wiping it clean

Q

quackbook

Guest
I am getting ready to sell an old imac and i have done the following:

1. created a new user admin and 'delete immediately' my personal admin account.

2. deleted all passwords and certificates from the keychain

3. cleared old browsing history

4. deleted personal files

My question is that is this enough? Does OS X retain all my old data hidden away somewhere?

I want the peace of mind knowing that any personal data be safe.

Also, when first starting up the system, I am required to type in name, email, address, and other personal information. Is there a way I can change all of that?

Thank you!
 
Joined
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Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2
If you did "delete it immediately" the data might still be on the harddrive and is recoverable with the right tools. I'd boot off the DVDs that your iMac came with and erase the harddrive using the secure erase option.

Then reinstall OS X from your DVD and shut down during the "Create a user account" setup. That will give the new owner the exact same experience you had out of the box.
 
OP
Q

quackbook

Guest
Is there are way I can do all that without having to reinstall OS X? I can't seem to find my Tiger disk.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
12" Apple PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz)
You will need to include the disk with the iMac when you sell it, or the buyer will not be able to recover if something happens.
 
OP
Q

quackbook

Guest
true, but what i am trying to do is sell my computer AS-IS and also protect my personal information at the same time. Short on space and cash.

so if there is a way to get rid of that information, please let me know.
 

rman


Retired Staff
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Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
The problem is do you want to be sure your information has been cleaned from the system or do you want to save some cash?
 

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