Chicken Adobo
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Cleaning a PowerBook G4 without reinstalling Mac OS X 10.5

Hi,

 

So I want to give my daughter my PowerBook G4 however it's cluttered and the Hard drive is almost full.

 

I want to completely wipe clean the hard drive but I don't have a installation disc.

 

What would be the most efficient way to get the system near enough to a factory reset state? Trashing the files one by one?

 

Of course since I'm not selling it on to another person, I don't mind if a few bits of information stays on the laptop.

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Sep 5, 2016 8:30 PM

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Chicken Adobo

Q: Cleaning a PowerBook G4 without reinstalling Mac OS X 10.5

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Sep 5, 2016 8:33 PM in response to Chicken Adobo
    Level 10 (119,384 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 5, 2016 8:33 PM in response to Chicken Adobo

    It's not possible to restore to factory settings without the install disc.

     

    If you delete system files, without a disc, you have no way to restore the Mac.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Sep 5, 2016 8:36 PM in response to Chicken Adobo
    Level 9 (53,552 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 5, 2016 8:36 PM in response to Chicken Adobo

    Probably the closest would be to make a new administrator account, then log into that account and use it to delete the other accounts. Make sure the archived files for those accounts are deleted. A special folder should appear at the top level of the drive for closed accounts.  The main things that will remain will be applications installed for all users which may include some special ones you installed. However, you may wish for your daughter to have those anyway.

  • by Syam CFDC,

    Syam CFDC Syam CFDC Sep 6, 2016 6:55 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (26 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 6, 2016 6:55 AM in response to Limnos

    Syam Raffar

     

    Pada 6 Sep 2016, pada 11:34 PG, Apple Support Communities Updates <discussions-updates@apple.com> menulis:

     

     

    Apple Support Communities

    Limnos has posted in the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard community.

    Cleaning a PowerBook G4 without reinstalling Mac OS X 10.5

    Probably the closest would be to make a new administrator account, then log into that account and use it to delete the other accounts. Make sure the archived files for those accounts are deleted. A special folder should appear at the top level of the drive for closed accounts.

     

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Sep 6, 2016 6:58 AM in response to Syam CFDC
    Level 9 (53,552 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 6, 2016 6:58 AM in response to Syam CFDC

    Syam CFDC wrote:

     

     

    Was there a purpose to that post?

  • by Chicken Adobo,

    Chicken Adobo Chicken Adobo Sep 6, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Chicken Adobo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 6, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Chicken Adobo

    Right so I've caved in and decided the buy Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 Retail through Amazon

     

    This should allow me to fully erase the hard drive and reinstall the OS on my Powerbook G4 right?

     

    Also my Powerbook G4 had 10.5.8 installed, will I be able to upgrade the OS from 10.5.6 to whatever the latest version is?

     

    Will this be a simple 'insert cd > erase drive > reinstall os' or is there more to it?

     

    If someone could link me to instructions that'll be great