I just want to know, is it OK to erase the whole internal drive (not 'Macintosh HD' partition) and install a clean Lion? Will all the partitions be lost after erasing the drive? And when a new Lion is installed, will it automatically create two partitions: "Macintosh HD" and "Recovery HD"?
Info:
Mac OS X (10.7)
I want to erase everything on my hard drive as I want to give it away to someone. It has Lion on it.
I tried to erase using Disk Utility but the disks were grayed out. I have saved all the data on another disk so I can completely erase the drive.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
I tried reformatting while running Snow Leopard, but the option was grayed out and the install disc made the computer hang at the white bootup screen. I figured I'd just upgrade to Lion and do a clean install (not an option).
After upgrading to Lion, I booted into recovery to erase the hard drive. I did it and it took less than ten seconds (bad sign).
Now I can't get past recovery and the hard drive is still full.
Info:
Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7)
I replaced a 1 TB external drive partiotioned in 2 with a 3 TB extrnal drive run/store my corbon copy cloner back up and time machine.
The 3 TB drive was successfully partitioned through the disk utility and both back ups are installed and the initial back up is complete.
My question is about the 1 TB drive. I want to completely erase all data from the drive in order to use it for a different use.
Using disk utility one of the partitions deleted without incident when following the same protocol the second partition produced error messages.
Volume erase failed
Volume Erase failed with the error:
Couldn’t unmount disk.
If I try to eject the disk
It says it will not eject becaus e a program may be using it...
The only program that utilized this partition is Carbon Copy Cloner which is not being utilized on the new 3TB drive.
I do not see where there is a option to have more than on disk chosen for this purpose so am unsure why the disk utility is seeing the old partion as still in use.
I've just transferred my data to a new computer and now need to erase the hard drive on my old one.. I've tried Disk Utility, increased the security, and tried 'erase' but I keep getting an error message "couldn't unmount disk". I've gone into Partitions and tried deleting the HD there as well but I get the same message. I just want to get the computer securely wiped and would like to keep Lion as the operating system.
Info:
Macbook 2GB ram, Mac OS X (10.4.9)
I've been having problems booting into my OSX partition. At the time it started I wasn't using my Macbook Pro (Late 2009) very often so whenever I needed I just booted up into my BOOTCAMP partition. Anyways, I decided to finally stop being lazy and do a clean install. There's nothing on either partition of the same hard drive that I want. I put together a bootable USB drive and boot from it. From here I go to the Disk Utility and try to erase the entire drive. It gives me this error: URL....
Now, that's not a screenshot from my mac but its the exact same error. Anyways, I've tried to find something on point but I just can't. Some posts have stated that the hard drive is broken, but if that's the case why can I start up the BOOTCAMP partition of the exact same drive flawlessly? I can even manipulate files on the OSX partition from Windows 7.
Info:
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)
I recently tried to install a back-up copy of Leopard onto a USB hard drive, as a precautionary measure if my drive ever did die. I had partitioned my drive into 3. One for the Leopard Boot (Mac OS Extended Journaled), one for Apps (Mac OS Extended Journaled) and one for files (FAT 32).
The installation pooped out on me, probably due to the amount of free space available.
Earlier this week, I decided to reformat the drive into 1 partition. Unfortunately I ran into a spot of bother....
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
And when running First Aid - I get this:
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch
I bought an imac 2 years ago, and updated it to leopard when that was released.
I no longer have the discs i used for Leopard, only the original mac os x 10.4 discs.I am very soon going to be selling this machine and need to wipe everything so that all is left if the operating system in the form you would expect as if you had just bought a new mac.How can this be achieved, i tried disck utility> erase, but only erase free space was 'highlighted'.
How do I erase mountain lion developer preview and go back to Lion 10.7? I do not have lion or data backed up on my Air
I need a step by step instructions since I have never done this before, willing to set up partition if needed.
Info:
MacBook Air, Mountain Lion
I am going to be selling my trusty 12" PowerBook G4 to a friend soon, and putting the money I get from that towards a last revision 15" PowerBook G4. After I transfer my data from the 12" to the 15", I want to completely and securely erase my hard drive. The thing is, I don't know how to do this! I've never formatted/erased a hard drive before.
View 14 Replies View RelatedI am using a macbook with an Intel Core 2 Duo (about two years old) and I am running leopard (10.5.8).
I have been using a Western Digital 250GB External Hard Drive with a firewire connection to utilize Time Machine for the past 6 months. All was going reasonably well until recently. (It would occasionally get stuck backing up and I would have to restart my computer and then backup again, but otherwise ok)
Last week I turned my computer on and it didn't recognize the drive. It gave me the "Initialize" "Ignore" option screen. I tried everything before I tried erasing it, but eventually I decided to lose all of that backed up data and just erase the drive and start from scratch. (I backed up on a different drive prior to trying this.)
Anyway, now when I go into Disk Utility and click on the Erase tab and then try to erase the drive (doesn't matter which erase option I choose) it says it is unable to erase the drive. If it is plugged in w/the Firewire cable then it gives me an "Invalid Argument" error. If it is plugged in with the USB cable, it gives me a input/output failure error.
Does anyone know if I can fix this drive? Any ideas as to what may have caused the problem in the 1st place. Months ago I accidently unplugged the drive without ejecting, but it worked for for a long time after that.
I'm in a bind. I want to sell my MacBook Pro, but my dad threw away the installation DVDs that would allow me to erase the hard drive. What's the best option here? I was thinking that I could purchase the upgrade version of Leopard on Ebay since it's cheaper than the full version of snow leopard... but would that allow me to erase the hard drive?
