Erasing OS 9.1 off my hard drive

If you have a bootable CD, you can boot from that and erase the Hard Drive with the Write Zeroes option (good for all except military secrets).

When it completes, be sure to Install an Operating System, or that Mac is headed directly for the crusher. A Mac that won't boot (because it has no OS) may as well be dead. It is too much trouble, even for a charity.

For Mac OS 9, boot from the System/Install CD, but do not start the Installer. Look in the Utilities Folder for Drive Setup. Launch Drive Setup and select your Hard Drive. You will see menu choices to Initialize, and there should be options to "Write Zeroes". One pass will obliterate your data well enough for all but military secrets.

For Mac OS X, boot from the Install CD/DVD, but do not Install. Answer only the "What Language" question, if offered, and wait for the MenuBar to be drawn. For 10.4 and later, look for Disk Utility on the Utilities Menu. For 10.3 and earlier, look for Disk Utility on the Installer Menu.

Select your Hard drive in the left Box, and choose Erase. The options button will allow you to specify "Zero all data". One pass will obliterate your data well enough for all but military secrets.

Only the US National Security Agency could recover some of your data after one pass of Zeroing, and they would have to dis-assemble it in a clean room and use special equipment to do so.

Once you are satisfied that the disk is erased, be sure to Install some version of Mac OS on it.

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder