How erase hard drive without System CD
George
Powerbook G4 before selling it, but she can't find the System CD
that came with the machine in order use the CD's erase function.
Being a Windows user, I know nothing about Macs. Googling, I found
Dban but apparently it doesn't work on Macs. Does anyone know of
any other downloadable freeware that will erase the hdd on a
Powerbook?
Tia,
George
Bill
"George" <nu...@null.net> wrote:
She will need to have an operating system on the hard drive in order for
the powerbook to be worth anything; without that it is pretty much
worthless. So she should not attempt to erase the hard drive unless she
has a system install CD.
In order to be able to erase it, she has to boot the machine from a
valid OS disk anyway, so she has to have a system install CD to be able
to erase it.
She can erase her data files. If she has OS X on the PowerBook, that has
built- in the ability to do Secure Empty Trash. That overwrites files in
the trash with zeros, which is pretty secure. To use it, she would put
all her data files in the trash, then do Secure Empty Trash. Secure
Empty Trash is in the Finder menu.
The value of the machine will be much enhanced if she has all the
software install disks that came with it, and the install disks for any
other software she installed. So it is worth her while to look for those
things.
She can purchase a retail copy of Mac OS X to do the erase and then
install on the machine. It will certainly run Mac OS X 10.4. Whether it
will install and run 10.5 depends on the processor speed. See the system
requirements at the Apple web site.
--
Bill Collins
For email, change "fake" to "earthlink"
George
Thanks for your response. You're right, she should sell the
machine with an OS installed, so I'm urging her to look for the CD
again.
George
"Bill" <bbco...@fake.net> wrote in message
news:bbcollins-5AF04...@70-3-168-216.area5.spcsdns.net...
TaliesinSoft
(in article
<bbcollins-5AF04...@70-3-168-216.area5.spcsdns.net>):
> In article <13lr8j8...@corp.supernews.com>,
> "George" <nu...@null.net> wrote:
>
>> My granddaughter is trying to erase the hard drive of her
>> Powerbook G4 before selling it, but she can't find the System CD
>> that came with the machine in order use the CD's erase function.
>>
>> Being a Windows user, I know nothing about Macs. Googling, I found
>> Dban but apparently it doesn't work on Macs. Does anyone know of
>> any other downloadable freeware that will erase the hdd on a
>> Powerbook?
>>
>> Tia,
>>
>> George
>
> She will need to have an operating system on the hard drive in order for
> the powerbook to be worth anything; without that it is pretty much
> worthless. So she should not attempt to erase the hard drive unless she
> has a system install CD.
If the purchaser of the PowerBook intends to install a new operating system,
say Leopard, then whether or not the drive is empty is a moot point and
should have no effect on the sale value of the PowerBook. If she has access
to an Apple store they will erase the drive, a Genius Bar appointment would
be recommended.
> In order to be able to erase it, she has to boot the machine from a
> valid OS disk anyway, so she has to have a system install CD to be able
> to erase it.
If a friend has a Mac and has an appropriate system CD that could be used to
erase the disk and using the CD for that purpose does not violate any
agreements.
> She can erase her data files. If she has OS X on the PowerBook, that has
> built- in the ability to do Secure Empty Trash. That overwrites files in
> the trash with zeros, which is pretty secure. To use it, she would put
> all her data files in the trash, then do Secure Empty Trash. Secure
> Empty Trash is in the Finder menu.
I strongly suggest that the better approach is to either have the drive
totally erased or to have only a clean install of an operating system.
> The value of the machine will be much enhanced if she has all the
> software install disks that came with it, and the install disks for any
> other software she installed. So it is worth her while to look for those
> things.
What is important here is whether or not the granddaughter is replacing the
PowerBook with a newer Mac and if so does she intend to continue to use any
applications she has installed on the PowerBook. If so, she should definitely
not let those applications remain on the PowerBook if that contradicts the
terms of the licenses.
> She can purchase a retail copy of Mac OS X to do the erase and then
> install on the machine. It will certainly run Mac OS X 10.4. Whether it
> will install and run 10.5 depends on the processor speed. See the system
> requirements at the Apple web site.
And, as I mentioned earlier, the purchaser of the PowerBook can purchase a
version of their operating system of choice and if that is what they intend
to do the value of the PowerBook is the same whether or not there is an
operating system installed.
--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... talies...@mac.com
Tom Anderson
> In article <13lr8j8...@corp.supernews.com>,
> "George" <nu...@null.net> wrote:
>
>> My granddaughter is trying to erase the hard drive of her Powerbook G4
>> before selling it, but she can't find the System CD that came with the
>> machine in order use the CD's erase function.
>>
>> Being a Windows user, I know nothing about Macs. Googling, I found Dban
>> but apparently it doesn't work on Macs. Does anyone know of any other
>> downloadable freeware that will erase the hdd on a Powerbook?
>
> She will need to have an operating system on the hard drive in order for
> the powerbook to be worth anything; without that it is pretty much
> worthless. So she should not attempt to erase the hard drive unless she
> has a system install CD.
>
> In order to be able to erase it, she has to boot the machine from a
> valid OS disk anyway, so she has to have a system install CD to be able
> to erase it.
Although that system install CD could be a Darwin, FreeBSD, Linux, etc
disc, which can be had for free (well, free plus the cost of burning a
CD). You might even be able to install one of those without burning a
disc; not sure.
It would be more saleable with a copy of MacOS on it, though.
I don't suppose a machine that new will run 7.5.3, will it? If so, she
could download the installer free from Apple!
How cute is this granddaughter? There's a chance that if she goes into an
Apple store, explains her situation, and flutters her eyelashes, she might
find a Genius willing to do a new system install for her (of the same
version that she has now).
