My iMac died, how can I wipe the HD?

[Hanna]

My beloved iMac died after 5 years of service. It gave me fair warning (clicks, freezes) so I was able to back everything up. Last night it froze and upon restart it only booted to a white screen with a question mark folder.

I cannot find the OSX disc anywhere (we've done some remodeling and I'm afraid it is gone for good), but I'd like to wipe all my personal data off the hard drive.

Can anyone help me with how to wipe it when I can't get past the white screen?

Thanks!

[Stoid]

Yes. Get a firewire to firewire cable, borrow a friend's Mac and cable them together. When you start up the non-working mac, hold down the T key. This will start it up as an external hard drive that you can then retrieve whatever you want, wipe it clean, write zeros and run some basic drive tests, blocking bad sectors.

And then you can install a fresh system and get your computer back, or at least find out if you can get your computer back, because there's no reason to believe you have a hardware problem and you can't know until you try to boot up from a freshLy installed system on a good drive.

If the drive itself turns out to be shot, replacements are cheap on Ebay.

[Hanna]

I don't know anyone locally that has a Mac, to be honest. I am planning on buying a new iMac however and can do it that way, right? My old iMac is still running Tiger (it's been awhile since I've wanted to invest more money into an older computer) so I can use it even if the OS on the other is Snow Leopard? I love my old iMac, but the HD was full and I can't add more memory since it is maxed out.

ETA: The HD was failing. I ran the SMART utility and there were many bad sectors. It was just a matter of time.

[Stoid]

The systems don't matter because you're treating the old mac like a hard drive that doesn't have a system. The firewire turns it it into a storage disk.

And if it gives you a problem even as a drive, use your new mac and run DiskWarrior, Techtool and Drive Genius. One or all of the three should get you into it. (Also, if you have the retail disks for any one of those you should be able to boot from them if the dvd drive is functional, so you might try that first.)

If you have no need to actually get into it to retrieve anything and your concern is merely to protect yourself, then don't blow too much time or money fighting with it, just yank it out and toss it.

[thirdname]

Just install a new hard drive, take the old one out and smash it thoroughly.

[Hanna]

Thanks Stoid ad thirdname! I have no clue on how to remove the drive though. I was kinda hoping to be able to get a few bucks for it through the Apple recycling program rather than paying $25 to recycle it locally, but oh well. I do have all my stuff safely on an external drive so I don't need anything off of it.

Taking out an iMac drive seems to be a little more tool-intensive than taking out a windows HD...but what do I have to lose, right?

[thirdname]

I don't know how to remove the hard drive.

I think it's probably worth it to replace it and sell the computer. Macs hold value better than PCs. What is it, a G5?

[Stoid]

I don't know which iMac you have, but some searching is a wonderful thing. Instructions (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2278) for most everything (http://www.google.com/search?q=imac+hard+drive+upgrade+instructions&num=10&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=iv&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=trvJTP6sA5S4sAOlguXYDg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CB8QqwQwAQ) are available (http://home.comcast.net/~woojo/DFFA53A0-F23D-4541-9015-481FD3B6532E/iMac_Disassembly.html).

[Hanna]

I don't know how to remove the hard drive.

I think it's probably worth it to replace it and sell the computer. Macs hold value better than PCs. What is it, a G5?
It's the early 2006 Intel iMac.
I don't know which iMac you have, but some searching is a wonderful thing. Instructions (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2278) for most everything (http://www.google.com/search?q=imac+hard+drive+upgrade+instructions&num=10&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=iv&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=trvJTP6sA5S4sAOlguXYDg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CB8QqwQwAQ) are available (http://home.comcast.net/~woojo/DFFA53A0-F23D-4541-9015-481FD3B6532E/iMac_Disassembly.html).

I guess what I should have said is that I simply don't feel like removing/replacing it myself. I want a new Mac and I don't feel like putting any money into this old one. But it looks like I'll have to to destroy it, at least.

[thirdname]

If it's Intel, it definitely has value.

If you don't want to dispose of it, I'd be willing to dispose of it for free and I'd even pay the shipping fees.

Otherwise, you could try selling it, or giving it away, on Craigslist on the condition that the buyer/taker has to remove the old hard drive while you watch.

