How do I erase a hard drive from within the system itself?

I want to erase everything on my hard drive as I want to give it away to someone. It has Lion on it.
How do I do this?
I tried to erase using Disk Utility but the disks were grayed out.
I have saved all the data on another disk so I can completely erase the drive.

I ended up doing it by booting with Lion Recovery (it was a Lion machine), obtained by booting and pressing down the Option key.
Then I went to Disk Utility and erased the internal hard disk.
But afterwards, when I tried to do Lion Recovery, I couldn't. Maybe because my Internet connection was poor. I was at a hotel. I think you need an internet connection to get Lion OS downloaded on your computer.
It didn't really matter anyway as I the person who I gave it to can get Lion on the machine easily.

Similar Messages

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 can I erase My hard drive. Disk utility only gives me the option of erase free space. I have 27in iMac with Lion and 12 gb ram.

How can I erase my hard drive? Disk utility only gives me the option to erase free space.
Thanks for any assistance.

Drive Preparation for Lion
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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.
4. Quit DU to return to the main menu.
5. Select Reinstall Lion then click on the Continue button. You need an active network connection in order to download the Lion software.

How do I erase my hard drive? My initial operating system was Snow Leopard but I have upgraded to Mavericks OS. My Snow Leopard install disk ejects when I try and use it.

How do I erase my hard drive? My initial operating system was Snow Leopard but I have upgraded to Mavericks OS. My Snow Leopard install disk ejects when I try and use it.

Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button and select GUID. Then re-install the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)
When you reboot, use Setup Assistant to restore your data.

How do you put your hard drive from an old computer to your new mac?

how do you put your hard drive from an old computer to your new mac?
i want to get the pictures, etc off of my old mac onto my new mac desktop. how can i do this?

You don't.
How to use Migration Assistant:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889?viewlocale=en_US
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4413?viewlocale=en_US
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1963
Troubleshooting Firewire target disk mode:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

I need to erase my hard drive. But the disks are grey when I go to Disk Utility. How can I erase the hard drive?

I need to erase my hard drive. But the drives are grey when I go to Disk Utility.

Restart the computer with the Command and R keys held down and use the Disk Utility from there. If you're going to sell or give away the computer, press Option as well.
(107083)

Currently logged in from within the app itself

I need to find out who or how many users are currently logged into my app from within the app itself and display it within a report for the app administrators. Any thoughts or ideas.

For an answer to this question see this discussion.
query apex users and their session
query apex users and thier session
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Hi, how do I erase my hard drive on a macbook pro?

Hi - can anyone help|? I am trying to erase my hard drive and I have been told to go in to Disk Utility and click Erase, then Erase again but the second "Erase" is greyed out. Any ideas how to ungrey the second "erase" button.
Thanks

cfirebrace wrote:
Thank you for being so helpful. Do I just hold down Alt? It does nothing!!
When starting or restarting the computer, At Boot or ReBoot. And in the Mac World it is really the Option key, Alt is used for PC users that make the switch to Mac.

Querying free space on RDBMS server's drive from within the RDBMS?

Hi,
I would like to query free space on a certain drive of the RDBMS
host mashine from within the RDBMS. Is this feasable?
TIA,
Tamas Szecsy

Depends on the OS and what type of object you are querying from.
if in Sql*plus you can use the 'host' command to get into the
shell and execute OS commands (bdf on HP-UX for example). I've
never seen an Oracle package that queries that sort of
information.

Change display language of smartform from within the smartform itself

Hi!
The smartform is invoked to display from the standard with some language, which we want to change.
We can't change calling code (because it's standard).
Is it possible to change the displaying language of a smartform from within the smartform. Say, "Initialization" section?

Hi Concern,
We can change language at run time. With following way.
1.    Define a variable and allocate language u want to langu fields.
DATA lV_CT_PARA TYPE SSFCTRLOP.
Here LV_lang contain the language u want to assign.
LV_CT_PARA-LANGU = LV_LANG.
2. Pass it to smart form.
CALL FUNCTION FM_NAME
    EXPORTING
ARCHIVE_INDEX              =
ARCHIVE_INDEX_TAB          =
ARCHIVE_PARAMETERS         =
   CONTROL_PARAMETERS         = LV_CT_PARA
MAIL_APPL_OBJ              =
MAIL_RECIPIENT             =
MAIL_SENDER                =
OUTPUT_OPTIONS             =
USER_SETTINGS              = 'X'
Itu2019s working for me.
Regards
Swati.
Edited by: Swati Namdev on Apr 28, 2010 7:06 PM

How do I erase a hard drive

I got a " new to me" computer and want to fire wire my old computer over. Problem is "new to me" computer still has stuff on it and I need to erase the harddrive so that I can swith my computer over. Any one know how to do this?

