OS X :: How To Completely Wipe The Hdd Permanently.
Dec 3, 2008
Im selling my macbook and Im just wondering whats the best way to format the hard drive.
I have read online it is very easy to recover files and I do not want this to happen.
Can anyone tell me how to completely wipe the hdd permanently.
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Mar 25, 2012
My MBP has been acting strangly for more than two months now. It started with taking a couple minutes to locate the WiFi, then just general slowness, and now is so troublesome that I want to just wipe it completely to factory fresh and try again. I nearly chucked it out a wondow today, the first time a Mac has made me feel like I was using a PC.I originally posted quite awhile ago (url...) although 300+ reads got not a single reply. So I don't know whether I am even posting this in the right area.is this more likely a Lion problem? Or something else? I don't know and am tired of being stressed. Had an important paper to write today and probably should have used my iPhone rather than trying to convince my MBP to work.
I have repaired the permissions, zapped the PRAM, re-installed Lion, re-RE-installed Lion, and tried just living in Safe Boot Mode. I just want my Mac to work, as it always has in the past. So now, let's just start fresh and see what happens. Except guess what? I can't find any specific instructions as to how to even do THAT.So I am begging someone to give me simple instructions to erase my hard drive so I can just start over.
Info:
Mac OS X (10.7.2)
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Aug 28, 2009
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?
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Dec 2, 2009
I 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
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Feb 3, 2012
if you have a full backup, then you can macbook pro completely wipe and reinstall with the installation CD ofsnow leopard with nothing to lose?
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), macbook pro from 2006 with intel
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Dec 15, 2008
When 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?)
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Jun 20, 2012
I have just replaced my old eMac, and want to recycle it. So I need to wipe the HD. I tried to use Disc Utilities, and it wouldn't do it. I went to the page to restore/erase, etc. but when I selected my HD, the button for 'erase' was grayed out.
Info:
eMac, Mac OS X (10.3.9)
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Dec 5, 2010
I have an application that WILL NOT DELETE! I move it to the trash it does nothing. It stays there. I took my iMac to the Apple store and they said I would need to wipe my computer clean... I am fine with that but I have some expensive programs... i.e. Photoshop Lightroom etc. how can I keep those programs but wipe everything else?
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Mar 30, 2009
Like whenever I wipe down my keyboard on my MacBook. I always think how convinient that would be to have a keyboard lock because I don't feel like shutting down to do a wipe down.
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Mar 30, 2010
what I would like to is to wipe everything off my mac (second hand) so that I can start again with everything clean and fresh. I've done this sort of thing before with other Macs by simply reinstalling the the start up disk - but this is where the problem lies - the disk that came with the Mac is only for OS 10.4.10 (Tiger) and the Mac is currently running OS 10.5.6 (Leopard) and I don't really want to downgrade (the weird thing is the Mac came with Leopard from the factory so I don't know whey it wasn't supplied with the disk). So is there any way I can delete everything else off the Mac (files, programs - AND MOST IMPORTANTLY change the "home file" name) with out loosing Leopard?
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Aug 29, 2010
So I buy a MacBook Pro 13 (super local deal) and my second post here is how to sell it! (I'm thinking about selling or returing it and getting the 15.) I have not done anything but the usuall new computer stuff that you walk through up when you turn it on for the first time and downloading Open Office to try it out. What is the best way to clear any data and reset it to factory spec so I don't leave any information?
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Oct 28, 2010
I've owned my macbook air for less than 12 hours, and it's already f'd. I normally use a time-capsule to back up my old macbook. I had filevault turned on, on my old macbook (and so I guess it was also applied to the data on the time-capsule) -I turned on my new MBA and told it to take all the macbook data (including login profiles etc) off of my time capsule. I figured this would be easier than migrating components of the data over.-Now, I can't login to my profile on my new macbook air. I have the right password, but it's saying that filevault can access the data, or something. Maybe it's because it's not recognizing the new machine. -At this point, I just want to start fresh with the macbook air. I stuck that little reboot key in the usb port and re-installed the software. Unfortunately, after I did that, the old login profile (which I can't access) were still on there. I get it - I'm bad with computers. Even with the really user-friendly, idiot-proof ones.
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Dec 10, 2010
I just bought a new macbook pro and I want to wipe all the files and give my old one away as a gift. However I dont want anyone having a chance to recover any old files. Also, I do NOT have the intallation disk for my old mac...
