I erased the HD disk in order to give the IMac away. Does this also erase anything that may have been on the time machine backup? I backed up all files on an external hard drive but forgot about the time machine backup
Erasing the iMac's drive, does not erase the Time Machine backup drive.
You kept your Time Machine backup drive, right....???
To get the data from your Time Machine backups on the external drive, you need to plug it into your new Mac and migrate from it. Plus it is best to migrate from your Time Machine backup during the initial setup of your new Mac so that you do not end up with a new and old user account.
If you no longer need the Time Machine backups on the external drive, then you can erase the drive using a Mac or PC and re-use it for whatever you want.
There is a process for preparing your Mac before giving your Mac away. If you do it incorrectly, the recipient may not be able to use the computer. Please see this link for instructions: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support
I think it was not turned on but now I don’t have a means to access it. I reinstalled the OS but was letting the new owner set up the account. Is there a way to check the time machine to see if there are any files on it?
IMac
