I have an old iMac computer(from 2008), and I would like to delete the contents on my hard drive. Is there a way of doing this, and can It be done without deleting the operating system?
iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)
It can't be done easily without deleting the OS, but...
Boot holding CMC-r & use Disk utility there, CMD+r should have an option to reinstall the OS after erasing the boot drive.
Or...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
In the same pref pane highlight your old account, click the little minus icon, then use Disk Utility to Secure Erase Free Space.
Thanks for the advice. It is much appreciated. If I should choose to delete my operating system as well(which I assume is done on the erase tab in the utilities folder under disk utility), what kind of disk will I need to establish the operating system in the computer again. I may have the original disk for my 2008 iMac to download it. I also have a very large set of 14 CD-Rom disks which I believe will re-establish the operating system and probably much more........I am not exactly sure what they are for, but I am assuming that they provide all the software for the computer. Perhaps you can tell me what these might be. In any event, with such an old operating system, I may not be able to upgrade. Should I choose to download El Kapitan, for instance, would this be possible without any earlier OS's, disks, or changes?
If you boot holding CMD+r, you can erase the Disk there & Reinstall 10.10, or whatever it is at now.
If you provide the 2z691-****-A numbers of the Discs I may ve able to tell from those.
The reason I want to delete the hard drive is that it is broken, and needs to be replaced. I don't want to pay it right now, but thought I might get some temporary use out of the old iMac, If I choose to erase the hard drive.........and use a disc to put the OS back on it. I have a MacOSX Snow Leapard install DVD, version 10.6.3....number 2Z691-6634-A......also have the Panther version 10.3 install disk....number 2Z691-5133-A........When I double-click to open the download folder it comes up with the Terminal utility....it reads.... downloads-bash-80x24.......I was hoping to correct the download problem, and to be able to download software, but I am concerned that, if I try to download a new operating system, it may not be possible.
I wonder what you make of it, as I am not an experienced computer user........appreciate a return reply...
Thanks for the much advice........it has been very helpful. I will erase the hard drive and reinstall the OS......and see what happens. It's worth a try.......maybe save the computer for some other time to replace the hard drive.........
Thanks again, Andrew.
How do I delete everything off of my hard drive?
