What's the best way to wipe clean a 2006 macbook pro?

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What's the best way to wipe clean a 2006 macbook pro?

I have a 2006 15-inch MacBook Pro, and I'm looking to wipe it clean to speed it up and use it as a bedroom media player (front row/itunes and netflix). What's the best way to wipe it clean and start over?

Also, any suggestions on a media player to use? I hear XBMC and Plex are great, but I don't want it to power another TV, I am going to use it as the "TV" and all controlled by the (old, included, white) Apple remote.

Thanks for any and all help. I'm relatively adept with mac's so it doesnt have to be super simple, but hopefully it doesnt require coding or anything.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2006 15-inch

Posted on Mar 21, 2012 4:05 PM

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Answer 1

Russa

Level 4

1,343 points

Mar 21, 2012 4:41 PM in response to redfabbri

Back up all your files to external media. If you don't want this computer to access your iTunes material then "deauthorize" the computer in iTunes. Create a new account on your Mac with admin rights. Delete your old Mac account. Run disk utility and erase unused space.

If you have an iPhone then use the Remote app rather than the Apple remote clicker.

The new ApplyTV has some very good media center features. While using AirPlay you can also stream music thru the AppleTV.

If you're running Lion you made need to upgrade the memory to reduce page swaps.

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Answer 2

redfabbri Author

Level 1

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Mar 21, 2012 4:39 PM in response to Russa

Thanks Russa. I literally want to just erase the whole thing. I have a new MacBook Air, with all my info, files and data already on multiple redundant external drives, and have both Time Machine and iCloud. So I can completely toast this computer and start anew. I have the Leopard and Snow Leopard install DVDs too. So is disk utility the way to go?

I'm just looking to give this old MBP a new lease on life as my "bedroom TV" in essense.

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Answer 3

Russa

Level 4

1,343 points

Mar 21, 2012 4:45 PM in response to redfabbri

When you delete your old account all your user files under that account will be blown away. There's no need to erase the whole computer and then reinstall MacOS. Deleting your account will refresh your machine. Isuspect with this computer you may have seen a slow down due to page swaps if you only used the 2GBs that came with the machine.

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