Clear iMac HD before selling?

[hakr100]

I don't know why I can't remember this, but I can't...

I'm selling my iMac* and I want to clear everything off the hard drive and leave or simply reinstall Mavericks and whatever comes with Mavericks, and erase everything else.

I've done this before, more than once, but for some reason, I cannot remember exactly what to do and in what order.

Appreciate the steps.

Many thanks.


* Buying a new iMac.

 

[shaunp]

Either boot from the original DVD or the recovery partition and use disk utility to erase the partition. There is a secure wipe option there.

I wouldn't consider selling any disk without wiping it first. Chances are all would be good, but you never know.

 

[hakr100]

How do you boot from the Recovery Partition?

It's been years since I've done this.

 

[barkmonster]

hold down option as you reboot, choose the recovery partition.

Once it comes up, use disk utility from the menu to erase the HDD, then re-install a fresh OS so it's ready for a new user to setup once they buy it.

 

[AppleFan360]

Don't do that yet. There are some things to do before you wipe the hard drive like de-authorize itunes and turn off find my Mac. Follow these instructions:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5189