View 14 Replies View RelatedIs there anyway to erase my hard drive on my old broken mbp? (fried logic board) I want to sell the whole unit, but feel that the only thing i could do is take out the hard drive and sell everything else. Id prefer to not have to dismantle my mbp as it is somewhat time consuming. Is there a way to erase it within the mac?
View 2 Replies View RelatedInstalled m4 crucial SSD and I cannot erase and format new drive. I get an error "wiping volume data to prevent future accidental probing failed."
Info:
MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
How do I erase my hard drive? In Utility>Disk Utility, but the only option highlighted is "Erase Free Space".
Info:
MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.5.8)
i just erased my external hard drive through disk utility my accident. I had VERY important files and the 1tb was full.
View 3 Replies View RelatedGonna turn in my MBP later this week, because of a broken hard drive. What do I do before turning it in? Should I clone the drive (for backup) and then format and zero it out, to remove personal information?
View 5 Replies View RelatedI have a mac I want to sell. How can I be sure that all of my private data is completely erased? Does a fresh install (complete) of OS X work?
View 5 Replies View RelatedIs there any reason to erase hard drive and do a new install other than selling mac or new os?
View 3 Replies View RelatedIt looks like I have to reinstall my OS. Does anyone know if you 'must' erase your drive when reinstalling OSX? I don't even know if my drive is there still but want to know in case I can save all of my data that has not been backed up.
View 1 Replies View RelatedIf Apple erases the hard drive for you when you recycle an old emac with them or must I do it myself. How is this done?
Info:
eMac (ATI Graphics), Mac OS X (10.3.x)
I can't seem to find any instructions online about how to do this, step by step. Want to make sure all personal data is erased. I'm interested in performing a full format that at the very least zeros out the data on disk.
Info:
Power Mac G5, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
Macbook OS X 10.5.8 and a WD 10EAVS 1TB External Hard Drive. That's all. I was given this by a fellow student on campus who was graduating. So I want to use this to store my iTunes Library (my Macbook's hard drive ran out of space). Here's what I do:
- Macbook is turned on and running
- I plug the external hard drive into a working outlet --> Hard drive turns on
- I plug the external hard drive into the mac using a USB connection --> Disk Insertion Error message: the disk you insterted was not readable by this computer
- It is not readable so I open it in Disk Utility (the hard drive is listed/recognized)
- I attempt to erase and/or partition the hard drive in order to format it in Mac OS Extended OR Mac OS Extended (Journaled), but I get one of these two messages: "Disk Erase failed with the error: File system formatter failed." OR "Disk Erase failed with the error: The underlying task reported failure on exit."
I attempted to look up what these mean or how to fix the problem but nothing is really working. I was able to format the hardware line to MS-DOS (FAT) and the sub-line as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) but I don't even know if that's right or not.Basically, I need my computer to recognize this hard drive whenever I plug it in and to run smoothly as "extra space" to store my music on.I haven't had A LOT of experience with external hard drives but enough to get things done. But this problem is a killer.
Info:
mac book, Mac OS X (10.5.6)
My USB drive suddenly became read only after months of problem free use on both Mac and PC.
As you can see I have no options to change permissions and Disk Utility won't let me erase the drive. When I verify the drive DU says it needs to be repaired but it won't let me do so since it is read-only...
I'm running on a mid-2010 MBP with OS X 10.9.3. The key itself is a no name brand with no write protection switch.
I want to carbon copy my bootable external drive to my main internal bootable hard drive so I tried to use Disk Utility to erase it but it will indicate that it failed and can't unmount. When I tried to manually unmount by dragging it to the trash it indicated that it is in use. I can't understand why it's in use since I booted from the external drive which I wanted to the copy to the internal drive.
View 2 Replies View RelatedThe Western Digital hard drive inside of my MacBook has been loud lately, so I requested that they send me a new one. I received the new one, and I need to send them my old one within 30 days. Now, I'm faced with the dilemma of erasing the hard drive so my information won't be in the hands of someone else. So, what is the best way that I can erase the entire drive before sending it over to Western Digital?
View 2 Replies View RelatedWhen installing Snow Leopard, will it erase my hard drive and force me to start all over or will it just update the software and keep everything the way it is on my Mac now?
View 6 Replies View RelatedVery new wth mac. Got my first power mac G5 running OS x 10.5.8. I want to add second hard drive. I took the 320GB hard drive out of my Dish Network HD DVR receiver. Tried to erase the data from the drive by using Disk Utility and did not go through. It detect the drive but show 0 byte. Does anyone know what can I do?
View 4 Replies View RelatedI recently had a problem with bootcamp so I tried to use time machine to backup my Macbook Pro. However it made an attempt to erase my HD so I immediately pulled out the cables and shutdown the program. However my disk is now "not readable by this computer" I have attempted a rebuild with diskwarrior but with no success. How to get my disk working again without having to format it?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI have my external HDD partitioned for my Media storage and for Time Machine. Unfortunately, my mac is having problems and I want to back up my computer to reinstall Lion. Problem is...Time Machine is also not backing up anymore (last backup was 2 months ago). So I want to erase the Time Machine volume of my HDD so I can use SuperDuper to backup my hard drive...but of course I don't want to erase the media partion. So...using Disk Utility, I can just erase the Time Machine partion (volume) of the HDD and leave the Media portion intact, correct? I would hate to erase the Time Machine volume and find out the Disk Utility also erased all my music and movies too!
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
