Norv123
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Q: I have an eMac I no longer use.  Any advice on how to dispose of this eMac?

I have an eMac from 2002 and have upgraded to other Mac products sionce then.  I would like to dispose of this computer but don't want to expose myself to anyone that could solicit information from my files.  Does anyone out there have any advice for me?

eMac, Other OS, 10.3.9 operating system

Posted on Feb 21, 2012 8:43 AM

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Norv123

Q: I have an eMac I no longer use.  Any advice on how to dispose of this eMac?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Allan Jones,Helpful

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Feb 21, 2012 9:29 AM in response to Norv123
    Level 8 (35,071 points)
    iPad
    Feb 21, 2012 9:29 AM in response to Norv123

    The only sure way to insure your files are never accessed is to remove the drive from the computer and physically destroy it.

     

    If you still have the oriignal gray disks that came with it, you can use the version of Disk Utiltity on those disks to wipe and reformat the drive. There is an option to write ones and zeros to the entire disk. Once this is done, it typically would take military-grade recovery equipment to find any useful info. This is the better plan if you plan on donating the computer, as an older eMac with no hard drive is not worth as much as most replacement drives.

  • by Norv123,

    Norv123 Norv123 Feb 21, 2012 10:34 AM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 10:34 AM in response to Allan Jones

    I thought there was a way to do a "Disk Dump" but I cannot find the original disks.  Thanks for the answer.  I am going to keep lookig for the disks.

  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 21, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Norv123
    Level 10 (123,516 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Norv123

    If you have another Mac with Firewire & a FW cable, you can put the eMac in target mode & zero the drive using Disk Utility on the other Mac.

     

    Target mode...

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

     

       5. Select your eMac's volume.

       6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase...

  • by Norv123,

    Norv123 Norv123 Feb 21, 2012 11:39 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 21, 2012 11:39 AM in response to BDAqua

    Very interesting.

  • by Matthew Knice,

    Matthew Knice Matthew Knice Feb 22, 2012 10:05 PM in response to Norv123
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 10:05 PM in response to Norv123

    Norv123 wrote:

     

    Very interesting.

    Yes indeed!