Securely erase hard drive on Mac Air for sale on e-bay.

I would like to sell my Air (1.6 gz -80GB) on e-bay and want to securely erase hard drive (I use a lot of financial info.). I am running Snow Leopard but I no installations left. I have the original CDs but not the external super drive. Any ideas on how to erase all data? Thanks a million.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3263
Dave M.
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How to format hard drive with mac air for use on mac and pc

I'm new to MAC and can't make much sence of what has been said to do in other questions. All I want to be able to do is use my 500gb My Passport hard drive on my MAC and other PC's. I have saved all the data that I want to keep on another hard drive so can re-format the hard drive if needed. I want to do all the set up on my MAC AIR.
Please help,
Cheers Hutch

Reading assignment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExFAT
Ciao.

Removed hard drive from Mac Air

Hard drive crashed on the mac air. Now that its come back all working fine, it turns out my daughter needs to recover just a couple files from the old one. I think at this point there is no hope, but any ideas out there would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Samkatic,
What type of MacBook Air do you have? The first generation (Rev A) had a PATA connection interface, whereas later ones had SATA. Plus, due to the design of the Air the HDs don't have a standard PATA/SATA interface connection so traditional hard drive enclosures don't work as easy as they do on say... a MacBook HD.
I use to work at the Genius Bar (when the Air was released) and Apple had supplied us with a custom drive dock for MBA HD data transfers when a drive pull was required. You might want to visit your neighborhood store and inquire if they can be of assistance.

Recommended # of "zero out" passes to securely erase hard drive?

I'm selling some old hard drives. Apple's Disk Utility (OS X 10.4.8) provides the ability to "zero out" the data on a hard drive. Options include ability to run 1, 7 or 35 zero out passes. The 7 option will take a day per drive, and the 35, obviously, several days.
Is 1 zero out pass good enough to securely wipe the data? Is running two consecutive 1 zero out passes twice as good as one pass?
thanks!

Depends on how paranoid you really are, how important it is that no data be recoverable, and who might attempt to recover data from the drive.
In most common cases one pass should be sufficient. If you have extremely top secret NSA data on the drive that highly trained spies will attempt to discover and have access to the most sophisticated data recovery equipment, then go for 35 passes.
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Securely erase hard drive to see if bad sectors before using it?

When you get a new backup hard drive, do you securely erase it (write over it with zeros and ones) to ensure that it's working OK and doesn't have excessive bad sectors? I read that that's a good idea to make sure it has a clean bill of health before using it.
I'm curious as to whether people think that's advisable or entirely unnecessary. Bad sectors may be found in normal use, but if a disk is bad, isn't it good to know that so you can return it before starting to use it?

See http://tidbits.com/e/14708 which recommends it. Do note that I've never done it and have ext HDs up to 2 TB in size. It does take a long time.

How to securely erase hard drive

I'm upgrading and want to sell my old Mac. Can I erase the hard drive, possibly using Disk Utility, in a way that makes all my old data permanently irretrievable?

Cheapster,
According to Step 7. If you're erasing a disk, select the Install Mac OS 9 Disk Driver checkbox if you plan to start up the disk in Mac OS 9, or if the disk will be connected to a computer running Mac OS 9. (You do not need Mac OS 9 drivers to use the Classic environment.)In other words you will have a blank canvas, and OS 9 installation and drivers would be required to allow dual boot capability.
Enjoy your new Mac. What will it be?
Cheers.
;~)

Need to erase hard drive and reinstall system on iMac but have misplaced original install disks. Tried to use a my copy of Snow lepord 10.6 from my Mac pro but will not boot. Can original install disks be replaced. Thanks

Need to erase hard drive and reinstall system on iMac but have misplaced original install disks. Tried to use a my copy of Snow lepord 10.6 from my Mac Pro but will not boot. Can original install disks be replaced. Thanks

Yes the original Install Discs can be replaced for a nominal fee. Call AppleCare, you will need a credit card and the serial number of the machine. You can use the AppleCare Contact Info for the phone number on your part of the planet.

