Computing with Bifocals - Get a New Mac? Erase Your Old One!
by - December 29th, 2004

Everyone knows how well-built our Macs are and how long they last. Well, OK, everyone who uses a Mac knows.

Anyhow, those of us "in the know" know that when we get a new Mac, we have left a perfectly good computer that we no longer need. Frequently we sell the old one, or pass it on to someone else, or donate it to a worthy cause. Whatever we decide to do with it, we all know, or should know, that before handing it over to someone else, the computer should have all of our "stuff" removed. There are a couple of options for accomplishing this.

The first is to pay someone to wipe the computer clean for you. You might decide to do this if money is no object and you don't want to be bothered to do it yourself, or if you have financial or security information on your computer that you want to be very, very sure that no hacker can resurrect.

For those of us who fall into neither category, it is very easy to wipe your system clean yourself. Besides, it is a wonderfully satisfying feeling to add this to your repertoire of accomplishments. If you are passing the old computer along to someone you know, you can even set it up anew for them. The qualifier will be knowing what password the new user will want assigned to the computer. Of course, you can always set it up with a temporary password and show the recipient how to change it later.

The following directions will work on any operating system (OS) that your computer has installed. You will have to have the Software Install CD that came with your computer. It should have the words "Software Install" printed on it. You will also find printed on the CD the words "Mac OS version (10.x)." Finally, the Software Install CD must contain the words "To start up from this CD, hold down the "C" key as the computer starts up."

Note that these instructions are for Macs that can run Mac OS X, and that came with a Mac OS X Software Install CD.

Warning: Never erase a hard drive before you have backed up any information or files you want to keep. Once you have erased a drive, the information will be hard to recover!

Also, as the Guest note in the comments below, you must deactivate your iTunes Music Store account before erasing your drive. You can deactivate your account by choosing "Deauthorize Computer" in the "Advanced" pulldown menu in iTunes. If you do not have an iTunes Music Store account, you do not need to worry about this step.

Erasing your drive

To begin the process, you must start your Mac from the Software Install CD. You can do this by inserting the CD and then rebooting your Mac, or by inserting the CD with your Mac turned off and powering it up.

Once you have started or restarted your Mac, you can start from the Software Install CD by holding down the "C" key. Keep holding it down until the start-up screen shows up. For recent versions of Mac OS X, this will be when the grey Apple logo appears. Once it does, you can let go of the C key.

Note: If you have successfully started from the CD, you should be taken to a "Welcome to Mac OS X" screen. If not, for instance if you are taken to your normal desktop, you have most likely started from your hard drive. If that happens, try the steps above again. If you continue to start up from your hard drive, you may have the wrong CD (like a Software Install CD from another Mac that doesn't support the Mac you are working on), or there could be something wrong with the CD itself.

Once you get to the Welcome to Mac OS X screen, you will find Disk Utility under a pulldown menu at the top. Choose this, and it will open the Disk Utility application that comes on the CD. Using this utility, you do things like check your hard drive for problems and erase, or reformat, your drive. It's a very handy application.

To actually erase the drive, click on the hard drive from the list on the left, and then click the "Erase" tab in the main window. Choose "Mac OS Extended" or "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)," whichever you have available, and then name the hard drive. You can let it stay the default "Macintosh HD" if you wish.

There is an "Options" button you can check out if you wish. That will give you some partitioning options that are beyond the scope of this column, as well as the option to perform a "low level" format, which will zero out all of the data on your drive. That's a more secure option for erasing your hard drive, but it takes an awfully long time to do it, so prepare to let it go for many hours if you choose this option. Again, full details on this process is not what this column is about; if you need to know more about secure formatting, you should talk to a professional consultant.

If such security isn't an issue for you, either cancel out of the Options screen, or don't click on it in the first place. In either event, when you are ready to erase the drive, click the "Erase" button. When you get a message that the process is finished, then you have wiped the system clean.

You can turn off the computer and pass it on to the next user, along with the system software CDs.

To Set The Computer Up For A New User with Mac OS X

There may be a situation in which you want to turn around and set the computer up for the new user. Not quite as easy, but still doable, even for a beginner.

Once again you need to start the computer from the Software Install CD, only this time when the Install window opens you must click Continue and simply follow the directions or answer the questions as requested. The Set Up Assistant makes it very easy to get a Mac going. At some point you will be asked for the name of the user, the company name, and then eventually a password. You may skip the company name without any problems if you are using the computer at home. You will have to enter a password though, or you will not be able to continue the process. After the initial set up is complete you will be asked to initialize the Internet connection.

Ah ha you say. That's easy for me to say, but the person who is getting the computer doesn't yet have Internet service, or you don't know what it is, or for some other perfectly reasonable reason you can't, at that moment, initialize the Internet connection. Now what are you supposed to do. The computer is ready to go and the recipient is waiting for it, probably with baited breath. The Software Install CD gives you the option of skipping that step, but then what are you supposed to do about the Internet and e-mail?

For just a moment there you must have forgotten that it is part of my job description to learn every single thing the hard way so you don't have to. In this, too, I have not failed you.

You see, when you are setting up the computer a couple of hundred miles away from the final location of the computer, and thus the location of the Internet connection, (as I recently did), you can hardly complete the initialization of the Internet connection.

Fortunately there is a solution. Actually more than one, and if you handle it with just the right amount of aplomb you can make it appear that you are in total control and planned the whole thing.

The first option is to initiate the set up process at the destination. It might take longer, especially if the recipient wants to help, but in the long run you will have all the information you need in one place and can get it all done at once.

The second is to realize that you may not be able to deal with the Internet/e-mail issues yourself. I found out the hard way that if you can't take care of it as part of the initial set up it can get very complicated, very fast and there are lots of steps that have to be followed.

I was in over my head within 5 minutes, but I should have remembered that people pay for Internet service and along with that service comes technical support. When I stopped fretting and got on the phone it took only minutes to get the Internet properly switched from one computer to another. Someone who is getting Internet service for the first time or getting service from a new provider can and should expect the service provider to satisfactorily hook up their computer to the service when the service is installed. If you have the computer up and running you have done your part.

Really, that's all there is to it. By following the step by step instructions during the installation process, Apple takes care of everything else, and the hardest thing you will encounter is the Internet setup step as described above.

Once it is finished, you will be asked to restart the computer. Do so, or turn it off, and it is ready for the next person.

Remember: You should make note of the password you set up to give to the new user, and remember to ask them to change it at the first opportunity.

I hope that helps, and I hope you enjoy your new Mac!