Erasing a OS 8.5.1 hard disk: no startup disk

I have an old but working MacPro 7200 that I wanted to recycle but wanted to zero the hard disk first. Unfortunately, I no longer have the startup disks for the 7200 or my 8.5.1 installation disk (the OS that is on the machine.) All my other Macs are at least OS X.4.11.
Is there any way to do this other than removing the hard drive and hitting it with a hammer?
Thanks.
ph

You can access the links Grant referred to on this Apple webpage -
OS 8.1 Update & Disk Tools
Another possibility to do what you want to do is to remove the hard drive and place it in another Mac as a second drive, then use OSX's Disk Utility to deep wipe the drive. If you do that, be sure to set the format as Mac OS Extended (not journaled), and to select the option to install OS 9 drivers.
Note that in order for it to use a volume formatted as Mac OS extended the OS must be 8.1 or later. Your PM7200 can use any OS 8 version, and OS 9 versions up to and including OS 9.1.

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Problem with hard disk space

I don't know what the problem of my macbook pro mid 2010. When I erased a program or files, my hard disk spaces become full but when I installed program or download files my hard disk space diminish. My mac running OS X Maverick 10.9.2.

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do you regularly make Time Machine backups? If so, then the apparent discrepancy could be explained by the behind-the-scenes creation and deletion of local Time Machine snapshots.

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i am using for first time the time machine and an external hard drive because I want to erase my macbook and start from zero files. Am i keeping my files in the portable hard disk when I will connect it again with the macbook or the time machine will erase all?
I would like to know if after I erase all my data, empy hard drive inside the macbook, the time machine will erase all my files that I have saved in my "WD "My passport" external hard drive

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Time Machine has to erase the external disk in order to make backups. Before setting Time Machine up, copy the files of your external disk to the hard disk of the Mac in order not to lose them, and then, set up Time Machine. The first backup will start automatically.
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How can I securely erase my Apple TV's Hard Disk?

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Can't erase anything on an external hard disk partition of bootable backup ____error message -50 "Error in user parameter"

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The data on the disk partition on my Iomega 2Tb external hard disk drive (labeled "Bootable Backup") was written by Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC ver. 3.37)
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Anyone

Do a backup using Time Machine or a clone. Then boot into the Recovery Volume (command - R) on a restart. Run Disk Utility Repair disk. If it can't repair the disk, then select the erase tab and reformat using Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Also click the Option button and select GUID. When complete, reboot normally and restore your data.
Please update your profile to reflect the OS you are running.

By mistake i erase my macbook pro hard disk how to reinstall the yosemite on my macbook because it donsnt read the bootable drive?

by mistake i erase my macbook pro hard disk how to reinstall the yosemite on my macbook because it donsnt read the bootable drive?

usamafrombeverly hills wrote:
when i start the macbook & press cmd+R it goes to the internet recovery
Well then when you erased your hard drive, your erased the Recovery partition, also.
Use Internet Recovery to either restore from your Time Machine backup or reinstall the OS if you don't have a TM Backup.
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Remember to press the 'C' key to boot on the Snow Leopard disk (or set the boot disk from Preferences -> Startup disk)...
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I had a problem with the hard disk on a 13" 2010 macbook pro. Replaced the hard disk with an Hitachi 1TB disk but when I tried to erase and format, it fails with input/output error and at other times saying unable to allocate memory. Any help much appreciated!

Zap the PRAM and Reset the SMC, then try again.

Hi . i have Intel based iMac. i erased whole hard disk. now it flashes folder icon with question mark... i have no internet or orginal dvd.... i want to clean install any mac osx..friend got mac book pro and osx in dmg format . what are my options?

hi . i have Intel based iMac. i erased whole hard disk. now it flashes folder icon with question mark... i have no internet or orginal dvd.... i want to clean install any mac osx..friend got mac book pro and osx in dmg format . what are my options?

On your friend's computer with an internet connection, log into the Mac App Store with your ID and download Yosemite from the Purchases section of the Mac App Store. The make a bootable USB install media using
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I did a re-install on my girlfriends G4 iBook running X10.9 because of system problems, and now when the software disk ask for what destination to install on there is not option. I can't believe it had me erase hard disk and then doesn't give me option to partition another or create. Any suggestions?

Hi, dosotyidiot, and welcome to Apple Discussions. The "system problems" you were attempting to remedy by reinstalling may actually have been caused by a failing hard drive that is now completely dead.
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Hi
I have Solaris 9 installed. For some tests I need a HDD without any data on it. (Like a new one, you buy). As I don't have a new hard disk, I'd like to erase the data.
How can I do this?
Thank you in advance

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You could consider booting from CDROM and using
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hikinghigh,
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Don King Resurrected: Deleted files from hard drive (free user steps – music recovery only)
MacMuse: Computer Crashed (free user steps – music recovery only)
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Copying Songs from Your iPod to a Mac or PC (resource for 3rd party software)
iPodRip Software
PodUtil Software
XPlay (Software For Music Recovery &/or Cross-Platform Functionality)
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You could run fs_usage
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sudo fs_usage
If you wanted to limit the display to files accessed by a particular process, you could redirect the output through the grep tool. For example, to display file behavior for the TextEdit application, you would enter the following at the Terminal prompt:
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Once your application finishes launching, stop fs_usage by typing Control-C in your Terminal window.
Look for all writes. Might be mdworker (Spotlight)
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No Hard Disk Detected after Erasing Free Space

