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restoring factory settings on macbook.
I have to return a macbook to apple and am unsure of how to completely wipe all information from the hard drive. how do i restore factory settings and remove all traces of my data? any help appreciated
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2 Replies
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You would need the Macbook’s restore DVD.
boot it up like your going to reinstall OSX.
When you get to the installer after restarting your machine go to the Menubar and to I believe it’s called ‘Applications’ then open Disk Utilities. This will open the app. Make sure the right disk is select then go to the erase panel and select your desired method. 7 and 35 pass methods are very secure, but Zero Out actually increases a little disk space and it’s much faster to delete files. If you did chose 7 and 35 your going to have to wait a while(on my PowerMac G5 7 pass takes about 10 hours 35 pass is 5x that). Next Quit Disk Utilities, it should bring you back to the installer. Now install OSX, make sure that the disk format is set to Mac OS extended(Journaled).
If you want to make sure the new Install is working restart the computer and wait for the setup assistant to come on, this shows that it’s already. Hold the power button for about 5 seconds to turn it off.
If you want to make sure your files are gone. Hook up another mac or external harddrive.
Mac:
On your Macbook hold down T while starting it up. This opens it up in Target Mode(Makes the Mac into an external Harddrive and SuperDrive). Using firewire plug the Macbook into another Mac. The Macbook should popup like an external harddrive.External Hardrive:
On your Macbook hold down option while starting it up. This opens a little system so you can choose a start up disk. With a hard drive plugged in with OSX on it Select the HD’s icon. Then continue on it will boot OSX from the external HD and you should have your Macbook’s HD popup like an extra external drive.
Good luck!!
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Owner of GranitWorks -
Note that booting from an external hard drive will only work if the external drive has the intel version of OS X on it if wit was installed from a Power PC disks it will not boot.
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