I want to sell my 2007 iMac but when I select my HD in Disk Utility, "Erase" is greyed out so I can't perform the erase. I've attached a screenshot. Also I purchase Snow Leopard and installed it fairly recently. If I erase everything, will the operating system go away too? Can I give the buyer my snow leopard CD to install again?
iMac (24-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
You cannot erase the drive you are bootecd from. You need to boot from the Snow Leopard disk (hold C key while restarting) and then you can erase your drive. The installer will then reinstall the OS and yes, you need to give the buyer the install disks in case they need to reinstall.
You cannot erase the drive you are bootecd from. You need to boot from the Snow Leopard disk (hold C key while restarting) and then you can erase your drive. The installer will then reinstall the OS and yes, you need to give the buyer the install disks in case they need to reinstall.
In erase> security options you should do a zero data. This will prevent recovery of your data by someone intent on doing that, which a simple erase won't accomplish. Just do a one pass, anything more will be overkill.
Thanks so much for the quick responses!! I will do the zero data option. So babowa - I should put the snow leopard disk in, then hit restart and wait for it to turn off, then hold C while it's restarting?
Correct. Or, another way to do it is to insert the disk, shut down, and then power up while holding the Option key. that will bring up the Startup manager which means you should see two disks on the screen - your choices to boot from. Choose the install disk. The keys should be pressed right after the startup sound and hold until you are booted from the install disk (C key) or see the Startup Manager (Option key).
Thanks again for being so helpful and precise!!
You're welcome and good luck!
How do I erase a 2007 iMac for resale and keep the latest OS?
