I'm selling my old white Macbook so I can purchase the new Unibody one. I wasn't sure how exactly to "wipe" my old hard drive on Mac. Do I have to install the OS all over again? Did my Macbook come with the disc so I could do this? If not, is there a way to wipe everything without formatting the hard drive?
View 11 RepliesWhen using the Disk Utility free space wipe to wipe sensitive data (using the 7 times option), I thought that would be sufficient.
I was wondering though, does the free space wipe option also wipe the slack files on the hard drive? Is this even an issue for a Mac? (I know on Windows the slack file needs to be wiped for a completely secure erase, right?)
I'm trying to sell my macbook pro and I need to wipe the hard drive.
Info:MacBookPro
I have a white Macbook. 160GB hard drive. late 2009.I am running OS X Lion 10.7.3 I was looking at my storage statistics and it shows that i have 50gb of "other." How do I get rid or minimize this "other" data? it is taking up a 32% of my hard drive...Or, is there a way to completely erase all files and data, but still keep my OS installed?
Info:MacBook (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
I need to dispose of my old MacBook - what's the best way to remove all of the information on it before I put it on Kijiji? Don't want my photos/browsing history/cookies passed on to anyone..
Info:
MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007)
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I apologize as I suspect this post would be better placed in a Mac os x forum instead. When I had a PC, I would periodically (once a year) wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. I found this helped to have the computer run quicker, I assumed by cleaning the registry out.
Obviously my Mac runs a number of maintenance protocols that help to mitigate this. Regardless, is there any benefit to a wipe and a reinstall from time capsule, or would the results be effectively the same?
After seeing the system requirements for Windows 7, I decided to upgrade to a larger hard drive later this week. I plan on giving my old 160 gig drive to a friend who uses Windows but I want to wipe it clean first. Do I insert my Leopard disc and use disk utility to reformat?
View 3 Replies View Relatedi am sending back my new mbp for the new one. how do i wipe the hard drive and back up my itunes?
View 6 Replies View RelatedI spilled coffee all over my MacBook Pro and since it is not covered by AppleCare it will cost $1,200 to fix. I can still turn it on but most of the keyboard isn't working properly. I got it back in July 2007 (15" 2.4ghz 160gb) and I think I'm going to buy a new one. I managed to get all of my school work off of it even thought it took awhile and was very frustrating. My question is, is there anyway to completely wipe the hard drive then sell it? I was trying to look on eBay
View 16 Replies View RelatedI recently sold my older MBP and already backed up the system via Time Machine. However, I need to wipe clean the hard drive for the new user. Is there a clear cut way to restore the system? I do not have the boot drive with me as I am traveling but would like to know if there is a way without using the disk.
View 4 Replies View RelatedMy MacBook Pro won't recognize my portable hard drive, so I can't format it.
View 6 Replies View RelatedI'm selling my Macbook Pro and the buyer said when formatting my harddrive, I don't need to reinstall the OS (10.6.8) because he is going to install 10.7 on it. This is good news for me because I don't have the OS installation disk anymore. I read somewhere that it could be possible to format my hard drive using another Mac (my roommate has a Macbook so that works) but I can't seem to find exact instructions.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
I asked about running Snow Leopard on my mac after a hard drive fail. I'm having issues with formatting a new hard drive in my mac. I have a 2007 black macbook and I'm trying to run a 160gb SATA seagate hard drive. After replacing this hard drive, I booted my mac up from cd, ran through setup fine until I got to the 'select a drive to install to' - the point where my hard drive should be visible. Nothing there at all. Nothing to click on in the box. My question is, is there a process I need to undertake to format the hard drive or is this an indicator of a much bigger problem?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)
My hard drive died last week on my MacBook and I failed to back up anything forever the last couple of months. Anyway, I took it to the genius bar and they confirmed its death, and showed me how to replace it. I decided to go ahead and do so on my own, and also upgraded the memory while I was in there. I also decided to upgrade to lion since my DVD drive was giving me trouble and it'd be easier to use the USB - and yes the computer meets the requirements for Lion.The problem is that when I try to boot up to format the HD, I only get a black screen. No disk utility when holding option, nothing. What am I doing wrong?
Info:
MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007)
I think I'm going to format my hard drive to delete everything from it and start fresh with leopard. I already have leopard installed, but I think I should just format my hard drive (after backing up what I truly need like my music and other files) and then just install leopard.
Question, I have read that I go to disk utility to do this (format and install leopard), is this correct? If so, what else do I need to know before I do this?
I just bout this Western Digital External Hard drive, Passport SE. Anyways, I formatted it to MS-DOS (FAT) so I can use on mac and/or windows. One of the other main reasons I bought it was so I could use it to watch videos on my Xbox 360.
Now I've seen tutorials online with windows how to re-format it to FAT32 so it works properly on xbox 360 but cannot figure it out on mac? On some of the tutorials they use certain programs to do it, is there something like that for mac I can download? Is fat32 and fat the same? I know there has to be a way for me to be able to format it to FAT32 using mac.
How I synchronize again devices after formating harddrive?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Ive recently purchased a new external hard drive. I plan to use it on both Apple and Windows OS.
I was told that if I do, then i could corrupt the files/data that I will be accessing on both computers.
Is there a "universal" format for an external drive which would prevent/avoid this kind of thing happening ? How should i format it or which format should i use so that i can use the drive both OS ?
