I most likely have my iMac sold, so I've already moved all the important stuff to another mac. I will deauthorize itunes library, and plan to delete user accounts and just do an install of Tiger. Will this be sufficient to protect myself or will there be info left on the drive.
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How do you clear out a Mac?
- Thread starter mrthieme
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Thanks alot, that all sounds familiar now that you say it, any idea how long the 7 pass takes? The drive has about 50 gb used up.
nazmac21
macrumors 6502a
I think at least 2 hours but I am not so sure. Make sure you do the 7-Pass Erase on a day where you are not busy.
i personally think the 7-pass is a bit much, i'd be content with doing one pass of writing zeros to the drive, or for a bit more, do that twice. 7-pass is the extreme imo. but the safest too i suppose.
Actually I think the FBI "only" uses 7 passes. But Ofcourse, it's the FBI-they may very well be using 50 passes😉
jsw
Moderator emeritus
Unless you suspect the person who will get the computer next is going to take it to a data recovery service, one pass of zeroing things will be fine. 7-pass takes hours longer on a decent sized drive and provides only a marginal benefit in the most extreme of cases. Reinstalling the OS is going to further mess up the underlying drives, so I'd feel comfortable with just one pass and a reinstall.
no the fbi just sends it through a giant magnet a few thousand times then lets bomb squad have some fun.
ksgant
macrumors 6502a
I think standard FBI practice now is to remove the HD in question, then run it through a Blendtec blender featured on "Will It Blend"
Mmmm...hard drive smoothies....
Mmmm...hard drive smoothies....
synth3tik
macrumors 68040
Oh I though the standard practice of the FBI was to remove the HD, recycle the computer and leave the HDs in busy bus/train terminals.😀
Instead of posting a new thread I figured I'd just add to this one....
I'd like to use the above method however, my computers HD is damaged and sometimes it boots, however, sometimes it does not boot or it hangs while booting. I need to remove everything from my HD and I dont know how to other than the above method. Is there another way? I've heard of magnets? Anything like that?
A hotel damaged my computer and they are buying me a new one....however, they want my damaged one so there is no way I'm giving them my confidential info..no way! 😡
Thanks everyone. 🙂
nazmac21
macrumors 6502a
Instead of posting a new thread I figured I'd just add to this one....
I'd like to use the above method however, my computers HD is damaged and sometimes it boots, however, sometimes it does not boot or it hangs while booting. I need to remove everything from my HD and I dont know how to other than the above method. Is there another way? I've heard of magnets? Anything like that?
A hotel damaged my computer and they are buying me a new one....however, they want my damaged one so there is no way I'm giving them my confidential info..no way! 😡
Thanks everyone. 🙂
Do you still have AppleCare? Get that problem checked by Apple.
rdowns
macrumors Penryn
Hmmm...that's a thought, however I'm assuming they might want it whole. Any other ideas?
I'd tell 'em to poke it - they broke it, they give you a new one and you keep the old one... if they don't like it threaten to kick up a giant stink and they'll buckle. Otherwise do what was said above and give it to them with no drive, or a 2gb drive from a charity shop 😀
Thanks for that info.
On one last ditch effort, I booted off the install CD and discovered that the HD is "failing or has failed". Does this mean that the data is unrecoverable now? I cannot boot off of the HD now.
One good thing is that I'm learning a lot by doing all of this!🙂
Thanks for that info.
On one last ditch effort, I booted off the install CD and discovered that the HD is "failing or has failed". Does this mean that the data is unrecoverable now? I cannot boot off of the HD now.
One good thing is that I'm learning a lot by doing all of this!🙂
No, it doesn't mean that the data is unrecoverable. Your HDD is probably damaged badly, but the data on the undamaged part is still there. If you take out the disk and hook it up with a USB external HDD case to another computer, you might still get to some (most) of the data on the HDD.
Best thing to do is take it out, replace it with another disk and 'kill' the damaged disk by taking it a part. You could also hook it up to another computer (with a USB external HDD case), and copy the data you still need and than format like already explained in the thread.
Mind, if the HDD is damaged and you're gonna use it in a external HDD case, the disk will in the end get more and more damaged. So, it's not a good backup device... I use one as I would use a USB-stick, to quickly copy data to another computer witch is not on my network... It's not realy good because it's pretty slow because it's damaged, but it's a low butget way if you're not in a hurry...
theBB
macrumors 68020
If you keep confidential files in encrypted disk images, you won't have to worry even if you cannot access the drive to erase them. I mean, it is too late for this one, but just an idea for your next setup.
BTW, if you are planning to try to take out the drive, you can try SATA to USB adaptors instead of a full fledged enclosure. I don't remember who makes them now, but I remember MacWorld having a review about them recently.
BTW, if you are planning to try to take out the drive, you can try SATA to USB adaptors instead of a full fledged enclosure. I don't remember who makes them now, but I remember MacWorld having a review about them recently.