> She can erase her data files. If she has OS X on the PowerBook, that has
> built- in the ability to do Secure Empty Trash. That overwrites files in
> the trash with zeros, which is pretty secure. To use it, she would put
> all her data files in the trash, then do Secure Empty Trash. Secure
> Empty Trash is in the Finder menu.
Except that this won't get stuff that isn't your documents -
configuration, caches, etc. You could in principle ferret that stuff out
by hand, but it'd be very hard work to make sure you got all of it.
tom
--
Kevin was inspired as an actor by Super Engineer A.K.A Wondergirl T-rav
Camelang -- Wikipedia, on Kevin Bacon
KLK
<bbcollins-5AF04...@70-3-168-216.area5.spcsdns.net>,
Bill <bbco...@fake.net> wrote:
> In article <13lr8j8...@corp.supernews.com>,
> "George" <nu...@null.net> wrote:
>
> > My granddaughter is trying to erase the hard drive of her
> > Powerbook G4 before selling it, but she can't find the System CD
> > that came with the machine in order use the CD's erase function.
> >
> > Being a Windows user, I know nothing about Macs. Googling, I found
> > Dban but apparently it doesn't work on Macs. Does anyone know of
> > any other downloadable freeware that will erase the hdd on a
> > Powerbook?
> >
> > Tia,
> >
> > George
>
> She will need to have an operating system on the hard drive in order for
> the powerbook to be worth anything; without that it is pretty much
> worthless. So she should not attempt to erase the hard drive unless she
> has a system install CD.
>
> In order to be able to erase it, she has to boot the machine from a
> valid OS disk anyway, so she has to have a system install CD to be
> able to erase it.
<..snip..>
Not True
There **is** a way to wipe a hard drive that every unix
manager knows and dreads (it is easy to do by accident).
1. log in as an administrator
2. open the terminal (found in utilities)
3. type:
sudo srm -mrf /
followed by the return.
4. When the system asks for your password,
type your password, ..take a deep breath.., and hit return.
That command deletes and does a "medium", 7 pass DoD compliant,
overwrite of all files and directories leaving a random pattern
in all allocated blocks. There might be data left on unallocated
blocks but it is a pretty effective way to clean a drive!
----In theory,
your granddaughter can ALSO just remove all her data and
any applications she installed while leaving the system, and
any other users.
First, create a new user who can administer the computer. You
and the new owner will want an account to log into after her
data is removed.
THEN log into her normal account, open the terminal as above
and type the same command without sudo
srm -mzrf /
According the the man page srm will not be able to remove
anything owned by another user, including the system. You
can then remove any locked files and their directories
remaining.
Finally, log into the new account and remove her old user
name with the Accounts pane in system preferences.
Sorry I don't have a machine I want to test that on.
Still you **WERE** prepared to reinstall the system if anything
goes wrong.
KLK
ringemup
CD, right?
Fred McKenzie
<3e7eee2f-97eb-473f...@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
ringemup <ring...@gmail.com> wrote:
> After doing this, it's possible to reinstall the OS from scratch off a
> CD, right?
Ringemup-
I suggest you try booting the computer with the installation CD BEFORE
erasing it, to be sure it will work. With the installation CD mounted,
restart the computer while holding down the C key.
The more recent operating systems (Tiger/10.4, Leopard/10.5) come on a
DVD, not a CD. If you have an older computer that cannot read a DVD,
then it won't be able to boot from the installation DVD!
Fred
Mr. Uh Clem
> There **is** a way to wipe a hard drive that every unix
> manager knows and dreads (it is easy to do by accident).
>
> 1. log in as an administrator
> 2. open the terminal (found in utilities)
> 3. type:
> sudo srm -mrf /
> followed by the return.
> 4. When the system asks for your password,
> type your password, ..take a deep breath.., and hit return.
I don't see how this could completely wipe a disk before the
system crashed because of the deletion of system files.
One other idea that has not been presented is make a copy
of the system onto an external drive, boot off that drive,
then *carefully* srm the old drive.
OOO OOO OOO! Target mode! If you have access to another Mac,
boot the system to be wiped into firewire target mode and
plug it into another Mac. Let that Mac *carefully* wipe
the mounted system to be sold.
--
Clem
"If you push something hard enough, it will fall over."
- Fudd's first law of opposition
KLK
"Mr. Uh Clem" <uhc...@DutchElmSt.invalid> wrote:
> KLK wrote:
> > There **is** a way to wipe a hard drive that every unix
> > manager knows and dreads (it is easy to do by accident).
> >
> > 1. log in as an administrator
> > 2. open the terminal (found in utilities)
> > 3. type:
> > sudo srm -mrf /
> > followed by the return.
> > 4. When the system asks for your password,
> > type your password, ..take a deep breath.., and hit return.
>
> I don't see how this could completely wipe a disk before the
> system crashed because of the deletion of system files.
>
> <...snip...>
It's easy.
SRM is only 27k bytes. The disk drivers, file system, shell
and srm all sit in memory. The machine won't even look for more
of the the system until srm finishes. After that, in my experience,
enough of the kernel and shell stay in memory to keep a UNIX
machine from crashing. You can't *DO* anything, the system
just complains that it can't FIND most commands, but it does
happily sit there and complain.
BTW
This command DOES WORK. I know *at least* one sysadmin that wiped
root this way. Personally, I've been lucky. I deleted OS X on
a blueberry iMac once when I removed System and Folder instead of
OS 9's 'System Folder' (the quotes are CRITICAL) but I was
partitioning a new disk so I replaced things from the original.
KLK