Hemera

Q: erase hard drive on eMac OS 10

I am trying to erase the hard drive of eMac OS 10.3.9. Tried Command + R keys while rebooting but disk utility wont let me erase. The erase button is not active/greyed out. Is there another way to erase hard drive completely? I dont need to reinstall because I am trying to discard eMac (15 years+ old). I do not have any of the installer CDs since I threw them out.

Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Mar 5, 2014 2:10 PM

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Q: erase hard drive on eMac OS 10

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Mar 5, 2014 2:11 PM in response to Hemera
    Level 10 (312,625 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 5, 2014 2:11 PM in response to Hemera

    There is no recovery partition on an eMac. You need a compatible Mac OS X install DVD.

     

    Alternatively, take the drive out of the computer.

     

    (101956)

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Mar 5, 2014 4:54 PM in response to Hemera
    Level 6 (9,894 points)
    Mar 5, 2014 4:54 PM in response to Hemera

    You could perhaps try a web search for an old PowerPC release (dban-2.0.0_powerpc.iso) of a free disk wiping utility called DBAN. A CD burned from the iso file should allow a PowerPC Mac to start up (hold down the C key) from a small (Linux) system. It would then be possible to test if and how the utility works on your eMac.

     

    Jan