Mac OS X Lion installation stuck on "Loading Installation Information" The issue:

Original Mac Book Air, model A1237
Has probably not been used or charged in a long time
Has probably ran 10.7 Lion

Doing the following:

Use Command+R to enter recovery mode
Use Disk Utility to erase hard drive
Connect to wifi network
Select Reinstall Mac OS X
Hit Continue twice

It now shows &quot;Loading Installation Information&quot;, for a long time, possibly forever.
The clock may have been reset. Setting the clock may resolve this problem.

Enter recovery mode.
Select Utilites in the menu bar.
Open the Terminal.
Type: date {month}{day}{hour}{minute}{year}, e.g. date 0804221520 for August 4 2020, 22:15.
Try running the installation again. It should now proceed in less than a minute.

If this does not help, showing the &quot;Istaller logs&quot; may provide hints why it takes too long.