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May 10, 2008
I've searched the forums, but nothing seems to answer my question specifically. I'm giving my computer to my mother and I wanted to permanently wipe all my data/documents for two reasons: 1. To allow her the maximum amount of space and 2. To clear up any embarrassing emails... etc. which I know I have.So,I diligently went in and erased all my mail from "Mail".I went into Users/MyName/Library -etc and found anything mail related and deleted that (as far as I could tell I was erasing all my folders, in box, out box, downloaded files etc.) I also hit "empty trash" after I deleted stuff. However, when I did a search using "spotlight" it was showing up old emails I thought I had permanently deleted. Eek! I found this by accident when I was teaching my mother about "spotlight". My mother's not computer savvy enough to even remember how to use spotlight... but nevertheless I don't want my stuff on there. Other than doing a clean swipe of my hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. (i had OS X 10.3.9) and a friend updated me to OS X 10.4 - yes for free... naughty me... I don't feel guilty coz I did buy a whole new computer coz my 3 1/2 year old couldn't do what I wanted anymore - ie burn dvds, video record, wifi, more than 40GB HD... so they made a lot of money out of me! Anyway. I also don't really want to wipe the applications just in case something happens to my new computer. I'd like to be able to use the old one as a back up.....
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Jun 8, 2009
I do believe installing a new OS will NOT affect one's existing program and data files.
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Jun 16, 2009
I am wondering how i can wipe all my personal data like files, folders, pictures, movies, personal settings BUT keep all the software on the machine like parallels, pages etc etc.
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Jul 17, 2009
Is 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?
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Feb 26, 2012
Where can find info to completely wipe my hard drive and then reload Lion and the other programs?
Info:Mac 20 desk Top, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
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Feb 27, 2012
I just bought a macbook and i have no disk how do i wipe out the memory?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8), i do not have any disks
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Mar 9, 2012
I'm trying to sell my macbook pro and I need to wipe the hard drive.
Info:MacBookPro
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Mar 23, 2012
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)
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Mar 31, 2012
i would like to know how i can wipe all my personalyy info from my mac
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May 20, 2012
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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May 21, 2012
I just picked up my compute from the genius bar with a new hard drive. When I turned it on and plugged in my external hard drive it gave me two choices of backups to use and they didn't have dates or versions, so I picked what I thought was the most recent. I chose incorrectly and now I have the computer from my freshman year in high school. Everyone says to hold command R at the startup but it isn't working. Perhaps I'm just doing it wrong. I have a regular macbook and am running Lion Version 10.7.3.
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Jun 11, 2012
I was moving around some files from an old to a new macbook pro and I ended up deleting some files so now whenever I try to put a file on the desktop it says that I don't have permission to do that operation. I just got this macbook and cant access my old one at the moment, so the question is: how do I totally wipe the hdd and install osx lion again?
Is it possible to open my macbook in target mode and delete everything then when I start it up, open it in recovery/rescue mode and install lion again from the servers, or do I need to wait and get my macbook again? I just want to use it like a brand new machine (no personal data on it). I already tried reinstalling lion, but that did nothing.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1), Quad Core i7 15" 4GB RAM
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Jun 22, 2012
How do you reset Mac OS X for a new user adn wipe all data?
Info:
MacBookPro, Mac OS X (10.0.x)
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Jun 28, 2012
I want to use my time Machine to reinstall what I have now, and install 10.7 Lion on the other partition, my question is the Lion next month for $19.95...is it a complete install, or a upgrade?
Info:
MacBook
Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iPad3
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Jul 3, 2012
I have a early 2012 Air, and just bought a new one last week. Migrated all my stuff but now need to get the old one back to new for my employee to use. No discs like we had with the Pro, and the alternative of wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Lion seems a little harsh. How would I reinstall Lion without the disc anyway?
Info:
MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Aug 28, 2014
My name is David, I have a macbook pro 10.9.4. I want to reset everything totally. I have notice that the erase button eliminates the zero data function also the secure button.
Info:
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), 10.9.4
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Aug 20, 2014
Yesterday my wife got conned by a scammer who logged into her 2012 Air and started hacking away. We have no idea how much data he got or how much spyware he planted. She shut down the machine shortly after he got into it, but now we're in limbo. I want to totally wipe the SSD (I've been strongly advised to do so) and restore it from a backup drive (we use Super Duper for backup, as well as Crash Plan). Any special tricks to doing a total wipe of the data?
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