How can I securely erase my hard drive and reinstall OS X Mountain Lion?

Hi, I am selling my MacBook and I was wondering if there's a way I can securely erase my hard drive, (... 7 pass, 35 pass) using these steps: http://www.mactip.net/how-to-securely-wipe-your-mac-hard-drive-before-selling-it /
and also reinstall OS X Mountain Lion afterwards.
Thanks in advance. 

Boot into recovery mode by holding the command and r keys down during boot. Bring up Disk Utility and do the security erase you want to do. When done, choose to download Mountain Lion.

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How can I securely erase the hard drive for PowerBook G4 running 10.2.3?

I'm about to sell a PowerBook G4 12-inch running 10.2.3 after I erased the hard drive via the the original software install and restore disk. There was no secure erase option like there is in subsquent versions of OSX. Is there a way I can do a 7 (or 35) time erase on this machine? Thanks!

See this Apple note. Secure erase was added in 10.2.3, but in a different place than later releases.

With Lion, How Can I Erase the Hard Drive and Reinstall The System Software?

I plan on buying a used iMac with a Core 2 Duo so that I can run Lion. Since Lion can only be purchased at the Mac App store what if I needed to erase my hard drive and re-install the system software. How can I do this without a DVD with the OS on it like I have for Snow Leapard. I suppose that I could boot from my Snow Leapard DVD and do the erase. Then, I supposed I would be able to download Lion again from the Mac App Store without paying for it again. But, how would you erase a hard drive and reinstall the system software when purchasing a new Mac with Lion already installed and no DVD at all with the OS on it?
-- Kaydell

When someone purchases any Apple computer with a DVD Drive, they should have recieved two DVDs... One contains the Operating System (up to Snow Leopard, Lion no longer ships on DVD) and the other contains the SYSTEM SOFTWARE (i.e. iLife and iWork). To install the software, they just insert the DVD with the SYSTEM SOFTWARE into any compatible Mac and run the installer. There is no need to erase the hard drive to install SYSTEM SOFTWARE. Maybe a friend can let you borrow the SYSTEM SOFTWARE DVD. The other option is to purchase the software via the App Store.
FYI... App Store purchases are linked to the PURCHASER'S APPLE ID. So if you buy a used Mac from a friend and that Mac already has Lion installed on it,that Lion purchase is linked to YOUR FRIEND'S APPLE ID, not yours. So if you want to download Lion again, you will have to enter your FRIEND'S APPLE ID AND PASSWORD. You can always have your friend re-download Lion and make you a DVD copy.

How do i erase the hard drive and reinstall?

How do i erase the hard drive and reinstall everything? My computer is running slow and i thought with having a 2.4ghz processor and 4gb of ram would make speed not a factor but obviously i was wrong in that my comp is running slow. Not as slow as my pentium processor desktop but its too slow for my tastes. Im waiting to get an external hd so i can save my songs and pictures to before i do erase everything.

Go to finder and in Spotlight, type in erase and install. The second choice is "Reinstall OS X. Print that out and follow the directions.
Good Luck.
Adam

How can I securely format my hard drive, without an installation cd?

I have OS X Lion. I recently purchased this Macbook Pro 15" laptop, and I am planning on returning it, to get the newer upgraded laptop, as the store manager said I can do this, since I purchased my laptop within 30 days of the announcement of a new MacBook Pro. I would like to format everything, before I return it back to the store, however, it never came with an installation cd. How can I do this? I have tried ways that I have heard, such as creating a new admin user account and deleting all the other accounts. Also I have erased all the free space using the disk utility section. However, it will not allow me to erase the hard drive. Is there a way to do this without an installation cd? Thank you.

How to deal with future problems without a Lion Install Disk - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3552183
Lion - Disk Utility - https://discussions.apple.com/message/16925522 - repairing your drive using Disk Utility on Lion's recovery partition.
OSX: About Lion Recovery - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718 > Lion Internet Recovery - using the Internet to start when recovery disk partition not available.

I want to erase my hard drive and reinstall lion server. Can someone help me out?

i have a mac mini running lion server. I want to erase all the date and start fresh. When i try to reinstall Lion it does not show anything about lion server but jut Lion. I want to make sure I do it properly. It is also asking me in which hard drive to install Lion but im unsure.
can someone help me out?

Check in the app store under purchases both lion and server should show up there to download again.
No need to erase both drives for a clean install just the drive you are using for the OSX. Though if you are truly starting a fresh then erase and reformat both.
As for Upgrades. Yosemite is the only upgrade now available through the app store as is Server 4.0 for Yosemite. I have not tested the latest server yet and can not comment on it's reliability.
Any server you set up should be thoroughly tested on a closed network before going live.
Hope this helps.
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Safari opens but will not load the page after I erased my hard drive and reinstalled yosemite. Anyone have a solution? I have to restart for safari to open and load.

Hi everyone.
I recently erased and reinstalled Yosemite on my iMac 27 (model late 2013). After I reinstalled everything i've noticed that when it goes to sleep/nap and when I come back to it and open the browser (safari) it will not load. I have to restart the whole iMac for it to work. I've erased and reinstalled again and I still have the same issues. Can anybody help?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

I have to replace my Hard Drive and I upgraded to Mountain Lion via iTunes download. Am I going to face issues?

