Nello Lucchesi
Level 1 (144 points)
Desktops

Q: How to Wipe iMac G4 Drive w/o Disks

I'm selling an old iMac G4 20" and want to wipe my personal information from it.  Unfortunately, I no longer have the install disks.

 

Can I boot it into Target Disk Mode, mount it from another Mac (via FireWire), and format the drive?

 

Any other ideas?

 

I need to do the same thing with a MacBook (13" 2006).

Posted on May 1, 2016 7:49 PM

by Kenichi Watanabe,Solvedanswer
Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe
Level 8 (38,166 points)
Mac OS X
A:

That should work.  However, there is one consideration.  I believe that iMac has the optical drive and hard drive on the same IDE bus.  When using FireWire Target Disk Mode, only the drive that is set as master is accessible on the other Mac.  So, if the hard drive is set as slave (optical drive is master), the hard drive may not be accessible.

 

On the other Mac, you should use the "security" setting to zero out the hard drive during the Erase, to make your data unrecoverable.

 

Also, the iMac may not be as valuable if you sell it in non-bootable condition.

Posted on May 6, 2016 7:47 AM

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Nello Lucchesi

Q: How to Wipe iMac G4 Drive w/o Disks

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel May 1, 2016 7:52 PM in response to Nello Lucchesi
    Level 10 (311,516 points)
    May 1, 2016 7:52 PM in response to Nello Lucchesi

    Yes, but the computers won’t have an OS afterwards. If you choose to erase the iMac’s entire drive, you need to format it with the APM partition table map.

     

    (141983)

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Solvedanswer

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe May 6, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Nello Lucchesi
    Level 8 (38,166 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 6, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Nello Lucchesi

    That should work.  However, there is one consideration.  I believe that iMac has the optical drive and hard drive on the same IDE bus.  When using FireWire Target Disk Mode, only the drive that is set as master is accessible on the other Mac.  So, if the hard drive is set as slave (optical drive is master), the hard drive may not be accessible.

     

    On the other Mac, you should use the "security" setting to zero out the hard drive during the Erase, to make your data unrecoverable.

     

    Also, the iMac may not be as valuable if you sell it in non-bootable condition.

  • by Nello Lucchesi,

    Nello Lucchesi Nello Lucchesi May 6, 2016 8:07 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Desktops
    May 6, 2016 8:07 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    In case others read this ...

     

    To be more precise, the steps are

    1. Using System Preferences > Users & Groups
      Create a User (let's call it Ishmael) and check the box that says "Allow user to administer this computer."

    2. From the Apple menu
      Log out all users

    3. From the Apple menu
      Log into Ishmael

    4. Using System Preferences > Users & Groups
      Delete all user accounts (except Ishmael) selecting the option, "Delete the home folder."  (Since we're going to securely erase all unused space, there is NO need to check the box, "Erase home folder securely."

    5. From /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
      • Select the drive containing the user directories.
      • Click on Erase
      • Click on the button, "Security Options..."
      * Choose one of the options that overwrites zeros or random data.