How to Clean out a MacBook's Hard Disk

Erasing a hard disk correctly is integral to keeping one's data secure.

A variety of situations may come up which require one to erase a computer's hard disk and doing so correctly is important to protecting one's personal, financial and business information. Erasing the data from a MacBook requires nothing but the installation CD or DVD and can be done quickly or slowly, depending on how securely one chooses to do so.

Things You'll Need

• Operating system CD or DVD

Instructions

1. Insert the operating system DVD or CD into the computer's optical drive.

2. Restart the computer while pressing the "C" key. This will bring up the "Installer" menu.

3. Choose the “Open Disk Utility” option. This will take you to the "Disk Utility" screen.

4. Select the computer's hard disk icon in the column at the left of the screen.

5. Click the "Erase" and then "Security Options" buttons. Choose either the "Zero Out Data," "7-Pass Erase" or "35-Pass Erase" option. If you choose the first option, the data can still be recovered, but the other two options will delete it completely.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider the trade-off between speed and security when deciding how to erase the hard disk.

• Choosing the "7-Pass Erase" or "35-Pass Erase" option will take longer to complete than the "Zero Out Data" option.

References

• Barkings!: How to Erase Your Macs Hard Drive Before Selling It

Resources

• Macworld: Troubleshoot Your MacBook