REMOVE/Change Apple ID

[pdowling]

Hi there -
I own a computer store. I buy used Macs (mostly laptops), fix 'em, and resell them. IF the ones I buy are running Mac OS 9 (Maverick) or 10 (Yosemite) they 'may' have the previous owners Apple ID imbedded in the OS.
While I TRY to get the previous owners Apple ID & Password, sometimes I forget to do that.
To prep them for resale the 1st thing I do is create a NEW administrative account named "NEW OWNER" then reboot to that acct. and then "Secure Delete" the previous owners account.
If the previous owner had bought software from the Apple Store and I attempt to do Apple Software Update the server "requires" an Apple ID Password.
If I don't have that password it won't download an update to that app.

If I do have the previous owners Apple ID password it will.

But:
Assuming that I do have the previous owners Apple ID and password:
What do I do to REMOVE that identity from the computer before selling to a new owner who may have their own Apple ID and password?

Thanks in advance for the advice... ?

 

[Rigby]

What you should be doing is a complete reinstall of the OS. You never know what the previous owner did to the system. There might also be malware. I suggest you make USB sticks with the operating system versions you are commonly dealing with and use those for the installation (if you don't know how to do this there are several threads over in the Mac OS section of the forum). Alternatively you can also do an Internet recovery with the newer versions of OS X, but this takes much longer.

This way the new owner gets the same experience as with a new computer out of the box when booting up for the first time. It's probably also less work for you.

 

[pdowling]

Rigby:
Thanks for your reply.
I didn't make the point strongly enough....
I want to save the INSTALLED applications in the previous owners account.
Patrick

 

[chrfr]

Rigby:
Thanks for your reply.
I didn't make the point strongly enough....
I want to save the INSTALLED applications in the previous owners account.
Patrick

Apps purchased by someone else are permanently linked to the original purchaser, and only licensed for that person. There is no way to keep them and change the Apple ID, and keeping those applications constitutes piracy. If they're still on the computer, they cannot be updated by another account.