I have an old powerbook which I can no longer even turn on. I don't know what to do with it and I'm sure there's some personal data on the hard drive that I'd like to erase. Is there a way to do that?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 17
No, short of removing the hard drive, then erasing or destroying it.
If the computer is named a "PowerBook", it would be a 68K-based or PowerPC-based Mac. The first PowerBook came out in October 1991, and Apple discontinued the last one in April 2006. Depending on the model, and the type of internal drive it uses, you might not find it easy to get an external enclosure to even try using its internal drive as an external drive for another computer.
Another issue (if you're hoping to recover the data, not just erase it) is that an old hard drive might be formatted using HFS (no "+"). Modern Macs support HFS+, but not the original (no "+") version.
No, short of removing the hard drive, then erasing or destroying it.
If the computer is named a "PowerBook", it would be a 68K-based or PowerPC-based Mac. The first PowerBook came out in October 1991, and Apple discontinued the last one in April 2006. Depending on the model, and the type of internal drive it uses, you might not find it easy to get an external enclosure to even try using its internal drive as an external drive for another computer.
Another issue (if you're hoping to recover the data, not just erase it) is that an old hard drive might be formatted using HFS (no "+"). Modern Macs support HFS+, but not the original (no "+") version.
You will find the PowerBook G4 models here:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/index-powerbook-g4.html
If you cannot gain access to the data the normal way, yes, it would be possible to open the computer and remove the internal hard drive. Depending on the exact PowerBook G4 model, this may be easy or more complicated. Once the hard drive is removed, it could be connected to a universal USB bare drive adapter (one example at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NV2SPATA/; similar devices may also be found locally). This in an attempt to recover data, if you so wish (the adapter could be used with another Mac, or a PC with Mac-disk software).
I got it turned on, got rid of the flashing question mark and ended up with a circular arrow and an forward arrow but can't see to get anything else working. should I just open it and destroy the hard drive , would the rest of the powerbook G4 be of use to anyone else?
Cipster wrote:
would the rest of the powerbook G4 be of use to anyone else?
Just as an example, since the PowerBook G4 models are equipped with FireWire ports, the computer (and iMovie) can be of interest for transfers from digital tape-based camcorders.
The Ti models can even boot from Mac OS 9, and the Al PB G4 computers can use Mac OS 9 in the classic environment under Mac OS X. For this reason, they can be quite useful as bridge/intermediary machines in connection with many older Macs. All PB G4 (except the 12" Al) have a PC Card slot.
The market value may not be very high, but you could perhaps offer the computer for sale via an online auction site or a similar marketplace.
A PowerBook G4 might be of use to
But for everyday use, that machine's time is long past.
How do I erase data from an old PowerBook that I no longer have access to?
