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Formatting a macbook without original disc
SniperGuy
SniperGuyGamingRegistered User regular
SniperGuyGamingRegistered User regular
So I need to return my Macbook Pro to the state it was in when I purchased it, all data erased, etc etc. However, I don't have the discs that it came with. IS there another way to do this?
SniperGuy on
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If you need to simply remove ALL data (or at least render it unusable until someone with an install disk comes across it, you could 'rm -rf /' the machine. NOTE: This will erase almost everything on the hard drive, including the OS. DO NOT DO THIS AT ALL EVER IF YOU ARE JUST CURIOUS AS TO WHAT THIS PARTICULAR COMMAND DOES. Really, I mean it.
It really depends on what you need to remove the information for.
This.
If it's a case of you needing to get your documents off for privacy, trash everything in Applications and the home folders, then use a secure Trash empty.
Who is this going to? There isn't a way to factory reset your Mac without an Install Disc.
You'd need a "sudo" in front of that command to actually erase the OS. Mac OS X doesn't give you permission to do that.
eBaying. Luckily, I found the original discs.
So. Er. Disregard my stupid thread.
D'oh! Right you are. I'm way too used to doing it under single user mode :whistle:
This is not enough, though. You still need to account for all of the thousands of times you "emptied the trash" without using the secure option. That is, you'll have to securely erase all of the "free space" on the filesystem, which likely has fragments of information all over it.
Normally you'd do this by booting from the OSX install disc, opening disk utility, and doing it from there. But since you've lost that disc, you will have to use a 3rd party utility. I don't know of one offhand that will only do the free space, just ones that would securely wipe the entire filesystem, leaving it unbootable without an OS-reinstall.