10-06-2008, 10:44 AM

I'm selling my iMac G4 and need to erase the hard drive so the new owner can't access any of my previous files. What's the best way to do this? And I'm talking no recovery here. I'm not cleaning it out, I'm wiping it out. I've read a few things about using Disk Utility... is that the best way?
Thanks,
JM

10-06-2008, 10:51 AM

There is an option in disk utility from the install disks to do a "secure wipe".



Personally I would either do the 7 pass or the 35 pass, just depends on how paranoid you are!

10-06-2008, 01:13 PM

How come I am unable to use this option I have taken a screenshot and the options are not able to be selected.

10-06-2008, 01:24 PM

Because it is your main hard-drive, which means you HAVE to run it from your System Restore / Install DVD's. You can't format the hard-drive that is currently running the program.

10-06-2008, 01:50 PM

So if I want to install bootcamp it wont allow me to partition the hard drive so how where do I install bootcamp to

10-06-2008, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by gpguy25

So if I want to install bootcamp it wont allow me to partition the hard drive so how where do I install bootcamp to

I think you do all that through the bootcamp utility (not to mention you should click on the actual partitioned drive, in your case "Macintosh HD", not the device: "74.5GB ...."), but that is beyond the scope of the OP's original question. Not to mention that I have never once used bootcamp. If you have a specific question about bootcamp, then post it in another thread.

10-16-2008, 11:39 AM

After talking to Apple what I wound up doing was creating a new administrator and username for the computer. After setting that up, I deleted myself. Hopefully that worked but I'll let you know if I get any suspicious charges on my credit card from where this guy who bought it hacked my bank information.

10-16-2008, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by jmdavis

After talking to Apple what I wound up doing was creating a new administrator and username for the computer. After setting that up, I deleted myself. Hopefully that worked but I'll let you know if I get any suspicious charges on my credit card from where this guy who bought it hacked my bank information.

Unless you did a "secure delete" it is most likely recoverable anyway.