uffalogal

Q: Drive broken; how to erase

My Macbook is about 10 years old. What do I do to prepare it for selling or garbage? The disk drive is broken, so I can't reinstall the OS (10.5.8). It's still useable -- I'm typing from it right now -- so someone may want it cheap. Of course I want to get rid of all traces of me.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 19, 2015 1:36 PM

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Q: Drive broken; how to erase

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  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Mar 19, 2015 3:44 PM in response to uffalogal
    Level 9 (52,434 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 19, 2015 3:44 PM in response to uffalogal

    Open Disk Utility>Erase and click on the erase button.  Your done.

     

    If you are paranoid, select secure erase and wait and wait for it to finish.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 19, 2015 3:47 PM in response to uffalogal
    Level 6 (17,234 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 19, 2015 3:47 PM in response to uffalogal

    You have a few options. Obviously the easiest is to connect an external optical drive. If you don't have one and are getting a new mac you're probably going to need one anyway. You can get a good LG drive for about $40.

    If you have another mac available you can use Target Disk Mode to erase the hard drive How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support  IF that other mac has an optical you may be able to use Remote Disk Use the CD or DVD drive from another computer with your Mac - Apple Support The main problem I see with both of those solutions is that if the other mac is newer I don't think it will be able to run the old installer dvd. But you can sell it without an OS.

    The third option is to remove the hard drive and sell it without one.

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Mar 19, 2015 3:48 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 6 (17,234 points)
    Apple Watch
    Mar 19, 2015 3:48 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    You cannot erase the volume that Disk Utility is running on.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Mar 19, 2015 3:52 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 9 (52,434 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 19, 2015 3:52 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Mike Sombrio wrote:

     

    You cannot erase the volume that Disk Utility is running on.

    Yes, I forgot to tell the OP to use the original installation disk.  Thank you for pointing out the oversight.

     

    Ciao.

  • by uffalogal,

    uffalogal uffalogal Mar 19, 2015 4:12 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 19, 2015 4:12 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Doh! I forgot. I do have an external disk drive. (I have a Macbook Air, so I needed one.) I don't have the installation disks, but I understand I can call Applecare and get them. However, I wonder if I should bother. The Macbook acts wonky sometimes. I don't want to sell a lemon to anyone. Maybe I should just remove the HD and throw the rest in the trash?

  • by Roger Wilmut1,Helpful

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Mar 19, 2015 4:18 PM in response to uffalogal
    Level 9 (78,263 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 19, 2015 4:18 PM in response to uffalogal

    To be brutally honest a 10-year-old Mac is of little use to anyone unless they want to try taking it to bits and messing about with it - quite apart from any wonkiness. You might be able to get a small amount of money for it but it's probably not worth the effort. If you want to trash the disk for security reasons, just take a hammer to it.

     

    I don't know what the rules are wherever you are but many countries don't like this sort of thing being put in the ordinary trash - there are sometimes recycling facilities or places to get it thrown away properly.

     

    If you are going to put it in the trash, please take the battery out first and find a way of disposing of it safely. Lithium is nasty stuff and you don't want it going into landfill and possibly getting into the water table. Again, some countries have places which will take old batteries and dispose of them properly.

  • by uffalogal,

    uffalogal uffalogal Mar 19, 2015 6:58 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 19, 2015 6:58 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Thanks. I'll take my aggressions out on that drive.

     

    And, yes, I had planned on taking it all to an electronic waste facility.