Wiping data on original iMac on OS8

If you had successfully decoded the BinHex (.hqx) and decompressed the StuffIt (.sit) using a later version than StuffIt Expander 5.5, that ought to be OK, in principle. However, if this was done on a Mac OS X machine, something could still have happened to the file before or during transfer to the iMac G3. If, somehow, the decoding and decompression was carried out on a PC, there would most certainly be a resource fork loss/problem.

Did you see the special Burn program icon (not only a generic icon of some kind)?

Anyway, if a USB flash drive or a CD-R is used for the transfer from the current machine (be it Mac or PC), keep a downloaded .hqx or .bin file exactly as it is until it arrives on the iMac G3. As indicated above, carry out all decoding and decompression operations on the destination computer.

Alternatively, you could connect the Ethernet port on the iMac G3 to one of the LAN ports of a router, and thus access the Internet directly. Even an existing very old browser version may be sufficient for old Mac software downloads from some freeware/shareware archives.

At least earlier, one could create a special DBAN disc (containing a small Linux system and a wiping utility) from an older dban-2.0.0_powerpc.iso download (via a sourceforge project page). That CD was then used as a boot disc (with the C key depressed). The wiping utility had several options for completely erasing and overwriting a hard disk.

A completely erased hard disk means that you will lose the installed Mac OS 8.6 and the applications. Without a suitable Mac OS system/restore CD, the hard drive would remain empty (unless you could download and try/install Ubuntu or an Ubuntu derivate, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ, but that would require more than approx. 380 MB of RAM).

Since the iMac has Mac OS 8.6, you could per se use a (Mac-reformatted) USB flash drive (USB Mass Storage Support 1.3.5: Document and Software needed). That would allow you to make backup copies of various files/applications before erasing the internal hard disk. Unfortunately, even with a small system folder copied to the USB flash drive, it cannot be used to boot a tray-loading iMac G3 (slot-loading models have other possibilities).

Another option would be to keep a basic operating system and some applications on the hard disk. That in turn means that you would have to manually remove all personal files from the computer, and then empty the Wastebasket/Trash (the Special menu). Do not forget any application-specific files/folders inside the system folder (and its subfolders). For example, everything in the Preferences folder could be deleted. This can be time-consuming. Also, emptying the Trash is not enough. You must overwrite the free space after doing so. For this, you may want to try a utility like Burn 2.5 (https://archive.info-mac.org/_Disk_&_File/) copied to the hard disk.

Do you have access to a system CD? If so, boot from the CD (press the C key) and look for a Drive Setup utility. Launch Drive Setup. The hard drive should appear in a list. Select the drive. Choose Initialization Options under Functions (the menu bar). Choose Zero all data (in the Initialization Options window) and click OK. Click Initialize (in the List of Drives window). An Initialize window (with a warning) appears. Check that the hard drive in question is mentioned, and the zero all data option. Click Initialize. A progress bar will begin with "Writing zeros" (this can take many minutes) and end with an "Initialization was successful" message.

Please note that the above will result in a completely empty hard disk. It will thereafter become necessary to reinstall the operating system and any application programs, so do check that you have everything needed before you start.

If you do not have the appropriate CD(s), please post back for alternative methods. Is Mac OS 8.1, 8.5.1 or 8.6 installed?

The Burn download was encoded BinHex (.hqx) and compressed StuffIt (.sit). Did you transfer the file unaltered to the Mac OS 8.6 iMac G3, and was the BinHex then decoded and decompressed there using StuffIt Expander? If so, which version StuffIt Expander?

I think StuffIt Expander 4.5 was part of the 8.5.1/8.6 installation (in a subfolder to an Internet folder). However, if I remember correctly, the Burn file required StuffIt Expander 5.5.

If not already available, you would then have to download StuffIt Expander 5.5 (try a web search for the exact name). Decode the downloaded StuffIt Expander 5.5 MacBinary (.bin) or BinHex (.hqx) file first using the existing StuffIt Expander 4.5. Finally, use StuffIt Expander 5.5 to decompress and decode the Burn download.

Addendum

As you probably are aware of, it is important to keep any downloaded Mac program file encoded until in a safe environment on a Macintosh computer. This is especially true when downloading files onto a PC for a subsequent transfer to a Mac. Otherwise, one of the two Mac file parts (the resource fork) will be lost or damaged. A MacBinary (.bin) or BinHex (.hqx) encoding protects the Mac file (and so does a StuffIt compression).

Once the Burn download has been decoded and decompressed on the iMac G3, you should have a Burn 2.5 folder with a Burn 2.5 special program icon inside. If you double-click on the program icon, the menu bar changes. Under File you should find Delete Free Space. Patterns and number of passes can be set under Preferences.

One could of course repeatedly duplicate non-important files, and thus fill the free space in order to try to overwrite directories/catalogues. However, I recommend that you use a wiping utility as well, if possible.

You're welcome! Glad to hear that it worked. The iMac G3 has been around for almost two decades, but it can still be useful for many things.