Hi ,
First I will explain the problem, I will be grateful for your help to solve it as immediately as possible. Thanks in advance !
I have a MacBook Black since 2007, with system specification, 160 GB Hard Disk, 1GB RAM, 2.16 GHz Intel Processor. I had a OS X 10.4.11 Tiger version. I need to upgrade it to 10.6 Snow Leopard. I bought OS X 10.6 DVD Snow Leopard version from Apple Store.
Last night, I save my all the data on external HDD, and tried to install 10.6, and it is installed over 10.4.11 with everything on the internal 160 Hard Disk. I did not want like that. I again started the installation process, I went to Disk Utility, I did some thing with partition, i.e. I created again 160 GB partition. Then I wanted to format, Then I saw some Erase Free Space and only Erase also, I click on Erase only, it is finished in seconds. but I was not satisfied. I saw button Erase Free Space then I click there, then , it takes about 90 minutes, and at the end, I saw a failure message that it could not create the temporary file or something like that I forgot what was written, however, it was a failure message ( it is failed to create etc ) .. ,
Then I saw, that there was nothing in the disk utility tool except the installing 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD. I was shocked, what happened.
Does some body could help me in this regard. How can I get the internal HDD with installation DVD ? What should I do after to erase everthing from my internal HDD, I mean , there should be nothing on it ..,
A big THANKS to you to solve this problem.
Best Regards,
Imran Khan
Macbook Black
1 GB RAM
160 GB HDD
2.16 GHz Intel

Yes, I just played with Disk Utility, and in the end, I found nothing.
With the installer DVD, when I came upto Menu List, I click on Apple in the upper left corner, There are many menus but in grey, I can't click on them, e.g.
About This MAc
Software Update...
Mac OS X Software ...
Logout ...
I can't click them ,
Just for Info, In the Utilities Menu, the list is as below,
Startup Disk ..
Reset Password..
Firmware Password Utility
Disk Utility
Terminal
System Profiler
Network Utility
Restore System From Backup,
Here I click on the System Profiler Menu, After that, I go into deep, there are hardware list,
In ATA ... it shows only MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857E .. in detail it shows about the installer 10.6 DVD
and
In Serial-ATA .. it shows Intel ICH7-M AHCI ..
I did not find anything about internal HDD of 160 GB.

I want to give away or sell a 6500/250 running 7.6.1. How can the hard disk be erased so that the data are gone, not recoverable? thanks, LifeisRich

I want to give away or sell a 6500/250 running 7.6.1. How can the hard disk be erased so that the data are gone, not recoverable? thanks, LifeisRich

I'd recommend that you check for Mac User Group(s) in Orange County. That's where you'd likely find a diehard Mac fanatic who might want to add your 6500 to his/her collection. Even if you got nothing for it, it would be better than e-cycling it. I upgraded my 6500/275 with what was a "large" hard drive at the time (15 GBs), maxed the memory at 128 MBs, installed the 512K L2 cache card, a better ATI Rage Pro PCI graphics card, a USB PCI card, and an internal 56K modem. With it running OS 9.1, it did all of the pre-OS X stuff I needed it to do. As I previously mentioned, it's a nice-sounding MP3 player. Internet Explorer 5.1.7 (the final release from 2001) kept it useful for surfing the web up until 2005, when it became too outdated/incompatible with many web sites. Unfortunately, the demands of the internet and the need for a modern browser, as well as faster processing to digest it all, are what retired many older Macs from active duty. So my (2) 6500s and (3) 6400s (same tower design) sit in storage. There is one concern that I'll pass along: The motherboard has a 4.5-volt alkaline battery, that's a small, black plastic cube, secured in place by velcro. If your 6500 has been disconnected from electricity for a long time, the battery will undoubtedly be dead. Unlike the many Apple computers that used a small ½AA lithium battery (that I've never seen leak when completely dead), the 6500's battery can and usually does start leaking. Because the motherboard sits vertically oriented on its side edge when installed, the leaking battery will drip alkaline solution down the board, corroding any components in it path. I've seen motherboards ruined from this. If you're going to give it away or sell it, you might want to pull the motherboard (remove the two machine screws on the rear I/O panel, next to the pull tabs). Slide out the board and unplug the battery's small connector (has red & black wires), then lift up on the battery, while holding down the "toothed" velcro mount with something non-conductive, like a popsicle stick. Once it's free, dispose of the battery. If you're interested, a replacement can be purchased for about $5-$7 from battery specialty retailers - it's a Rayovac 870 or 871. Even if you don't replace it, removing one that will eventually leak is a good idea, (hopefully) before any damage is done.

Erasing a OS 8.5.1 hard disk: no startup disk

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