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I have a 2009 imac that the screen won't light up anymore but it still boots up. I'm ready to get rid of it but I want to erase all my personal info first. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can do this?
See if you can connect it to another Mac in Target Disk Mode so you can erase the drive from the working Mac.
Or you can remove the hard drive from the unit, on that year of iMac I believe the screen was held in place by magnets, you can remove the screen, remove the drive, put it back together (don't worry about getting it all nice and tidy) and take it into an Apple store for recycling. I did the same with a 2011 iMac. I made a mess of the insides but it didn't matter.
See if you can connect it to another Mac in Target Disk Mode so you can erase the drive from the working Mac.
Or you can remove the hard drive from the unit, on that year of iMac I believe the screen was held in place by magnets, you can remove the screen, remove the drive, put it back together (don't worry about getting it all nice and tidy) and take it into an Apple store for recycling. I did the same with a 2011 iMac. I made a mess of the insides but it didn't matter.
Hi msezni,
How do you know that it boots if the screen doesn't work? Do you have another Mac?
Cheers,
Jack
Because I can hear the hard drive booting up.
I will try target disk mode first. I watched a video to remove the hard drive and I don't have the tools to do it. I will buy them if target disk mode doesn't work. I appreciate the help. Thanks!
Erasing a hard drive when a screen won't light up anymore.
