How do I erase everything, wipe the hard drive and reinstall OSX?

I am going to be giving my g3 ibook to my son. I want to erase everything, completely wipe the drive and start from scrath with Tiger. How do I do this? Do I need to be concerned with any potential pitfalls? I know I need to deauthorize the itunes on the ibook, but is there anything else I need to do before I start the process? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Do you have the original software CD's that came with the iBook? If so, I would recommend using them to restore the original software before proceeding to upgrade. This way, your son will have all the original software that came on the iBook (like AppleWorks).
A concern with Tiger and a G3 iBook is that some of them have such a small hard drive that it is really (in my opinion, at least) too cramped for Tiger. It's recommended to keep about 5 GB of available hard drive space for OS X to run smoothly and also to allow room for an Archive and Install if it is ever necessary. The newer the version of the OS, the more important the extra hard drive space is.
Also, you don't say how much RAM is installed in the iBook. I suppose you know that Tiger requires 256 MB for installation, and it would be wiser to have the RAM upgraded to its maximum with a 512 MB module, if you haven't already done that.
Good luck!

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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.

I want to erase everything on the hard drive and have snow leopard which is the operating system now left

i just brought a laptop on ebay with snow leopard on it and alot of programs i dont want. i want to erase everthing and end up with the snow leopard amd i can buy ilife which i want.

Erase and Install Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
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. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. After formatting is complete quit DU and complete the Snow Leopard installation.

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 erase (or remove) the hard drive from a dead Time Capsule?

How can I erase (or remove) the hard drive from a dead Time Capsule?

I found this having had the same problem...
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=553818
Having removed the hard drive I'm finding I can't reformat it. I manage to mount the HD but Disk Utility crashes when trying to format (HD attached to Mac via Newer Tech. SATA cables to USB) and causes what I think is a kernal panic on my Mac which hard crashes. I see 3 partitions when attempting to mount one of which is AFP. Anyone got any ideas about how to do this? I've dug around but the only progress I've made is to note others have had to work around ACL's when replacing the logic board of the TC. Not sure if this even relates to the problem. However the tool for doing this seems to have been removed from SL. (Forum references to this procedure all relate to 10.5).

My HP computer's hard drive crashed. I have replaced the hard drive and reinstalled all of the software. I have copied my I tunes library from my backup hard drive to the new one. How do I restore the permissions? This is the 3 rd time I have had to d

My HP computer's hard drive crashed. I have replaced the hard drive and reinstalled all of the software. I have copied my I tunes library from my backup hard drive to the new one. How do I restore the permissions? This is the 3 rd time I have had to do this. THe share screen says you are limited to 5 ??

No backup is not good.
You can transfer itunes purchases from an ipod. File>Transfer Purchases

I'm getting the grey screen during start up and can't boot the computer. I did a cmnd R but worried it would automatically wipe my hard drive and reinstall OS. Is there a risk at cmnd R will result in wiped HD without me actively making that choice?

I'm getting the grey screen during start up and can't boot the computer - MacBook Pro with lion.
I did a command r after doing some research but got nervous that it would automatically wipe my hard drive and reinstall OS.
I was nervous because it asked me for language for software use before any options were presented (such as repair via disk utility). It looked similar to an OS install.So I powered off....Is there a risk at command r will result in wiped HD without me actively making that choice?

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
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.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Reinstall Mountain Lion or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is
three times faster than wireless.

I have a iMac 6,1 that I want to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard version 10.6.3 . I don't know how to reformat

I have a iMac 6,1 that I need to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Snow Leopard version 10.6.3 . How do I reformat ?

