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Thread: iMac question

  1. #1
    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    iMac question

    My daughter is getting rid of her iMac that she got when she started college. I know with PC's there are all sorts of pieces of info squirreled away that need to be deleted, clearing passwords and cookies, etc. I know how to do that on my PC. But I have suggested that if iMac's do something similar, it's best to rid the computer of such residual pieces of information.

    So many Mac users out there who can give me a quick primer on clearing that stuff out, if it in fact resides on the computer?
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    Re: iMac question

    Quote Originally Posted by redsmetz View Post
    My daughter is getting rid of her iMac that she got when she started college. I know with PC's there are all sorts of pieces of info squirreled away that need to be deleted, clearing passwords and cookies, etc. I know how to do that on my PC. But I have suggested that if iMac's do something similar, it's best to rid the computer of such residual pieces of information.

    So many Mac users out there who can give me a quick primer on clearing that stuff out, if it in fact resides on the computer?
    You'll need the OS install disk to start up from. This article details the rest. It's simply an option in the Disk Utility program.

    Of course, make sure she has everything she wants off of it first!


  4. #3
    We Need Our Myths reds1869's Avatar
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    Re: iMac question

    You could just smash the hard drive to bits. I did that with my old G4 and it was great fun. It also made the hard drive useless to thieves; unless the FBI is coming after you no one is going to work that hard to recover the data.

    The article Nate linked to is very good. How stereotypical of us, two musical types responding to a mac thread!

  5. #4
    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    Re: iMac question

    Quote Originally Posted by nate View Post
    You'll need the OS install disk to start up from. This article details the rest. It's simply an option in the Disk Utility program.

    Of course, make sure she has everything she wants off of it first!

    Thanks, Nate. As soon as I posted the thread, my dim bulb lit up and asked, "and why didn't you just search the web?" I'll read the article for the details, but we do have th install disk.

    Everything's off. She's had an Apple Notebook (or whatever it's called) for about a year.
    “In the same way that a baseball season never really begins, it never really ends either.” - Lonnie Wheeler, "Bleachers, A Summer in Wrigley Field"

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    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    Re: iMac question

    Her iMac has OS 10.1.5 which is earlier than the versions mentioned in the article. I am guessing that I can still use the Install disk to accomplish this. Would that be correct?
    “In the same way that a baseball season never really begins, it never really ends either.” - Lonnie Wheeler, "Bleachers, A Summer in Wrigley Field"

    The Baseball Emporium - Books & Things.

    The Baseball Bookstore

    http://tsc-sales.com/
    http://tscsales.blogspot.com/
    http://silverscreenbooks.com/

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    Re: iMac question

    Quote Originally Posted by redsmetz View Post
    Her iMac has OS 10.1.5 which is earlier than the versions mentioned in the article. I am guessing that I can still use the Install disk to accomplish this. Would that be correct?
    Ah, that I don't know. That's a pretty old version of the OS and I don't recall if Disk Utility in that version had the option to securely erase the disk. I think it does have some capacity to write zeros to the disk. It might take awhile though.

    You can try something like this if it doesn't. However, it doesn't zero the disk, rather, it zeros the contents of the trash.

  8. #7
    Reds Slacker '07 RedsMan3203's Avatar
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    Re: iMac question

    A "simple" reinstall of the OS isn't going to do much other then over write the information. That will deter alot of people from even trying to find out information. But with the people who have the tools to recover that type of data its simple to recover it.

    If you want to do it the right way - Look into KillDisk or something close to that. This program is used by Medical Centers and Government. Once killdisk is ran nothing can be recovered.
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    Re: iMac question

    Quote Originally Posted by RedsMan3203 View Post
    A "simple" reinstall of the OS isn't going to do much other then over write the information. That will deter alot of people from even trying to find out information. But with the people who have the tools to recover that type of data its simple to recover it.

    If you want to do it the right way - Look into KillDisk or something close to that. This program is used by Medical Centers and Government. Once killdisk is ran nothing can be recovered.
    Right. I should say, you should just reinstall the OS. Rather, in "Disk Utility" you're looking for the "Erase" section and "Security Option." In the current version of Disk Utility, you can do a 35-pass erase that writes zeroes to the disk...well...35 times.


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