I have two hard drives on my mac 10.5.8 power pc and hear the clickking sounds of the first hard drive and think that it may be dying, can I install everything on the other hard drive also and wait for the first drvie to die before i use the other drives

I have two hard drives on my mac 10.5.8 power pc and hear the clickking sounds of the first hard drive and think that it may be dying, can I install everything on the other hard drive also and wait for the first drive to die before i use the other drives? Or, what is the best way to handle this?

I do not know what you are waiting for.
I'd make a backup of your important stuff before cloning the entire disk.
Carbon Copy Cloner will copy your startup drive to an external firewire drive. You can boot from the external drive to verify that you have a good clone. When you upgrade your existing startup drive, you can at any time boot from your external drive and go back to your existing system.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
SuperDuper is the wildly acclaimed program that makes recovery painless, because it makes creating a fully bootable backup painless. Its incredibly clear, friendly interface is understandable, easy to use, and SuperDuper's built-in scheduler makes it trivial to back up automatically. And it runs beautifully on both Intel and Power PC Macs!

Some one has blocked Safari on my Mac Air for 'security reasons'

Someone has blocked Safari on my Mac air " for security" temporarily the same message came up on my iPhone 6 Plus but is now gone. Need to remove the block from my computer

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems
If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide, remove adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac, and AdwareMedic. If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.) You might consider adding this Safari extensions: Adblock Plus 1.8.9.
Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.
The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.
Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.
Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.
Quit Safari
Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.
Relaunch Safari
If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.
This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

TS1600 I received a 2008 Imac with erased hard drive. I have the two discs to install OS X but when it tries to boot just comes up Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer. Is there anything I can do to get this running

I rceived a 2008 Imac with erased hard drive. They gave me the two install discs but it keeps coming up cannot install OS X on this computer.
Is there anything to do. Thanks hopefully

Well, Apple would probably point out that what you are trying to do violates the EULA.
Technically speaking, however, the issue is that the install/restore DVDs that ship with Macs do not carry all the drivers, or even all of the various versions of libraries that support all of the various models of Macs. The come-with-your-Mac disks are different than the retail versions of the OS (also, the come-with-your-Mac ones bundle iLife, which the retail ones don't).
Because the come-with-your-Mac disk contains only the drivers specific to that generation and model line of Mac, it contains a stub of code that verifies that your hardware matches the driver set on the install/restore DVD.
Your friend has a different model of Mac, with different hardware, so her install/restore disk won't work in yours. Solution: go get the retail boxed version of Leopard.

Can i use Iomega 1TB MiniMax Hard Drive FireWire 800/USB for ipad 2 to access videos without using mac or pc ?

can i use Iomega 1TB MiniMax Hard Drive FireWire 800/USB for ipad 2 to access videos without using mac or pc ?

No, you can't connect an external drive to the iPad - the iPad doesn't have a USB or firewire port and the camera connection kit only supports the transfer of photos and videos into the Photos app. There are some wifi-enabled drives that can be used to stream content to the iPad e.g. Seagate GoFlex Satellite

How do i reformat my hard drive on mac mini late 2011 with yosemite before selling my mac

how do i reformat my hard drive on mac mini late 2011 with yosemite before selling my mac

You can't legally sell or give away that computer with Yosemite installed.
Before you sell or give away your computer, in addition to the steps listed in this support article, take these steps:
1. Run Apple Diagnostics or the Apple Hardware Test. The buyer will do this (or he should), and you don't want to be surprised by the results.
2. Reset the PRAM and the SMC, which might contain personal information.
3. If you set a firmware password, remove it by running Firmware Password Utility in Recovery mode.
4. If you activated FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, turn it off.
5. If you use Boot Camp, the partition must be deleted.
6. If you created any other data partitions on the internal drive, remove them in Disk Utility.
7. If the machine has an internal hard drive, erase the one remaining data partition with the option to zero out data. An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.
You can't legally or practically transfer any software downloaded from the Mac App Store to the new owner of the machine, even if it was free. That includes OS X, so if you upgraded to OS X 10.7 or later, you must reinstall an older OS, either from the installation media, if applicable, or by starting up in Internet Recovery mode (option-command-R at the startup chime.) If you installed from physical media, deliver those to the new owner.
If you're selling the machine, or donating it in working order, and it originally shipped with OS X 10.4 or 10.5, then you have the option of installing either from the discs that came with it or from a retail Snow Leopard disc (which you must then transfer to the buyer.) The buyer should understand that if he doesn't get the original discs from you, he won't get the bundled iLife applications or the Apple Hardware Test. Replacements for the original discs can be ordered from Apple.
The new owner will have to redownload any software that came from the App Store, including OS X upgrades, under his or her Apple ID. If you ever updated the bundled iLife applications (Garage Band, iMovie, and iPhoto) through the App Store, you can't transfer those either. The buyer will have to purchase them.
Remove the machine from your list of registered products. If it's still covered by an AppleCare Protection Plan, transfer the coverage to the new owner by following the instructions in the AppleCare Terms and Conditions (under the heading "Transfer of Plan.")

