reformating macs

[beloved84]

i'm planning on reformating my mac when it comes back from the repair shop (macbook). my question is:

is there a big difference between the normal way to unintall a mac through the disc, the 7 pass secure erase, or the 35 pass?

 

[SilentPanda]

If you're reformatting it just because the repair shop had it use the normal format... if you're selling it or getting rid of it use the 7 pass or whatever it is... if you're paranoid and getting rid of it use the 35 pass... if you're super paranoid run the 35 pass as many times as you can.

 

[dpaanlka]

The only reason you do any of the "passes" is to prevent deleted data from being retrieved when you're selling it or something.* There is no reason to prevent yourself from retrieving data.

 

[SilentPanda]

There is no reason to prevent yourself from retrieving data.

You could be like Michael Jennings in Paycheck...