How to reset Mac mini?

Hi,

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065

 

Instructions from Apple.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065

 

Why don't you boot from a USB flash drive and do a fresh install of OSX?

 

Just create them a user account on the mini and then either delete yours from within there's or leave it.

 

Yep

What this guy said. Quickest and easiest way to do it if you're not concerned about data privacy.

 

Follow the steps in this thread for a bootable Yosemite USB flash installer:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1801963

 

Or you could use the updated Apple article here --> http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

My suggestions:

1. Make sure that anything you wish to keep has been saved to your new computer.

2. Create new accounts for your parents. These can be "regular" (non-administrator accounts), or you could give them administrative privileges. What you decide depends on how savvy your parents will be in regards to administrating the Mini.

3. Create AN ADDITIONAL NEW ACCOUNT with administrator privileges. I suggest you give it an obvious name, such as "administrator". Also, give it an easy password, like "mini".

4. Now, restart and boot yourself into the "administrator" account.

5. Next, DELETE your old account (the one that was yours up and until this time). You will have to choose whether to "archive" it, or fully delete it.

At this point you may want to re-check and make sure all your personal data has been removed (may have been located in places other than your home folder).

You might want to launch Disk Utility, and tell it to "zero out" the "free space".

Finally, set up the "users & groups" so that it will boot to your parents' account.

Now it's time to hand it over to them.

Additional notes:
The reason for the additional administrator account will be for YOU to use, if you ever need to do "tech support" for your parents.

If I was prepping a computer in this manner, I would also run something like "Yasu" on it, to "clean everything out".

Also, the very last thing I'd do (after Yasu) before handing it over, would be to boot from an external source, and defrag and optimize the internal drive. This will group all files at "the head end" of the hard disk, and leave one contiguous area of "free space" behind it. A good way for them to "start clean"...