What is the best way to recycle 2010 MacBook? Also, it is completely dead and cannot erase hard drive.

What is the best way to recycle old 2010 MacBook? Also, it is completely dead and I cannot erase hard drive.

Depending on where you are located, country, region, etc, you may have options should
you wish to have it professionally restored or repaired to function properly again...
Even an Apple Store with Genius bar could, in several locations, give the product a look
and perhaps be able to diagnose the underlying issues. However that varies with the
degree of failed components and what is really wrong with it. A battery and a new HDD
could be all that's wrong with it. A diagnostic is often free, even on out-of-warranty Mac
at the Apple Store genius bar; an appointment is advised.
However if you only wanted someone to extract the hard disk drive and attach it to
a 'universal USB drive adapter kit' so at to try and access any readable files on it,
that is something that could be done at an Apple Authorized service provider; as
some of them may even have a section of resale products such as this adapter kit.
An example of this kind of kit includes wires, adapter parts, & a separate power supply
so it can be used to run the hard drive's electronics. This is not intended for permanent
use, but works like a set of patch cables to access the bare drive without an enclosure.
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Universal-Drive-Adapter/IF107-108-1
Another kit example says it'd work with almost any HDD or SSD of several build types:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NVSPATA/
Companies that specialize in restoring Apple portable computers can give you an estimate
on a repair and the good ones can do that without a fee; they will not start a repair after they
see the computer until you get the estimate, and approve of the repair. If other items are
found to be of interest requiring other work or parts, they will also contact you, again before
continuing. One of these kinds of companies I know about (half a hemisphere away) is in
the eastern US, and worth inquiring of even if you are overseas. wegenermedia.com.
While I have no connection with any of these products or service suggestions, they do have
some variety of good reputation (ifixit.com has DIY repair guides; macsales has parts, etc.)
in standing, among many Mac users across a section of the planet...
Any concerns about the data on the hard disk drive should be able to be answered by a
local Apple independent; they also should have the universal USB drive adapter locally.
Not sure if I answered your inquiry, but there are different ways of approaching this matter.
Good luck & happy computing!
edited

Erase hard drive on eMac OS 10

I am trying to erase the hard drive of eMac OS 10.3.9. Tried Command + R keys while rebooting but disk utility wont let me erase. The erase button is not active/greyed out. Is there another way to erase hard drive completely? I dont need to reinstall because I am trying to discard eMac (15 years+ old). I do not have any of the installer CDs since I threw them out.

You could perhaps try a web search for an old PowerPC release (dban-2.0.0_powerpc.iso) of a free disk wiping utility called DBAN. A CD burned from the iso file should allow a PowerPC Mac to start up (hold down the C key) from a small (Linux) system. It would then be possible to test if and how the utility works on your eMac.
Jan

How to Install 10.7 Lion on New Erased hard drive?

I want to install 10.7 on a new, freshly-Erased hard drive.
My hardware supports 10.7.
Can anyone point me to simple instructions how to do this task?
Thank you.

2 ways to buy Lion. $29.99 as a d/l from the App Store (you need Snow Leopard installed). If you own another Mac with Snow Leopard, you can create an installer DVD/USB) or you can buy the Lion Install USB from Apple for $69.
When you boot from the installer, Select Disk Utility, then erase the disk. Then quit Disk Utility and install OSX Lion.
(See also: Installing Lion: Macworld's complete guide)

Securely erase hard drive on Mac Air for sale on e-bay.

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