I want to sell my MBP. How do I completely erase my 2007, 17-inch Macbook Pro that is currently running Snow Leopard. I DO NOT HAVE THE ORIGINAL DISK THAT CAME WITH THE BOX ANYMORE.

I want to sell off my old MacBook Pro and do not want any of my old stuff on it for the next person to fool around with. I'd like a clean-slate for the next guy/gal. It's a 17-inch that I purchased back in '07. It is currently running Snow Leopard after I installed it myself about two years ago. I DO NOT HAVE THE ORIGINAL DISK THAT CAME WITH THE LAPTOP IN THE BOX.

raeusebio32 wrote:
I DO NOT HAVE THE ORIGINAL DISK THAT CAME WITH THE LAPTOP IN THE BOX.
No problem, stick in your 10.6.3 Snow Leopard retail disk you used to upgrade from 10.4/10.5 with
If you don't have this disk anymore, you can order one online at Apple.com for $29, they don't sell it in the physical stores.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A
Reboot holding the c or option key down to boot from the disk, select Disk Utility from under the Utilities menu on the second screen (first is language selection)
Now select your boot drive on the left with the drive makers name and disk size and click Erase > Security Option > Zero All Data and click Erase
It will take some time to complete as it's making sure all your personal data if not easily recoverable off the drive using software.
Now quit and you will be back in the installer window, install 10.6 and it will reboot to the "Welcome Video" you can choose to press the power button down and do a hard shutdown, the computer will boot again to this video for the next owner.
If you need even more security in your data deletion efforts I suggest you read this
How do I securely delete data from the machine?

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