Info:
MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7)
got a real basic question to ask and you're gonna think im an idiot for asking...I just bought a 320gb western digital elements hard drive and want to reformat it so that its compatible for both mac and pc's. i intend to format it as NTFS-3G as it would allow me to use it on the 2 platforms without having the 4GB file size restriction that fat32 has, anyway.....
when I go to reformat my external hard drive in disk utility, I see my external hard drive to the left, and there's a "sub" hard drive as a child of the external hd listed uppermost. just wandering which one of the two do i select before going to Erase>Windows NT filesystem (NTFS-3G)>erase? Do I select the uppermost drive and erase that or the lower one? or both
I was using my Mac (Macbook Pro 15" screen) and tried opening a file in GarageBand, at which point a warning message came up saying something about a midi file and something not being allowed, and then froze, resulting in me having to switch the computer off from the power button and restarting (Sadly I didnt realise that this would be the start of a whole host of problems and didnt make a note of the warning message). After rebooting I got the 'stuck on the blue screen with the Apple logo and infinitly spinning wheel' problem that i've seen in a few posts. having tried numerous suggestions posted with no change I ended up taking it to the genius section of an Apple store. When i got it back they said that it may have been a corrupted file, and that they re-installed and reset the starting programs (Something along those lines, I cant quite remember). I can now get onto the computer and use it, though some new problems have arisen.......
View 1 Replies View RelatedIs there a way to physically wipe a hard drive (Not a SSD, or Flash drive or anything), but still have it be in working condition.
Like, run a magnet over it, and then restore it to a (workable) format in any OS?
I just got my new Seagate 640gb external hard drive and am in the process of formatting it on my MBP. However, I am not sure which format to do? My main use for the hard drive is for transferring media files back and forth between my MBP and PC using just one partition on the drive. I already know I'm not supposed to pick 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' because I believe that is to use it as a boot drive. So should I pick 'Mac OS Extended' or maybe 'Free Space'?
View 12 Replies View RelatedThis is my first time posting on the forums here, however I've gotten through many a problem in the past. I haven't really been able to find anything that addresses my specific issue, Here is my situation: I got a new iMac after my first one died on me (R.I.P.) the hard drive from the first one is still good and I'm using it via an external enclosure. The new iMac came and I needed to start using it ASAP (school/work) before being able to migrate using the old HD (had to wait on the enclosure to get here.) Now that I'm able to do so (migrate) I'm having a lot of trouble. Is it because I started a new user account? Do I need to wipe the new HD and start from scratch? Migration assistant gave me the option to replace existing user which I chose, however that did not seem to work. I've done it a couple times and tried a couple different ways and the only thing I've been able to do is have the option of booting up using either user. What do I need to do to get everything I need from my old HD? The biggest problem I'm having is getting my new iTunes to find my iPhone backup (contacts, notes etc.) from my old computer/HD along with the whole 2 user thing?
View 4 Replies View RelatedBasically I'm trying to install windows xp on my macbook and bootcamp is telling me i need to defragment my hard drive. So i have a few questions. 1. First i don't know the best way to back up all my stuff without having to copy all of it back (I'm hoping to just reload the bare essentials so i can start fresh) - will time machine work well or should i manually grab all my essential files and drag em over to my external hd? Will my stuff be defragmented when i load it all back onto my mac? 2. If i just copy my itunes folder to the external HD, will it save my tags, artwork and library? For Iphoto too, if I just copy the folder will it remember my library? 3. Which system/library folders are essential, what besides my documents, pictures, music, movies and games 4. Is there anyway to copy over applications like Logic 8 and Microsoft Word and not have to reinstall them, and is it worth it?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI recently destroyed my Macbook pro (didn't react to well to a cider) and I have contacted my insurance company who are going to send out a new one. They initially suggested that I get to keep the hardrive from the machine, but now they are insinuating that I have to send in the entire machine. I have lots of data on the drive including unprotected bank details and other sensitive information.
I somehow need to wipe this clean by monday when I need to send it off. Problem is I have no idea how to do this, the machine won't boot, all I have is a imac, I don't even have a fire wire cable that is compatible between the two machines so I can't start it in target disk mode. I refuse to send it to them with my data on it so my last resort will be to destroy the drive itself (although how I do this without causing structural damage is beyond me).
I just bought this and i have 24 MB left on my macbook, is there an option in the installer to format the hard drive?
View 5 Replies View RelatedI have a 5 year old iMac that has started to behave strangely.
First Microsoft Office, which had been running just fine for years, now won't open (an error required it to close). When I installed OpenOffice.org, that also showed the same message when I fired it up. Other apps are closing suddenly at a rate much higher than previously.
I have already applied advice I gleaned from the web, and forums. Problem persists.
I figure that I might as well do my very first rebuild, rather than spending ages trying to figure out the problem. With the PC, it was an annual event, so I got used to it, but I've never had the need to rebuild a Mac.
Are there any reliable web pages that tell how to wipe the hard drive and start again?
Is there any quick, easy way I can wipe my iBook G4's hard drive, leaving only the operating system?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI have a removeable hard drive(with more than enough space) and a mac mini. What do you all figure is the best way to wipe my hard drive and reinstal a fresh copy of OSX while maintiang all my programs, files and settings?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI reformat my mac every now and then. It's probably not great for my hard drive, but what can you do?I like the "clean" feel of a fresh OS install...
Most of my media, though, is on an external hard drive. Whenever I reformat, I have to re-rank my songs. Is there a way I can save the ranking of my songs?
