Can a Mac with OS X 10.4 remove all traces of prior ownership?

Hi Bob, you were almost there, hust shut off whenthat Sign up screen comes up, the new owner will get it.

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the Erase tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume, then choose MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Partition tab.
6. Click Erase & look for Security Options. choose Zero 1 pass."

Formatting & Partitioning a Hard Drive in OS X - Tiger and Leopard...

http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html

Install, then power down when it's done.

There was a method discussed in one of the Apple Discussion thread about
how to update the OS X through the Combo and Security updates, java, &
flash/shock and even put in new browsers; then somehow reset the user so
the computer would start up as-new. The new owner could then personalize
just as the initial run would, but with the OS X already fully updated.

This path was not (as I vaguely recall) an easy one for inexperienced users
and the details I read about how to do it, escaped me. I've set up Macs with
a generic Admin user account and not given the computer any personal info.
Then, any new user/owner could set up a second or third user account with
their own info, if they wished; and also change password on the initial Admin.

The options are open to the new owner, if the OS X installer discs are included
with the computer as part of the sale, and to validate the license of the system.

A previous reply to this question did apply, though it was in a Leopard thread.
The problem between instructions for Leopard and those in Tiger appeared to
be in the name of a utility chosen to continue the task; and an issue developed.

See this older thread for the situation, as it evolved then:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10935744#10935744

In any event...
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

One thing not mentioned in the other posts so far is you might wish to secure erase the hard drive with writing zeros once prior to formatting and installing the new OS. When you delete a file from a computer you just remove reference to the file, but the data can still be read with easily obtained software until the computer randomly decides to use that space again. If your files are truly private you might wish to do this. There's also higher security write options, but even writing zeros once will take a long time (I think it you choose the highest option it may take days to erase the drive), and is probably sufficient unless somebody wants to pay thousands of dollars to have your hard drive scanned professionally.

See Erasing disks securely


Restoring your computer’s software

Start up from your install disc, go to Disk Utility and select the disk and click erase - to securely erase data click Security Options and Erase Free Space which will entirely wipe your disk, overwriting it with zeros so that no data is recoverable.




!http://i45.tinypic.com/jl0z95.jpg!

If you have wiped the drive, (zero-overwritten & reformatted) then go and
install a new system, +quit the Installer prior to the personalization+ section;
then there is no need to 'deauthorize this computer' from iTunes store.

In fact, the only reference to the computer would be, as you mentioned,
in the other records to the owned computers listed as 'authorized' in the
iTunes store itself. Of course, you covered that in a way; but the actual
computer without any online records within it, which has been wiped,
would not be able to reconnect to the iTunes store & the former account.

If the computer had been totally restored from a fully erased hard disk
drive with a new installation of the prospective OS X version, and then
the computer minimally personalized to the point where further OS X
updates to the 10.4 system were done, so it has 10.4.11, all Java update,
last QuickTime, last Security Update, recent browser(s), Flash/Shockwave;
and maybe a copy of OnyX by Titanium Software; etc.

Then, there's a way to have the computer re-run the Setup, so the first install-
user account wiped out; and a new first-run on restart Setup will commence
when the new owner gets the computer home and starts it up.

Except, the computer would already have all available updates installed;
yet would be non-personalized and act like a new computer on first start.

This information, using Terminal or other super-user access, has been
noted and detailed elsewhere in the Apple Support Discussions. And this
is what I was referring to in an earlier post; it removes all traces of prior
ownership and does allow the new owner to not have to figure out how
to go through and update the recent the OS X on an old OS. For some
new users of Mac OS X, they are too lost to even get into this process.

Anyway, hopefully you've found satisfactory results in the paths available
to prepare the computer for a second owner, so their experience is as
good as it can be without any uncharacteristic issues for a new owner.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