I want to recycle my beloved old imac OSX, but it won't let me delete my account file. I have going to system preferences>accounts>clickdelete
Does anyone know a way to override this? Thanks, Kelly
Kelly,
Presuming you have transferred/backed up your current account...you have to create a new Admin user account to remove your current account.
Yes, I've backed everything up.
On your advice, I've created a new account with password. So, now there are two accounts. When I go back to the old account, it still won't let me delete.
Am I doing something wrong, just clicking on the name/icon, then pressing the delete button?
Thanks,
Kelly
You can't delete the account you're logged into; you have to delete it while logged in to the new account. But that won't remove all your data - it's still there on the HD.
You need to erase the HD by zeroing it to ensure there's no recoverable data on it. For that you'll need the disc you installed OS X from or a later OS X retail disc (as long as the optical drive can read it).
If you're simply wiping the drive to recycle the Mac (as in taking it for dismantling and safe disposal), all you need to do is boot from the OS X disc (hold down the C key on startup or hold down Alt/option on start and choose the installer disc). From the installer screen, go to the menu bar and choose Disk Utility; depending on the OS version it may be in the Utilities menu or Tools menu.
Select Macintosh HD in the sidebar and go to the Erase tab, select Security options and select zero data (one pass is more than sufficient). Click erase. Once that's finished (might take a while even on a small HD like the G3's) just quit the installer and eject the disc.
If on the other hand you're passing it on to someone who will use the Mac, after quitting Disc Utility, continue with the installation. After the restart, eject the disc and shut down the Mac. That will leave the setup assistant ready for the new owner.
(btw, the G3 is a PPC iMac, not Intel so this isn't really the right forum - but I won't tell if you don't 😉 )
this computer is seriously old and it never had OS X and to do that we would have to buy that disc. it hasn't been updated up to that point either because we never used it. Now we want to throw the thing out and are paranoid that someone will get information off of it. We do not care if it damages the computer if there is another way. 😕
Sorry; your original post says OSX.
No problem; just substitute the OS8.5 or 9 CD in the erase procedure. I think the security options in Disk First Aid were to write random digits to the disc rather than just zeros, but the effect is the same, your data is securely erased and you can dispose of the computer without worrying about it.
Message was edited by: noondaywitch
Dear Noondaywitch,
Sorry, I got my fourteen year old daughter on to read and try to coach me through your second to last reply, and she wrote the "seriously old" reply.
The old blue bubble does have OSX on it, though that's not the hardware it came with, a friend put it on there along the way.
I have the original disks. One is named software install. One is software restore. Can I use those?
Why do I need the disk to delete the user account if all the information is saved on back up hard drive?
This blue bubble won't let me save anything, and it won't die!
Thanks for taking the time to walk me through this.
Kelly
If you don't have the OS X disc, then the second reply stands; use the original disc (the Software Install I think - it's three years since I parted with my G3s). You'll know when you boot from the disc anyway - the right one will have Disc First Aid accessable from the menu bar (under Tools I think, but if not just check the other menus).
There is one other way if you're not happy booting from the disc, though.
As it has OS X, if you log in to the new admin account and go to System Preferences > Accounts and click the lock and enter your Admin password (the one for the account you're logged into, not the original one) to unlock the prefs, highlight the original account and click the minus sign below the pane. You'll be given choices about saving the account data - just select delete now.
When that's done, the only account is the one you're logged in to and that has no personal data. To ensure the data you've just deleted can't be recovered, open Disk Utility from the Applications > Utilities folder.
Select Macintosh HD in the side panel, click the erase tab and then go to the button near the bottom which says "erase free space". Click that and it will perform the zeroing operation to securely erase all the areas of the drive where the deleted data resides.
Once again, this does take some time.
I have an old blue bubble imac that isn't allowing me to delete the account folder. I want to recycle it, but not with all my info.
