How do i re-boot.

Use the install discs that came with your computer and do a clean install (not sure of the exact term, not an archive and install). This should leave you with a computer as it was when you first turned it on.

 

yepp, put the restore disk in and restart the computer holding down the C key. It'll walk you through.. but you want to do an erase and install, like aspro said.

 

You're going to need your System Restore discs for that...they came with your MacBook and are loaded with everything you need to start fresh. Pop it in, and then restart your computer while holding the 'C' key on your keyboard. This will make your MacBook boot from the Restore disc.

Once it's all loaded and you choose your language, go to the Disk Utility (from one of the menus up top), and erase your hard drive. Mind you, check again to make sure you have everything backed up at this point, because this cannot be undone unless you want to pay thousands of dollars.

Once your hard drive is erased, exit the Disk Utility and proceed with the install/restore process. It's pretty straightforward, so you shouldn't have any problems.

If you have any questions, giv'er!

 

You don't go through a step of erase old crap now install system. When you do your install all your old crap is wiped out.

 

That is not entirely true. What is done is what we use to call a high level reformat. Basicly it erases all of the entries in the directory but leaves the data intact on the HD. When you then write the new system and files to the HD the data is overwritten. So long as the amount of data written is more than the amount originally on the disk the data is destroyed. But usually the reinstall is much smaller since no data files have yet been written to the disk. This is all right so long as the reason for the initialization the disk is to simply get rid of the clutter. If however it is being done to eliminate sensitive data it is not. There are rather simple tools that permit the examination of the portions of the HD that have not as yet been overwritten.

If security is an issue (you are selling the machine for example) a better approach is once you have booted from the supplied system disk is to select the "Disk Utilities" from the menu bar and a "Secure Erase" of the HD. This not only destroys the directory but over writes every sector on the disk. There are 3 options a 1 pass overwrite; a 7 pass overwrite and a 35 pass overwrite. Since writing to every sector on an HD is a fairly lengthy process the more passes the longer it takes. My experience has been that it takes about 1 hour for each pass on a 100 Gb disk. A one pass overwrite will render the disk secure from all but the some of the most difficult and expensive data recovery methods (generally disassembling the drive and placing the platters in a special drive equipped with rather special heads that can sense data along the edges of the recorded track). A 7 pass overwrite, according to Apple meets DOD standards for making data unrecoverable. Need I say anything about a 35 pass...

In any event in most cases (unless he has some how piqued the attention of the Homeland Security Dept. interest) a one pass overwrite is probably all that is needed. BTW doing a secure erase of files when you empty the trash does pretty much the same thing. But... be aware that there is no secure erase of most scratch or cache files used by various applications.