How to wipe clean an iMac so it is like brand new again?

[iMacBoy]

Hi,

So i want to restore my iMac so it was just like it was when i got it.

If i put the snow leopard cd in and re-install it, will it wipe EVERYTHING and i mean everything from my computer as it is now, and have no traces of the stuff i have on it now (such as MSN, Skype etc..)

Obviously i know i will still have all the stuff that came with it like, safari and iTunes etc.

Please answer!

I want my computer to have literally no trace of the third party software i have now.

 

[Hellhammer]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Clean_Install_of_OS_X_10.6_Snow_Leopard

 

[iMacBoy]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Clean_Install_of_OS_X_10.6_Snow_Leopard

Thanks my friend, Just one quick question, as i want to get rid of all my stuff and keep no software or anything on it (apart from the ones that come with it) shall i just not back up?

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks my friend, Just one quick question, as i want to get rid of all my stuff and keep no software or anything on it (apart from the ones that come with it) shall i just not back up?

If you want to get rid of EVERYTHING (including your personal files such as photos, music, videos...), then there is no need to backup. It's always good to have a backup in case you need something later on

 

[DELTAsnake]

Use Disk Utility from the restore disk and wipe the drive.

 

[iMacBoy]

If you want to get rid of EVERYTHING (including your personal files such as photos, music, videos...), then there is no need to backup. It's always good to have a backup in case you need something later on

I do need to get rid of literally everything, i am sending it away and i need all info gone!

Does this also mean that there will be like no hidden traces of say 'microsoft office' hidden anywhere once i've restored it?

 

[DELTAsnake]

I do need to get rid of literally everything, i am sending it away and i need all info gone!

Does this also mean that there will be like no hidden traces of say 'microsoft office' hidden anywhere once i've restored it?

If your really that paranoid about it just use the secure erase setting in the Disk Utility tool on the restore disk. that will wipe the hard drive then you just need to install OSX and not put any of your "stuff" on it from a backup.

 

[Hellhammer]

I do need to get rid of literally everything, i am sending it away and i need all info gone!

Does this also mean that there will be like no hidden traces of say 'microsoft office' hidden anywhere once i've restored it?

There will be no traces of anything, it's like a new one

 

[iMacBoy]

Thank's a lot mate, appreciate it.

 

[Torrijos]

If you truly want it completely wiped you need to zero the disk out.

Due to the way hard drives work the erasing process usually only removes the redirection information leaving the files intact until some other file overwrites it.
So if you're selling your machine or giving it to someone else (or afraid something you did in the past is going to come out ^^) you need to clean install the system, update everything (just to be nice and that will overwrite some files in the disk quickening the zeroing process later) then use disk utility "erase free space" option on the drive...

Zero out everything, if you're just a common Joe, since to recover information after that it would need magnetic analysis of the drive.

7-passes overwrite if you had some pretty secret information, the overwrite process (not just zeroing) is going to render magnetic analysis more difficult.

35-passes overwrite if you're some top secret operative that is just too lazy to destroy the hard-drive and then replace it with a new one


By the way some study was made a few years back that second hand computers hard drive and old PDAs a lot of times still contained recoverable traces of secret industrial and personal documents.

 

[87vert]

If you really want it clean remove the hard drive and install a new drive.

 

[rkaufmann87]

If you really want it clean remove the hard drive and install a new drive.

Totally unnecessary!

 

[IndustrialSpace]

I remove my HDD and soak it in salt water for a day or two. Then throw it away. The rest of the CPU just gets left curbside.

 

[d88co88]

Totally unnecessary!

Well he really doesn't want anyone getting ahold of his information. So that is an option because it leaves ABSOLUTELY no trace of whatever has been on it. If you just wipe it, I think there is some way to retrieve that information. Correct me if I'm wrong, I just read that somewhere.

 

[Hellhammer]

Well he really doesn't want anyone getting ahold of his information. So that is an option because it leaves ABSOLUTELY no trace of whatever has been on it. If you just wipe it, I think there is some way to retrieve that information. Correct me if I'm wrong, I just read that somewhere.

By using zero-pass or 7-pass erase, the data will be unrecoverable.

 

[johto]

Unbelievable how long this simple thread has gone


Disk Utility, Erase (zero out), DONE !

 

[DarthMoops]

"How to wipe clean an iMac so it is like brand new again?"

A damp, soft cloth works well.