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How do you reformat the iPad?

H

harpy

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 3, 2010
58
0
I'm on the verge of getting one, but one thing I want to figure out is how easy it will be to reformat the device if I want to sell it later on eBay?

If I load the iPad up with pdfs, movies, apps, photos, documents, etc. How easy will it be to scrub the system clean of all of that so I can sell it to someone?

I get that with iTunes you can get rid of a lot of content, but I suspect I'd be using lots of specialty apps that will transfer content over without using iTunes. So deleting files might not be as effortless as just using iTunes.

So is there just some format setting that can be done to clean the whole iPad of personal content and get it back to a factory state?
 
U

Uchiha1911

macrumors newbie
Mar 15, 2010
26
0
harpy said:
I'm on the verge of getting one, but one thing I want to figure out is how easy it will be to reformat the device if I want to sell it later on eBay?

If I load the iPad up with pdfs, movies, apps, photos, documents, etc. How easy will it be to scrub the system clean of all of that so I can sell it to someone?

I get that with iTunes you can get rid of a lot of content, but I suspect I'd be using lots of specialty apps that will transfer content over without using iTunes. So deleting files might not be as effortless as just using iTunes.

So is there just some format setting that can be done to clean the whole iPad of personal content and get it back to a factory state?
Click to expand...

I do not own an iPad, but I guess there's a 'restore' option for the iPad (just like the iPod Touch and iPhone), which brings it back to factory state ;)
 
T

Tech-Boy

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2010
101
0
harpy said:
I'm on the verge of getting one, but one thing I want to figure out is how easy it will be to reformat the device if I want to sell it later on eBay?

If I load the iPad up with pdfs, movies, apps, photos, documents, etc. How easy will it be to scrub the system clean of all of that so I can sell it to someone?

I get that with iTunes you can get rid of a lot of content, but I suspect I'd be using lots of specialty apps that will transfer content over without using iTunes. So deleting files might not be as effortless as just using iTunes.

So is there just some format setting that can be done to clean the whole iPad of personal content and get it back to a factory state?
Click to expand...

Just hit the restore button. Done. However I would still be able to get through that and get mos of your files if I wanted too. So take a song, duplicate it to the size of the iPad's flash memory and copy it over, then restore. That way even if someone get's through it, like after any format, all they will see is the song duplicated hundreds of times.
 
H

harpy

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 3, 2010
58
0
Tech-Boy said:
Just hit the restore button. Done. However I would still be able to get through that and get mos of your files if I wanted too. So take a song, duplicate it to the size of the iPad's flash memory and copy it over, then restore. That way even if someone get's through it, like after any format, all they will see is the song duplicated hundreds of times.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I think that is the key information I was after. It's too bad there isn't a true reformatting, but an overwriting work around will do in a pinch. Getting rid of personal information is going to be essential to selling it off to a stranger.
 
V

voidptr

macrumors regular
Jan 11, 2007
127
0
Tech-Boy said:
Just hit the restore button. Done. However I would still be able to get through that and get mos of your files if I wanted too. So take a song, duplicate it to the size of the iPad's flash memory and copy it over, then restore. That way even if someone get's through it, like after any format, all they will see is the song duplicated hundreds of times.
Click to expand...

Given how long a "Reset all Settings and Content" from the settings app takes, I'm pretty sure it's doing a complete flash erase.
 
A

Alrescha

macrumors 68020
Jan 1, 2008
2,156
317
voidptr said:
Given how long a "Reset all Settings and Content" from the settings app takes, I'm pretty sure it's doing a complete flash erase.
Click to expand...

Newer iPhoneOS devices (and presumably the iPad) use hardware encryption. When you restore/erase, the encryption key is cleared and the data is effectively gone. Should happen instantaneously.

A.
 
V

voidptr

macrumors regular
Jan 11, 2007
127
0
Alrescha said:
Newer iPhoneOS devices (and presumably the iPad) use hardware encryption. When you restore/erase, the encryption key is cleared and the data is effectively gone. Should happen instantaneously.

A.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I stand corrected. The original iPhone does a full erase, the 3GS and iPad just regenerate encryption keys. Either way, it's secure. No need to try and trick iTunes into syncing GBs of garbage first.
 
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