How to permanently remove files and software?

I am donating my PowerMac4 and wonder if there's anything special  I should do to remove my software and documents?  I have moved all files and software programs into the Trash and have emptied the Trash.  Should I be doing anything else?

Simply trashing documents does not gaurantee they cannot be recovered. Theye is a "Secure Empty Trash" option that you could have used but it won't work now that you've emptied teh Trash.
The best thing that will defeat all but the most aggressive recovery software is to boot from a system install disk and find Disk Utility in the options. Open it and select your hard drive in the left-hand pane. Click the "Erase" tab--from there you have some options:
1) Choosing the most simple erase and rename option for the drive is much more secure than an Empty trash action.
2) There is a button for "Security Options" that allow more aggressive wiping of the drive. Some of these can take a long time to run.
If you wish the donated computer to be usuable, reinstall an OS after the wipe.

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