Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Selling my Mac Pro G5 and want to make sure all of my personal date & others deleted

M

Marissa Gamble

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 29, 2011
9
0
I am selling my Mac Pro G5. I don't have the install Mac OS X disc at ALL. In the terminal when i restarted the mac i entered : mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now

I did this cause I forgot my admin username and password. It did the whole registration and did the last option to not transfer my folders.. Now will this not have my information or do I still need to do a 0 or 7 secure erase pass? Cause I did this yesterday and said startup disk is full? but how can that be I have about 21.4 GB used.Also HOW do I erase my account username and password for the new person taking my Mac? I want them to have all the basic general programs that come with the Mac which I am doing. Please answer all my questions.. THANKS
 
Can I just do a 7 erase secure pass?

Can I just do a 7 secure erase pass and wouldn't l be fine? Isn't it that simple? I researched and some people said it should be ok. I don't have the Mac OS X install disc at all and I already told the person of what basic programs getting that formerly was on Mac.. I am not getting a hard drive..
 
how do you want to do the 7 pass erase?

you don't have a install disc.

you have a machine with out osx and you can't boot.


or you can still boot the disc. one or the other.


if you boot the disc you can't erase it.

mac osx will not erase the operating disc if its the only disc.

in order for the computer to run 7 pass erase it needs an osx
 
Marissa Gamble said:
I did this cause I forgot my admin username and password. It did the whole registration and did the last option to not transfer my folders.. Now will this not have my information or do I still need to do a 0 or 7 secure erase pass? Cause I did this yesterday and said startup disk is full? but how can that be I have about 21.4 GB used.Also HOW do I erase my account username and password for the new person taking my Mac? I want them to have all the basic general programs that come with the Mac which I am doing. Please answer all my questions.. THANKS
Click to expand...

The only way to do what you need is to have the original Mac OS X disks, erase from those disks, and reinstall.
 
I think a new HD is the best idea all round, but you've ruled that out.

If it was just wiping it, then if you have another computer with firewire (and a FW lead to connect them) I think you could wipe the disc using Firewire target disc mode (boot the G5 whilst holding down the 'T' key).

Regardless, you'd still need to reinstall the OS somehow though, so I think you really need the right install discs, especially if you want iLife etc included.
 
Don't sell it! A Mac Pro G5 is a rare beast indeed. In fact, you probably have the only one in the entire world. It is worth at least $100000.
 
hwojtek said:
This troll has asked this question (answered at least 3 times) for at least 4 times now. Do not feed it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's the basically asking something that is impossible and not being happy with the answers you get.

You can't keep apps, securely erase the drive, and certainly do it without install disks.
 
Your questions are nonsensical. You cannot magically do a secure wipe without also wiping the apps. You have to do a secure wipe and then reinstall the apps.

If you don't have the discs, the simplest way to do this is to buy a used retail copy of OS X, Leopard perhaps, for cheap. Boot the Leopard install disc, click Disk Utility, and do your 7-pass erase on the hard drive.

Once that's done, install Leopard.

I don't understand why you are so resistant to get the discs. Worst case just resell them to recoup your money back. We're talking about a few dollars here.
 
again someone who bought a PowerMac g5 of ebay from someone who bought it originally and spend thousands on apps and left them on the Mac
now he want obvious sell the PowerMac for the value of the included apps
to get a real MacPro for the cash
you see that all the time on ebay and Mac's , its common practice to sell a Mac with newer version of OSX and ilife ,but no disc and sold with thousands of pounds worth of software ,but neither a single disc for them or product key and then expecting 3 times the actual value of the Mac , often they even use apps sourced in torrents to up the value of their Mac and still there are people who actually bid on these like mad fully aware that its actually illegal to have software without having payed or having a license for it (exeption freeware)

ok its only my opinion , but i am convinced that at least some developers will agree , its hard work to make a good app , and for me its worth paying for a app that actually works ,i even donate for freeware if i am happy with it as i think even developers who build some freeware app deserve something show them ..well done and its worth to continue, sure they dont earn a fortune , some hardly make a living from it , others do it just for fun , but i think everybody who develops a app finds it nice if someone gives a little , just to say thank you and encourage those to carry on creating good apps
and if less people would think its ok to use torrents/or buy Mac's with illegally obtained apps , then even the main apps like final cut could drop in price too
 
Last edited:
MacHamster68 said:
again someone who bought a PowerMac g5 of ebay from someone who bought it originally and spend thousands on apps and left them on the Mac
now he want obvious sell the PowerMac for the value of the included apps
to get a real MacPro for the cash
you see that all the time on ebay and Mac's , its common practice to sell a Mac with newer version of OSX and ilife ,but no disc and sold with thousands of pounds worth of software ,but neither a single disc for them or product key and then expecting 3 times the actual value of the Mac , often they even use apps sourced in torrents to up the value of their Mac and still there are people who actually bid on these like mad fully aware that its actually illegal to have software without having payed or having a license for it (exeption freeware)

ok its only my opinion , but i am convinced that at least some developers will agree , its hard work to make a good app , and for me its worth paying for a app that actually works ,i even donate for freeware if i am happy with it as i think even developers who build some freeware app deserve something show them ..well done and its worth to continue, sure they dont earn a fortune , some hardly make a living from it , others do it just for fun , but i think everybody who develops a app finds it nice if someone gives a little , just to say thank you and encourage those to carry on creating good apps
and if less people would think its ok to use torrents/or buy Mac's with illegally obtained apps , then even the main apps like final cut could drop in price too
Click to expand...

I would have to think your guess makes sense but if the person was clever enough to buy 2k in bootleg software they should not have to bother us to do a clone or two with superduper.
I think it is a troll if you asked me to vote 65% troll 30% bootleg software. 5% a complete newcomer to mac.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back