What to do before selling my mac?

[amoda]

Hey,

Well with the new mbps out i've decided to sell my 1.83 CD and upgrade. Now before I do that I'm wondering what steps before doing so should I take? I've reformated the laptop and installed all the basic software the buyer will need, so that's taken care of. What I'm worried about is how to stop them from using one of those applications that undelete files. Is reformating by it self safe enough? I had a lot of bank info and what not that really shouldn't fall into the hands of someone I don't know.

Am I just being paranoid?!

 

[Satch]

Just use Disk Utility to erase your hard-disk.
The "Zero Out Data" or "7-Pass Erase" option is more then enough to ensure that your data is gone.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303462

 

[devilot]

Instead of just re-formating the HD, a lot of folks will recommend that you zero out the HD. To do so fire up Disk Utility> select your volume> "Erase" tab> click on the "Erase Free Space..." button

Then you get a creepy pop-up window with a few options, the "safe" and not crazy intensive (but still takes quite a few hours) option is the 7-Pass.


Hope that helps.

 

[amoda]

Thank you both! Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!