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sold my PRO, how to wipe everything??

E

elykoj

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 6, 2012
237
42
selling my MacBook Pro, what are the steps to properly wipe this back to factory settings and get rid of all my iTunes backups and personal info?? And Can I upgrade it to newest OS before I sell or do I need to log into iTunes to do that? which I don't want to put my personal stuff back on it. thanks guys
 
remember to log off of iCloud etc. Remove the computer out of your drop box profile.
call ‭1 (800) MYAPPLE‬ and if your smart they will let you in w/o a apple care account
 
remove from icloud by logging out and disabling find my mac. boot off rescue disk or usb and format drive using disk utils, reinstall os. after run this command from terminal.

diskutil secureErase freespace (level 0-4) /Volumes/(Drive Name)

this will secure erase the freespace making it next to impossible to recover anything from it. Lots of tools today make it easier and easier to recover deleted files. Only way to be sure is to over write that space.
 
jeyf said:
remember to log off of iCloud etc. Remove the computer out of your drop box profile.
call ‭1 (800) MYAPPLE‬ and if your smart they will let you in w/o a apple care account
Click to expand...
What is the dropbox profile?? and why do I have to call apple care??
[doublepost=1519342686][/doublepost]
mdhwoods said:
remove from icloud by logging out and disabling find my mac. boot off rescue disk or usb and format drive using disk utils, reinstall os. after run this command from terminal.

diskutil secureErase freespace (level 0-4) /Volumes/(Drive Name)

this will secure erase the freespace making it next to impossible to recover anything from it. Lots of tools today make it easier and easier to recover deleted files. Only way to be sure is to over write that space.
Click to expand...
you are speaking another language to me...sorry but that's one of reasons I am getting rid of this , I don't really understand how to use it..
 
elykoj said:
What is the dropbox profile?? and why do I have to call apple care??
[doublepost=1519342686][/doublepost]
you are speaking another language to me...sorry but that's one of reasons I am getting rid of this , I don't really understand how to use it..
Click to expand...

You don't have to call. Not sure what he's talking about but I've sold a MacBook before and didn't need to call.

First step is to follow the steps Apple outlines here to disable iCloud and certain account related things.

Next, follow the steps here under the headline "Install from macOS Recovery."

If you follow the steps correctly, you should have no issue. Allow 45 minutes - 2 hours for the process. This is the easiest way, in my experience. Sure there are other ways such as creating a bootable drive and using Terminal to wipe the disk, etc, but I would go the easy route. It accomplishes the same thing.
 
ProwlingTiger said:
You don't have to call. Not sure what he's talking about but I've sold a MacBook before and didn't need to call.

First step is to follow the steps Apple outlines here to disable iCloud and certain account related things.

Next, follow the steps here under the headline "Install from macOS Recovery."

If you follow the steps correctly, you should have no issue. Allow 45 minutes - 2 hours for the process. This is the easiest way, in my experience. Sure there are other ways such as creating a bootable drive and using Terminal to wipe the disk, etc, but I would go the easy route. It accomplishes the same thing.
Click to expand...

In today's day and age just formatting a drive is not enough to ensure your private data is gone. I would still use terminal to wipe the free space. Its the only way to insure your private data can not be recovered.
[doublepost=1519388989][/doublepost]
elykoj said:
What is the dropbox profile?? and why do I have to call apple care??
[doublepost=1519342686][/doublepost]
you are speaking another language to me...sorry but that's one of reasons I am getting rid of this , I don't really understand how to use it..
Click to expand...

I get it, but even with a windows computer you must go through similar steps if you want to sell your device and ensure all of your data is truly gone.
 
mdhwoods said:
In today's day and age just formatting a drive is not enough to ensure your private data is gone. I would still use terminal to wipe the free space. Its the only way to insure your private data can not be recovered.
[doublepost=1519388989][/doublepost]

I get it, but even with a windows computer you must go through similar steps if you want to sell your device and ensure all of your data is truly gone.
Click to expand...
can you literally give me a very detailed step by step on how to do this? I really have no clue and I would appreciate it.. And do I do this step before restoring to factory settings or after??
 
mdhwoods said:
In today's day and age just formatting a drive is not enough to ensure your private data is gone. I would still use terminal to wipe the free space. Its the only way to insure your private data can not be recovered.
[doublepost=1519388989][/doublepost]

I get it, but even with a windows computer you must go through similar steps if you want to sell your device and ensure all of your data is truly gone.
Click to expand...

That's true regarding the formatting. I have a friend who does a seven layer(?) wipe on all his drives when transitioning/selling.
 
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