Boot the ssystem from the OS DVD. Once it is booted run Disk Utiltiy. Select OS Extrended (Journled)
See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

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 info on the hard drive

how do I erase info on the hard drive

If you want to give him a really clean new laptop, the best thing to do would be to erase it (or secure erase it, if there's stuff on there you don't want being found if the machine were to get stolen or something) and reinstall the system from scratch
If you want a simpler method, it's probably easiest to just securely delete anything sensitive (put it in the trash and choose Finder -> Secure Empty Trash) and then create a new user for your son. Make him an admin user, then log in as him and delete your old user, making sure to tell it to delete your user folder when asked. Of course, you'll want to make sure your data is safely stored away elsewhere first!
As far as applications go, if they were bought from the App Store, you can legally use them on multiple machines in your household, but you could also delete them by just dragging them to the trash. For other apps, if they required an installer, look for an uninstaller provided by the company that made the app. If not, just drag it to the trash.

I had to erase everything on my hard drive and need to re download Photoshop but can't find my serial number

I had to erase my hard drive and so deleted photoshop 6 and need to download it again but i don't want to pay again..
plus i cant find my serial number, and cant get any help from Adobe directly.. please help

You can refer following link to recover SN from your Adobe account:
https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/find-serial-number.html
Regards,
Ashutosh

How do I connect to my external hard drive after reinstalling OSX?

I just reinstalled OSX 10.5, then upgraded to 10.5.8 on my Powerbook. Both my external hard drive and iDisk are locked, and won't let me open them. I went to information for each disk, authenticated, but it won't let me change permissions for either disk. Help!
- ®aymond

Tom,
Thank you for your advice. I did that for the external hard drive, but it still won't let me open the drive. I'm stuck because my iTunes and iPhoto libraries as well as Time Machine all are on the external. It also won't let me open my iDisk.
Tks!
®aymond

Format the hard drive and reinstall Mac OS X if i have lost the dvd's

Hi
I own a 2011 macbook pro 17" and it my disk is almost full so the computer is frezzing all the time and stuff. So i thought of formatting the drive and reinstalling the OS but i can't find the dvd's that came with it and i'm really not sure if there were any dvd's that came with it. Why do I do?
I have a friend who has a 2011 macbook pro 13". Will his dvd's work on mine?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

adrianlazlow wrote:
my disk is almost full so the computer is frezzing all the time
Reduce data off of it so it's less than 80% filled, use a external drive.
That's all you need basically.
Most commonly used backup methods
Why is my computer slow?

How can I erase everything on a hard drive?

I have an external hard drive that I want to erase and then use to archie video. How does one go about erasing everything on an external hard drive?

You can open the drive and drag everything to the trash and empty it in the Finder.
If your wanting to erase and reformat the drive, it depends what your going to use it for.
Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's
It's possible to reformat the drive with the same existing formatting, that will also erase the entire drive of all data provided the entire drive is selected, not the indended partitions if any exist.

I wiped the hard drive and lost lightroom...please help before wife kills me...

Hi folks! First post here so go easy on the newb...
Our computer got slammed with a virus a few days back and we had to wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. So we lost lightroom. The original version we had was downloaded to begin with... so the only serial number we had was wiped with the rest of the hd. (bonehead, i know) We do have an upgrade serial number from when we upgraded our lightroom a while back, but it is useless without the "original SN#" which we don't have.
Is there anything we can do?
Thanks!
Daryl & Haley

Time to get paranoid. For the future, backup everything, especially serial numbers and the like. I have a program in which I store all passwords, logins, serial numbers, etc that I need. Of course it is encrypted and it takes a password to get into it, but that is only ONE password. It is a desktop/mobile application, so it gets synced with my phone. (We travel a lot, so I need this information when we travel). All downloaded products and associated stuff live on an external drive and are backed up to another external drive. There is another copy made occasionally that lives offsite. I put a text file in the "products" directory for each program in which I ALSO have the serial number and any additional information about installation -- like what you need to install an upgrade, etc. I have learned to be paranoid through experiences similar to yours...
I do admit though that the companies are getting much better about forgotten serial numbers than they used to be, so it looks like you are saved this time.
I hope you have a copy of the database and the images? The images are truly irreplaceable, and the database is valuable.
Judy

How do I erase everything, wipe the hard drive and reinstall OSX?

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