Formatting a MacBook completely before selling?

[georgecc]

Hi:
I'll probably be selling my Macbook soon, which has OSX Tiger plus Windows XP installed via bootcamp. Should I just use OSX's default options to reload everything (I assume there is one), or are there other steps/ software I should take so the new owner can't potentially recover/ see any old files on the computer? There's probably some credit card and financial info on the laptop I wish to keep private for good, especially on the Windows side.

Thanks,

 

[gnasher729]

Hi:
I'll probably be selling my Macbook soon, which has OSX Tiger plus Windows XP installed via bootcamp. Should I just use OSX's default options to reload everything (I assume there is one), or are there other steps/ software I should take so the new owner can't potentially recover/ see any old files on the computer? There's probably some credit card and financial info on the laptop I wish to keep private for good, especially on the Windows side.

Thanks,

Boot from the install DVD. Then choose "Disk Utility" instead of installing a new system, and that lets you erase the complete harddisk with a choice of security options.

 

[iJawn108]

i'd go for the 7 step if you are concerned about personal files. From a person who works in forensic recovery 9-10 zeroing out's of the drive would make it virtually impossible to recover but 7 should be more than enough.

 

[georgecc]

Thanks guys, it's nice to know OSX has this ability.