What you need is the install disk for your "new to you" machine. Boot from that and you can erase the hard drive and then reinstall the original OS.
There may be another way, but would need to know the exact OS versions:
Which OS version did the "new to you" machine come with (originally, if it was upgraded), and
which version is on your own old computer (the one you want to move data from)?

How can I erase my hard drive?

I just sold my computer. How can I erase the hard drive? Thanks1

To prepare it for sale you should follow these instructions:
What to do before selling or giving away your Mac
In addition to the above:
If you enabled FileVault, disable it in System Preferences > Security & Privacy.
"Deauthorize" your iTunes account. Same for Audible if you have one.
System Preferences > iCloud > de-select "Back to My Mac" and "Find my Mac".
Sign out of iCloud. Select "Delete from Mac" when it appears.
Then:
Start your Mac with its original System Installation DVD (if your Mac shipped with one) or OS X Recovery (if it didn’t).
Remove any Open Firmware password if you created one: select Firmware Password Utility from the Utilities menu and remove it.
Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
Remove any partitions you may have created.
Select the Mac's hard disk icon, then select the "Erase" tab.
Select the "Security Options" button and erase the disk.
The more "securely" you erase the disk, the longer it will take. The fastest method is sufficient since all but the most expensive techniques and equipment will be able to recover securely erased data.
When it finishes, quit Disk Utility.
Select Install Mac OS X from the Utilities menu. Do not create any user accounts.
When it finishes, shut down the computer.
If you want to install the bundled apps that were included with your Mac, restart by using your Applications DVD and install the bundled apps.
Don't forget to include any DVDs that came with your iMac, your AppleCare certificate if you bought it, printed documentation, even the box if you still have it.
Execute a bill of sale showing the Mac's serial number.
Once no longer in your possesion, remove the Mac from your devices in My Support Profile.

How long to erase new hard drive

Hi!
I am replacing the hard drive for my imac a1173.
The original drive was a WD Caviar 1600JS. I ordered a WD Caviar 500GB sata III 7200 RPM 16MB cache.
I was reading of the need to jumper the drive to limit the transfer to 1.5 GB/s and I did following directions from WD web site.
I installed the drive and I ran Disk Utility as the drive was not showing up as destination to install OS X.
Well Disk Utility shows the drive (465.8 GB WDC WD5000...) - Untitled.
I selected it and started the Erase process. Volume format Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and as Security Option I left the default option (Do not erase data) as I think this was going to be the fastest way.
My question is: how long does it take for DU to get the drive ready?
The erase process has been running for almost a day now. I left the computer on and this morning I still see the colored wheel turning. Not sure what to do. It seems frozen to me but it may be running in the background as I was reading it may take a loooong time to format a drive depending on the speed of the CPU etc.
Since my imac is old, I think it may be normal to take all this time, but I am not sure so I would like to hear from you.
Do you think the drive is not compatible and that's why DU cannot erase it? Should I order a different drive?
Do you think I should let it run and wait for the erase process to complete?
Please advise...thank you

There has been reported problems with that WD Caviar drive.
Also you didn't mention what iMac you have
Since about 2009, one can't replace the internal boot drive on iMac's due to software Apple installs on the drive we can't get. The fans will race if you manage to get it to work.
http://blog.macsales.com/10146-apple-further-restricts-upgrade-options-on-new-im acs

How can I erase my hard drive if the Installer can't find it?

