Deleting Time Machine data/backups and starting again

[Old fart2]

I have an old iMac I am trying to give to my daughter. It has an external hard drive that I am trying to erase as it contains my time machine data and she does not need that, she needs to start from scratch. When I try and get the disk utility to erase it it will not. Help please

I am keen that she has the external drive set up and tried to use the disk utility to erase the data. It will not let me. I looked at it in finder and managed to delete all the backups there so theu do not show but the drive still says it is full

 

[ferrarr]

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac

Reset your Mac to factory settings to prepare it for a new owner.

support.apple.com

 

[IWT]

Thank you for your post and a warm welcome to Mac-Forums.

Using Finder to change/delete things will not achieve what you want.

Please don't be offended if I remind you of the correct way to erase an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Open Disk Utility (DU), found in Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility

All Drives will appear on the Left side. Make sure that you check the box "View" and choose "Show All Devices", as below:



Your EHD should be seen under EXTERNAL. If it does not show, it may be dying or dead.

Assuming it's there, Click on the Name of the EHD. Then Click on Erase, give it a name, and Format it Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) if it is to be used as a Time Machine. If it's for general use/storage, Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) is still fine.

But if the Mac is or will be running macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina or macOS 11 Big Sur (BS), you can choose either Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) or APFS as the Format. But APFS probably better. However, you said it was your "old iMac" so I'm assuming that an older rather than newer OS will be running. In which case choose Mac OS X Extended (Journaled).

Please let us know how you get on.

Ian

 

[Old fart2]

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac

Reset your Mac to factory settings to prepare it for a new owner.

support.apple.com

Dear Bob. I don't really want to remove everything as there is software on the machine like MS Office and Inspiration that I really want to keep for her. What I want to do is start the Time machine again. I tied to do that and I now have an external time machine disk full of data that my daughter does not need but that I cannot delete. as a result of me being an idiot I cannot get the machine to back up onto the external disk as it is saying it is too full. A just want to be able to erase the external disk and start again but cannot for the life of me work out how!

 

[IWT]

Dear Bob. I don't really want to remove everything as there is software on the machine like MS Office and Inspiration that I really want to keep for her. What I want to do is start the Time machine again. I tied to do that and I now have an external time machine disk full of data that my daughter does not need but that I cannot delete. as a result of me being an idiot I cannot get the machine to back up onto the external disk as it is saying it is too full. A just want to be able to erase the external disk and start again but cannot for the life of me work out how!

See my post re your EHD and as you want to use it as a Time Machine, then Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) is the only Format that will work.

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Follow Ian's directions.

 

[Old fart2]

Thank you for your post and a warm welcome to Mac-Forums.

Using Finder to change/delete things will not achieve what you want.

Please don't be offended if I remind you of the correct way to erase an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Open Disk Utility (DU), found in Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility

All Drives will appear on the Left side. Make sure that you check the box "View" and choose "Show All Devices", as below:

View attachment 32987

Your EHD should be seen under EXTERNAL. If it does not show, it may be dying or dead.

Assuming it's there, Click on the Name of the EHD. Then Click on Erase, give it a name, and Format it Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) if it is to be used as a Time Machine. If it's for general use/storage, Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) is still fine.

But if the Mac is or will be running macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina or macOS 11 Big Sur (BS), you can choose either Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) or APFS as the Format. But APFS probably better. However, you said it was your "old iMac" so I'm assuming that an older rather than newer OS will be running. In which case choose Mac OS X Extended (Journaled).

Please let us know how you get on.

Ian

Dear Ian Brilliant.
Now all I need to do is set it up as a Time machine drive again for my daughter. I may be back in a few minutes.

 

[Old fart2]

Dear Ian Brilliant.
Now all I need to do is set it up as a Time machine drive again for my daughter. I may be back in a few minutes.

Looks like I have got it sorted. Thank you very much.

 

[IWT]

Looks like I have got it sorted. Thank you very much.

Good for you. You are the "brilliant" one

Ian

 

[Rod]

I do want to add that the instructions for; "What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your Mac"
in post #4 are very important for reasons that may not be apparent right now. I understand that you have software you want to keep, eg "like MS Office and Inspiration" but due to the way Apple links services and sites to a specific Apple ID eg iCloud, email, iMessage, Facetime, Contacts, iTunes, the App Store, etc, etc she will have increasing difficulty over time syncing devices and accessing data unless the device is first deauthorized from your account and setup in her name with an Apple ID of her own.
You could set her up as a "new user" but that would limit her access to your user account (and apps) and you cannot transfer data from one user account to another and it would leave the device with all of the accumulated "stuff" in your user account.
Believe me I have seen people try to overcome some of these problems with Family Sharing and the like but it inevitably becomes a tangled web of confusion which may cause as many problems for you as it will for her.
I strongly suggest you follow the instructions provided in Ferrarr's post or here; https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/36262-how-to-securely-prep-a-mac-before-selling-it-giving-it-away/
Yes, you will loose some handy apps but she will end up with a device which works better and will be hers alone.

 

[texaseve]

I follow this group and always learn so much! Great thread info!

 

[callmedory]

Looks like I have got it sorted. Thank you very much.

Aren’t the mavens here terrific!! Got a problem? Someone here has the answer. I love them for their help.