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Steps before selling Air
- Thread starter secksthoi
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Just do a 7 pass secure erase (35 if you are super paranoid and have some time to waste) using disk util from the boot up thumb drive.
This will have absolutely no effect on SSDs beyond simply wearing them out. A single pass is more than adequate.
awesome techy article yet 2 questions:
why would an SSD/Flash Drive wear out within the life of the machine?
(even with heavy 'normal' use)
if it indeed did, then what's AppleCare for?
if you can't get 3 years out of a storage device running Mac OSX - even erasing and reinstalling the
OS once a week - then something's amiss.
If you wipe the SSD, as the OP indicated, there IS no Safari history left.... or Safari.
I'm just really learning about this type of technology, so I'm curious: what makes a SSD different when erased compared to a traditional disk-spinning HD? I had always heard that, with a traditional HD, even if you erased/reformatted the drive and threw it away that some savvy tech types could somehow either restore your drive or get file fragments to get information, etc? Maybe that's just paranoid urban myth, but that's what I had always heard. What, technologically speaking, makes a SSD different in terms of not retaining old data when erased? Just curious.
That article is very good but it's directed mostly to manufacturers and industry standard setters rather than end-users.
Unfortunately, it's a bit tricky. After TRIM Enabler came out about a month ago I did a secure erase. Nonetheless, the other day I ran Stellar Mac Data Recovery to undelete a file and it found a LOT of old files (almost a GB worth) that I think pre-date the secure erase. I might try a more "scientific" test when I have more time.
I plan to pass the MacBook Air down within the family when I get a new one, but I agree manufacturers need to get on the ball.
Unfortunately, it's a bit tricky. After TRIM Enabler came out about a month ago I did a secure erase. Nonetheless, the other day I ran Stellar Mac Data Recovery to undelete a file and it found a LOT of old files (almost a GB worth) that I think pre-date the secure erase. I might try a more "scientific" test when I have more time.
I plan to pass the MacBook Air down within the family when I get a new one, but I agree manufacturers need to get on the ball.
thanks KPom
Very good to know, I hope this will be corrected with future OS and SSD upgrades. Thanks, KPom.
Very good to know, I hope this will be corrected with future OS and SSD upgrades. Thanks, KPom.
Since I want to sell my computer to somebody I most likely won't know, then a 1 pass erase from the disk utility on the usb drive would be enough? New to macs and SSDs.
Since I want to sell my computer to somebody I most likely won't know, then a 1 pass erase from the disk utility on the usb drive would be enough? New to macs and SSDs.
just zero it out and sell it.
The disk-spinning HD is using (obviously) spinning disks. Those disks are written using a small laser. When you delete something, there may be a mark left behind (like after erasing pencil with rubber).
In the other hand, SSDs use little cells that each of them can either be 0 or 1.
If you make them all 0, then the ssd will be totally blank with no trace left behind. You can always read the SSD article in wikipedia to learn more about how they work (or http://www.howstuffworks.com)
true. From wikipedia " Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the platters."
Well, whoever is interested better read those things from wikipedia