Erasing personal info

[TomBramwell4]

I'm selling my iMac and need to know how to erase all of my personal information. There is not much on it, just a few papers and resumes? But I'd like to get it off of my Mac and restore to original settings.

 

[jav6454]

Reinstall entire OS. Also, if you are really paranoid do a zero pass 35 times. That securely wipes any and all data.

 

[TomBramwell4]

Don't have CDs and how do I do it?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Don't have CDs and how do I do it?

What OS is on there or came with it?

• Perform a Clean Install of OS X Lion on Your Mac
• How to Clean Install OS X Mountain Lion
• How to Do a Clean Install of OS X Mountain Lion

And one ZERO OUT is enough. It is done via Disk Utility started from the Installer.

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Links to guides on how to use Disk Utility, the application Mac OS X provides for managing internal and external HDD/SSDs and its formats.

Guide on how to use Disk Utility from the restore / installation DVD.

Using Disk Utility - Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks

which includes:

• Format, Erase, or Reformat a Drive
• Erase or Reformat a Partition
• Add a Partition
• Deleting and Resizing Partitions
• Disk Formats

and some more guides
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DiskWiping – One Pass is Enough​

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