Have I restored eMac to factory settings?

Hello all

Apologies if I'm writing in the wrong forum here but would be grateful if somebody could put my mind at ease.

I am selling my old eMac (G4, OSX, 2004/5) and the guy is coming to pick it up tomorrow.

This evening I tried to restore factory settings (primarily as I'm very keen this guy should have no access to any of my old files) by re-booting with the original OSX install CD, erasing and zeroing my hard drive and then reinstalling OSX.

Now whenever I switch the computer on, either with or without the CD inside, it takes me straight to the Apple welcome page (with the funny music and 'Welcome' written in lots of different languages), and then prompts me to set up a new Apple ID etc.

I'd be absolutely delighted if this meant I'd wiped all my files and this guy could start from scratch, but how can I be sure the files aren't on there any more without setting up my details again?!

I'm not particularly technical so would appreciate any (kind) words to the wise!

Marcy
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If by "zeroing the hard drive" you mean wiping it using Disk Utility, then all of your files have disappeared. I'm not sure how to confirm that something does not exist. That seems rather difficult, don't you think?

They are gone unless he is a super spy with all sorts of software to enable reading, such as the FBI use. After wiping, jut give him the OS X disc and let him set it up as he wishes.

I do mean wiping it using disc utility. On my computer the option you click on is called 'zero all data' which is why I called it that. I was just surprised it only took half an hour to get rid of it all!

I don't THINK this guy is in the FBI (although you can never tell with those secret agent types!), so HOPEFULLY I am safe and he will go on to enjoy a machine with factory settings.

Thanks both for putting my mind at rest (recently had my iPhone nicked and the thief hacked into my credit card and my email off the back of it, which wasn't very nice!)

Marcy
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The extensive wiping under Disk Utility is 'using seven passes' and it sure takes longer than half an hour, depending on the amount on the hard drive.

****! The guy has literally just picked it up now. It had a TON of stuff on it as I'd installed maximum RAM and it was was at capacity (mostly music and photos). I so so so hope it had cleared. It would just be my luck to get mucked around again and have something nasty happen

marcy222 said:

I do mean wiping it using disc utility. On my computer the option you click on is called 'zero all data' which is why I called it that.

Click to expand...

Ok, I don't use DU for that. I use TechTool Pro, which calls it wiping. I just knew DU could do it to.