Selling iMac tomorrow...how to erase the HDD? Also, can I access Time Machine backups

[FubsyGamr]

Hey guys! I purchased my 27" iMac a few months ago, and I was very happy with it up until the release of the Battlefield 3 beta. I discovered that my iMac (as amazing and beefy as it is) is just not equipped to run this game the way I want it to, and I put it up on ksl and craigslist for sale. I will be building my own gaming PC rig with the money. (I still have my MacBook Pro, no worries, apple fanboys!)

Two questions:
1- How can I erase the hard drive, and make sure that it is completely clean and ready for the next user? If I boot using OS X Lion's recovery partition, and use Disk Utitily to wipe the hard drive, will that do it? If so, will I need to even re-download OS X Lion? What do you recommend that I do?

2- I have a bunch of movies, tv shows and music (as well as documents) backed up on my Time Machine. Assuming files are compatible, can I plug in my external drive into my new Windows 7 PC, and access the files? Or do I need to convert it somehow?
Thanks for any/all help!

 

[Hellhammer]

1. Yes, you can use Disk Utility. Make sure to securely erase the HD so the data won't be recoverable. You also need to re-download Lion while installing.

2. Windows cannot read HFS+ and TM backups are troublesome too. I recommend you to create a new exFAT partition in the external and move the data there. Then Windows will be able to read them without any issues.

In fact, I just did the same thing, sold my iMac and built a PC. I took apart my external and stick the HD right in the PC for faster speeds. BF3 runs flawlessly too (i5-2500K, AMD 6850, 8GB)

 

[FubsyGamr]

1. Yes, you can use Disk Utility. Make sure to securely erase the HD so the data won't be recoverable. You also need to re-download Lion while installing.

2. Windows cannot read HFS+ and TM backups are troublesome too. I recommend you to create a new exFAT partition in the external and move the data there. Then Windows will be able to read them without any issues.

In fact, I just did the same thing, sold my iMac and built a PC. I took apart my external and stick the HD right in the PC for faster speeds. BF3 runs flawlessly too (i5-2500K, AMD 6850, 8GB)

That's crazy, man! Yea I'm gonna be running the i5-2500k, 2 nVidia 580's SLI, 8 GB RAM.

I'll even be doing the same thing with my external drive.

Thanks for the tips