USB kill disk for mac?

[kenw232]

I have many old Macs. I want to boot off a memory stick and kill the partition(s) that are on the disk. How can I easily do this? I know there is a Kill disk for Mac at https://www.killdisk.com/killdisk-freeware.htm but I have to login to the machine to run it. I just want a convenient memory stick to boot from. Is this possible?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Depends on Mac model, I'm pretty sure, but couldn't a bootable, "live" Linux USB be able to do this?

 

[Slartibart]

one easy solution is to make a bootable PPC or Intel installation (depending on how old the Mac are) on the stick and then connect the stick, restart the Mac while pressing the Option/Alt-key, and then selecting the stick as boot drive.

In Linux you the can use parted, disk or a graphical tool to delete the internal partitions.

I suggest Linux because if you have a variety of older Macs you might have to create a bootable USB-stick with the MacOSX version each hardware supports (one for 10.5, one for 10.7, etc. - the boot procedure is the same as described above) - with Linux you just have to create one for PPCs and one for Intel. Depending on the hardware you can also do some “live”-Linux on a CD/DVD. 😱🥳🤓

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Is this something that would instantly starting wiping once booted from? If not, just make a bootable macOS installer and nuke it in Disk Utility. Alternatively, use Target Disk Mode.

 

[Fishrrman]

If what you want is "a secure erase", disk utility can do this.

It may take different versions of the OS to boot the Macs you're trying to "wipe".

Hmmm....
Mr Brightside's suggestion to use target disk mode (where possible) is a VERY good one. If the Macs are older, I believe you might need to connect via thunderbolt...