I'm planing on installing a Seagate Momentus LP 1TB internal drive. I've read that it is difficult to formatt the HD to macs on OS systems prior to Mountain Lion. I was running ML when I crashed but I don't have an instalation disk for Mountain Lion given that I downloaded it from iTunes. Any advice or words of wisdom. Thank you.

Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion on a New HDD/SDD
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your external hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
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Will iLife be deleted when I erase my hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard and the Applications with the disks that came with the computer?

I plan to restore my computer to factory settings to have a fresh start but i dont know if all the ilife applications will still be there (imovie, iphoto, etc). Or is the ilife applications included in the Applications Install DVD?

Yes, they are, unless you have a machine which shipped with Mac OS X Server, in which case you wouldn't have them to begin with.
(58656)

I had to erase my hard drive and now when I try to sync the I phone or Ipad it says I will loose my data on the iphone or ipad . how can I sync the phone or I pad without loosing my music ?

I had to erase my hard drive and reinstall ox snow leopard. when i try to sync my Iphone or Ipad it says that my device was synced with another computer and I will loose my songs on the Iphone or ipad and it will be replaced by the library that is on my computer now. The library is empty since I had to erase the hard drive. Can anyone help?

1) ensure iTunes is authorized for your iTunes store account(s)
2) connect your device and right-click or control-click it in the iTunes Source list, then choose transfer purchases from the shortcut menu that appears.
3) sync the device
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above works for purchases from the iTunes store. for everything else, check out this post by Zevoneer.
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Erasing hard drive and reinstalling

Hi folks! Can anybody tell me how to erase the hard drive and reinstall OSX?

If you are selling it, then you will want to ensure
that all of your personal information is removed.
So... boot from the OS X disc and select Disk Utility
from the Apple menu. Select to reformat the drive and
under the options select to write zeroes. This will
overwrite all the data on your drive.
The usual erase does not overwrite your files.
Don't forget, if you have purchased any tunes from iTMS, deauthorise your computer, or you will lose one of you'r 5

Erasing hard drive and reinstalling OS

My mid 2011 iMac (OSX Yosemite 10.10.2) has been getting very sluggish despite ensuring sufficient spare space (currently 200Gb) and running the basic Disk Utility verify/repair routines. So having done a full data back-up I am now trying to erase the hard drive and reinstall the OS. Following the recommended steps in the Disk Utility I get as far as the erase disk stage but then an error message pops up saying "couldn't unmount disk". Has anyone encountered this before or have any suggestions please?

Hello kayjayaitch,
I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your iMac. If you continue to get this unmount notification, you may find the information regarding related unmount issues in the following article helpful:
Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support
Also, if your iMac originally shipped with an Install disk, you may want to try using the Disk Utility on that Install disk, erase the hard drive from there, then try restoring from Internet Recovery as detailed here:
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
Sincerely,
- Brenden

My 2009 MacBook Pro keeps restarting even after I wiped the hard drive and reinstalled OSX.

About a month ago, my laptop started to randomly turn off: I would be using either Chrome, Photoshop (the free CS2 version available from Adobe's website) or Powerpoint, and the screen would go blank. I would then have to hold the power button for a while until the little light at the front of the computer would flicker and it would restart. I brought it to the Mac Store where they tested it and said it looked fine. They suggested I erase my hard drive and reinstall OSX as a precaution.
Fast forward a month, I have been very busy with work and hadn't been able to fix this problem. It wasn't that bad, only once every couple of days, sometimes more, sometimes less, I could work despite this problem.
Then, I installed OSX Mavericks. The installation started in the morning, but, like an idiot, I paused it to go to work. Later on, I completed the installation, it looked fine, but then all day long my laptop would suddenly restart and go to a grey screen that said in multiple languages "Your laptop restarted because of a problem, press any button to continue the restart." A computer technician friend of mine checked it out and said it was probably due to the badly installed OSX and suggested that I erase my hard drive and reinstall OSX.
I backed up all my files, erased the hard drive and reinstalled OSX. Everything looked fine.
Then it happened again.
Any ideas of why this is happening?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

If I upgraded my MacBook Pro from Snow Leopard to Lion via the web and now wish to erase the hard drive and restore it to factory settings to sell. How do I accomplish this?

I upgraded the operating system on my MacBook Pro from Snow Leopard to Lion via the web. Now I need to erase the hard drive and restore it to factory settings, so that I can pass it on. How do I accomplish this? When I insert the Mac OS X install disk, the only option is to erase the free space. Any insight would be appreciated.
Thank you

You need to boot off the original Snow Leopard DVD's that came with the system.
Once you are running off of the DVD you will be able to do a clean install of SL
To boot off the DVD with the system up running Lion insert the DVD. Open Sytem Preferences->Startup Disk and select the DVD then restart the machine.
Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano

How can I partition my external hard drive supporting mac OS in one partition and windows OS in another?

Hello everyone, how can I partition my external hard drive supporting mac OS in one partition and windows OS in another?

OK. Start with:
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to two (2). Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
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How can I securely erase my hard drive and reinstall OS X Mountain Lion?

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