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How to wipe out a mac lion

Before I start, note that if you are trying to get the machine ready to sell, you should follow some slightly different directions. Backing up your data is something you should be doing on a regular basis — every single day, for most people. However, any time you propose erasing your primary data storage, it becomes critical. You must do it right, or you will risk losing data. So how do you do it right?


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Most importantly, make redundant backups. If you only have one backup, remember that when you erase your hard drive, those backups become the one-and-only copy of your data. Before erasing the hard drive, make sure you have a minimum of two completely separate backups, on completely separate media, and preferably made with two different backup programs.

How Do I Reformat My Hard Drive In OS X Mountain Lion?

I highly recommend Time Machine to back up to one hard drive or a Time Capsule, and Carbon Copy Cloner to back up to one or more additional hard drives. The system should eventually boot into the installer, where you first must choose a language. Do so, then choose Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. When you see the Apple logo, you can let go. This will start the computer in recovery mode.

Once you have fully booted into recovery mode, open Disk Utility.

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Note that when you begin the install process, you will need to download about 4 GB of data, so be sure your internet connection can handle that before proceeding. Once in Disk Utility, you need to select your hard drive in the list and select the Erase tab. This step is pretty simple — just follow the directions to reinstall the system on the newly-erased drive.

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

Instead, when the installer finishes, import nothing, and go through the setup process as if this were your first computer. Once your system restarts successfully, you will need to be sure that it is fully up-to-date. From the Apple menu, choose Software Update, and install any updates that show up. If you reinstalled Mac OS X Once your clean, new system is up and running and fully updated, work on getting all the settings back to the way you like them.

At this point, you can manually copy your user data from the clone backup back into your new user folder. When it comes to restoring data for apps that are not document-centric, like iTunes, iPhoto or Mail, you need to find and copy the data from your backup to the same location on your new drive. For other apps, you may need to search for instructions on where to find the data and preference files. At this point, you can start reinstalling any other applications you might have had installed.

How to Reformat Mac OS X Without a Recovery Disc or Drive « Mac Tips :: Gadget Hacks

Do not try to copy them from your backup. Reinstall them from the original disks, or download them from the original source. Once you have completed the seventh step, you should have your machine back to a state pretty close to where it was before, though hopefully without the issues that caused you to go to all this trouble in the first place. Is it enough to choose Erase? Are the results of Erase command similar to Format option from Windows?

There is no need to zero out the drive. Erasing is sufficient, there is no malware that can survive that. Malware would have to somehow embed itself into the hardware such as in the firmware in order to survive a hard drive erasure.

Step 2: Erase the hard drive

While just hitting Erase gives you a clean drive to reinstall to, it would be a very good idea to to zero the data. The zeroing touches every block of the drive, so if you do have a bad block it would be found and retaliated to a good block. This would be more important on a drive 3 years and older vs a newer drive.


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It was true years ago, but modern drives automatically map out bad blocks as they are encountered. When the new owner turns on the Mac, setup assistant will guide them through the setup process. No matter the model or condition, we can turn your device into something good for you and good for the planet. Moving to a new Mac? Create a backup Be sure you have an up-to-date backup of your important files and data. Sign out of iTunes Open iTunes. When prompted, enter your Apple ID and password.

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Then click Deauthorize. Learn more No matter the model or condition, we can turn your device into something good for you and good for the planet. Published Date: Thu Nov 29 Yes No. Character limit: Maximum character limit is Start a Discussion in Apple Support Communities.