Our iBook, 10.3.9, was pretty reliable for 5 years, but it started to work slower the past days (maybe thru too little free space or too many programs open at the same time), so we restarted a lot.. until it didn't restart but came up with the question mark; then with a black screen/white letters asking for a login. But what is my login? I only know my admin password.
I ran DiskUtility and repaired the permissions and wanted to repair the disk as well, but it said (in red letters): unable, could not unmount disk.
I tried Archive and Install, but it stopped halfway and said there was an error, try again later. I didn't try again, but managed to save most of my documents to another iBook (10.4.3) thru FireWire Target mode.
Then I was ready for Erase & Install.
When I first got this iBook, I had a big accident and had to erase and install, at which time an Apple tech person advised me to first install 10.1 and then 10.2 ('cause this iBook was first made with 10.1, it had 10.2 when I bought it). So this morning I put my 10.1 install CD in and selected Disk Utility to Erase the hard drive. This was recommended in another thread to erase all faulty blocks on a computer. I must say the hard drive itself (below the '27 GB OSX' thing with the triangle in front of it) was already greyed out, but I selected this triangle thing and said erase.
Then I went back into the Installer but... it can't find any hard drive to install OSX on. It shows just one blank space...
The strangest thing is that one time this morning when I opened the iBook, it started up just like normal! But it worked too slow, it wasn't fine, so I restarted and then the problems came back just the same. Now I'm back atthe black screen with white letters. It makes me think though that not all is lost with this computer, which my family hopes with me.
What can I do???
ibook Mac OS X (10.3.7)

Cornelius,
ask as many questions as necessary! I know it is a confusing situation.
Your profile lists OS X 10.3.7.
I believe I upgraded last year to 10.3.9.
Do you have a Full Retail Version of Panther available for re-install?
Yes.
What OS version(s) do you have a full retail version for?
For 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3.2.
Do you have an OS currently installed on your computer?
I don't know...
This morning I had set my mind to do the Erase & Install. I inserted the 10.1 disk, opened DUtility and selected "Erase" from the tablist. At that point the hard drive under the top-triangle was already grey I believe. I selected the top line, or the grey line, am not sure which was last. The computer started to spin. I can't tell if it erased anything at that point. But I know that once the computer stopped spinning its operationwheel, I quit DU and went on trying to install, but then there was no installation disc available. There was just a blanc field.
There was nothing else to do but restart, and at that point the computer opened up with a desktop like normal. I know it sounds crazy.
But it didn't work well. I could open a jpg-file in "Preview", but went in "Mail" and it took forever to open a message, at which point I restarted.
And since then, the normal desktop hasn't shown up anymore.
Whenever I restart, I keep getting stuck at 1. a flashing icon with the picture of a globe, which changes into
2. the question-mark, then
3. the window "Mac OS" with the blue stripe, filling up almost all the way and then
3. a black screen with white letters. If I type something and press return, it asks for password. If I type anything and press return, it says 'login incorrect', and then I see a new screen with "Darwin/BSD (X-3.local) (console)..... next line: "login: "
I don't know what my login could be.
I have since started up from the 10.3 CD, but also only saw a blank field where there should be an icon of my hard drive. (at 'select destination').
Since my post, I used my Apple Hardware Test-CD, and that gave a pass. It said "No device found" for AirPort and Mass Storage. "Device found" for Modem and "Passed" for Logic Board, Memory and VideoRAM.
In any case, what I want to do is still to Erase & Install, because something seems to be very wrong and my stuff is safely backed up.
Looking forward to your answer. Thanks a lot.
ibook Mac OS X (10.3.7)

How can I erase my hard drive if my DVD is broken?

Hi all,
I have a G4 with OS 10.4.11 that I would like to now retire.
The DVD drive is "stuffed up" so I cannot erase my files using the Tiger install disc.
I went to applications/utilities/disk utility, selected the Macintosh HD, selected the Erase tab but all the writing (except erase free space button) is greyed out or dimmed.
Any suggestions on what I may do next to erase my HD? Is there a firewire alternative? Thank-you in advance!!!
Becks

Hi Becky,
My suggestion is similar to but not identical to Malcom's. His suggestion is you use the Target Disk mode to turn your old G4 basically into a hard drive that you other computer sees and erases. Should work but you may have some utility running on new computer that is not letting the drive unmount. For example, I have SMARTreporter running on my computer and it will not let me unmount other drives until I quit the application. You may have something similar which you have to track down.
My suggestion was to make your firewire drive bootable, boot from that which then turns your internal drive into just another hard drive. Since you're booted from the Firewire drive you can erase the internal drive.
One reason to wipe everything, including the OS, is the small possibility there are any personal bits of information or applications that somehow got put into the System area.

How do I erase a hard drive from within the system itself?

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