How to restore my macbook to its orginal settings ?

cudo

macrumors 6502

Original poster

• Mar 28, 2008

• #1

hi, i need to sell my macbook and want ot restore it to its orginal setting and wipe all the date i store. how do i do it ? and one more thing i got no CDs on me at the moment. can i do it without CDs ?

cudo

 

M

myuserid08

macrumors 6502

• Mar 28, 2008

• #2

Yes, you need the restore CD's. Have a look on eBay for tiger/leopard whichever your using.

 

gnasher729

Suspended

• Mar 28, 2008

• #3

cudo said:

hi, i need to sell my macbook and want ot restore it to its orginal setting and wipe all the date i store. how do i do it ? and one more thing i got no CDs on me at the moment. can i do it without CDs ?

cudo

Click to expand...

You'll need the original CDs to restore to the original state, with all your user data gone and all the iLife applications still there.

You should be reasonably safe if you delete the contents of your home directory, empty the trash, then start Disk Utility, and find the option to erase all unused hard drive space to zeroes. On the other hand, the buyer might not be too happy about buying without the original CDs.

 

krye

macrumors 68000

• Mar 28, 2008

• #4

Setup a new user account called Administrator w/o a password. Log in, and go to System Preferences. Delete your old user account. That's it. Just inform the buyer that the login is "Administrator" w/o a password so they can login and set up their own account;.

You don't really need to reinstall OSX. Besides, the new owner might just go out and buy Leopard anyway.

 

P

priller

macrumors regular

• Mar 28, 2008

• #5

krye said:

Setup a new user account called Administrator w/o a password. Log in, and go to System Preferences. Delete your old user account. That's it.

Click to expand...

Your data can still be recovered if it isn't overwritten.

 

MacDaddy08

macrumors regular

• Mar 28, 2008

• #6

You best bet it to do a complete format and reinstall in order to confirm all your data is erased. Without the CDs you will basically have to backup all your data to an external drive, delete anything and everything personal. All documents, all the application stores in the library and empty your trash. Even after you do all that, there is still the possibility of someone recovering your data. You really need some install CDs. Or just take out the hard drive and sell it without a hard drive or OS.