the math wrong.

 

[rugby]

It was a return and I think the warranty started when it was first sold

Return it then.