How should I prepare my Mac before selling it?
October 27, 2008 7:49 PM Subscribe
What are all the things I should do to prepare an old iBook of mine before I sell it to another person (who I don't know and isn't related to me)?
I just got a MacBook and therefore and selling my old iBook G4 to someone on Craigslist. Here is my list of things I am doing:
1) clearing off old files (including images and documents and bookmarks)
2) Removing any programs I installed
3) Removing any fonts I purchased and installed
4) Creating a new admin account and removing my account
I never downloaded mail or sound files to this machine - I never even used iTunes on it. I never installed or used any kind of financial software, such as TaxCut or Quicken. This was mainly a machine for writing and internet (and occasional image processing in Photoshop, which I am of course deleting from the machine).
But what else do I need to do? Do I need to wipe the whole machine and reinstall? I am not highly confident in my ability to do that with a Mac. Is my list of precautions sufficient? Is there software I can purchase that will scrub my hard drive of personal files? It is my understanding that Macs are not like Windows and writing personal settings willy nilly all over the HD, but I wouldn't be here if I was 100% certain.
Also very happy to be sent in the direction of various links and reference points. Thank you.
I just got a MacBook and therefore and selling my old iBook G4 to someone on Craigslist. Here is my list of things I am doing:
1) clearing off old files (including images and documents and bookmarks)
2) Removing any programs I installed
3) Removing any fonts I purchased and installed
4) Creating a new admin account and removing my account
I never downloaded mail or sound files to this machine - I never even used iTunes on it. I never installed or used any kind of financial software, such as TaxCut or Quicken. This was mainly a machine for writing and internet (and occasional image processing in Photoshop, which I am of course deleting from the machine).
But what else do I need to do? Do I need to wipe the whole machine and reinstall? I am not highly confident in my ability to do that with a Mac. Is my list of precautions sufficient? Is there software I can purchase that will scrub my hard drive of personal files? It is my understanding that Macs are not like Windows and writing personal settings willy nilly all over the HD, but I wouldn't be here if I was 100% certain.
Also very happy to be sent in the direction of various links and reference points. Thank you.
Like dda says.
And the option is there much earlier than Leopard, but like dda, I don't remember when this became a feature. I want to say OS X.0, but could be wrong. Been there long enough that I can't remember a time when it wasn't.
Boot from the original install disc that came with your iBook (hold C key down with disc in drive).
Once booted, go to the one of the menus and select "disk utility." From there you should be able to wipe the disk using 1s and 0s. Up to you how paranoid you want to be. One pass is probably good, since you don't work for Homeland Security and say there's no data you care about on there.
Then reinstall the OS. Good to go.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:03 PM on October 27, 2008
And the option is there much earlier than Leopard, but like dda, I don't remember when this became a feature. I want to say OS X.0, but could be wrong. Been there long enough that I can't remember a time when it wasn't.
Boot from the original install disc that came with your iBook (hold C key down with disc in drive).
Once booted, go to the one of the menus and select "disk utility." From there you should be able to wipe the disk using 1s and 0s. Up to you how paranoid you want to be. One pass is probably good, since you don't work for Homeland Security and say there's no data you care about on there.
Then reinstall the OS. Good to go.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:03 PM on October 27, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Yep. Theres a wipe utility built into the Leopard (and perhaps earlier) disc. You'll see the option to zero the drive early in the install process. Anything less than that is opening yourself up to some type of liability.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:56 PM on October 27, 2008