[Dewey Finn]

I think DBAN (http://www.dban.org/), a free disk wiping utility, will work on Apple systems, although I don't know if it will work on yours given that the drive appears to be failing.

[beowulff]

There's likely nothing wrong with the iMac itself.
If you were to install an new hard drive, the machine would work better than new, so don't just throw it away - it's probably worth several hundred dollars.

[gotpasswords]

It's the early 2006 Intel iMac.

Instructions for getting into iMacs can be found at iFixit (http://www.ifixit.com/).

If you have the model I'm thinking you do, getting at the drive is described as "Moderately" difficult, but compared to a typical PC, it's insanely hard with a whole lot of steps involving tools you probably don't already have, such as T6 and T8 Torx drivers.

[Hanna]

Now I'm starting to think I'll give it a go and try and replace it myself. Part of my hesitation was not having the OS disc, but Snow Leopard is only $30 on Amazon and I found a copy for $20 on Craigslist. A new iMac is pretty expensive and I've replaced drives and stuff in PCs...can I just buy any hard drive? Will a USB external drive work?

Is there a guide or more info on choosing the correct hard drive?

[Dewey Finn]

The version of Snow Leopard that costs thirty bucks is the upgrade from Leopard. I doubt it would install on a bare drive, but I'm more of a PC person.

[TheFifthYear]

I have the same iMac, and my hard drive failed recently as well. I hired someone to replace the hard drive, and even though I'm relatively mechanically adept, I'm glad I didn't try it my self. These things are jigsaw puzzles in there.

But, if you're up for a challenge, find good directions, and take it slow, it can certainly be done. If you're going to replace the internal drive, you need a notebook drive, not a standard desktop drive.

Now, with a new, bigger drive in there this computer is humming along like it's brand new.

[dzero]

I would recommend a shot gun with 00 buck shot. Physical destruction trumps erasing the data.

[Hanna]

I've decided to bite the bullet and try to do it myself. If all else fails, I'm only out $100. I ordered a 1 TB drive and a copy of Snow Leopard from Mac Mall.The version of Snow Leopard that costs thirty bucks is the upgrade from Leopard. I doubt it would install on a bare drive, but I'm more of a PC person.
I ordered it for $25 from Mac Mall and it said nothing about it being an upgrade version. It looks to be the full deal.
I have the same iMac, and my hard drive failed recently as well. I hired someone to replace the hard drive, and even though I'm relatively mechanically adept, I'm glad I didn't try it my self. These things are jigsaw puzzles in there.

But, if you're up for a challenge, find good directions, and take it slow, it can certainly be done. If you're going to replace the internal drive, you need a notebook drive, not a standard desktop drive.

Now, with a new, bigger drive in there this computer is humming along like it's brand new.

On the ifixit link that gotppasswords posted above, it gives a part list and the drive is standard sized. I ordered a 1 TB SATA drive, 4" x 1", but I ordered one from Mac Mall for $50 (after rebate).

I hope it works, but then again I'd love a new or refurb'd 27" iMac, too. :)

Any and all other advice is appreciated as I've never done this or attempted to do a drive replacement of this magnitude before. My SO has all the tools needed, so that's good news.

Thanks y'all. :)

[TheFifthYear]

On the ifixit link that gotppasswords posted above, it gives a part list and the drive is standard sized. I ordered a 1 TB SATA drive, 4" x 1", but I ordered one from Mac Mall for $50 (after rebate).

Oops, I must have been mistaken. Sorry for the bad info, and good luck with the repair.

[mack]

When the hard drive on my iMac died, I just left it in there and got an external firewire drive.

[Hanna]

Mack, did you just reload the OS onto the firewire drive? I didn't know that was possible, so I went with internal.

[mack]

This is what I did, IIRC (it's been a while) -

You said you don't have restore discs but I imagine regular OS install discs work the same way.

I put restore disc 1 in the slot.

I held down the option key while turning on the computer. This allowed me to select the DVD drive/restore disc to work off of.

I used This Guide (http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1787) from Western Digital (although I had a 1TB Mac-formatted iomega) to make sure the external drive was partitioned correctly.

The external hard drive must contain a Mac OS Extended (HFS+) partition with GUID for Intel-based computers or Apple Partition Map on PowerPC-based computers. For directions on how to partition and format an external hard drive, please follow the directions below:

Ensure that the external hard drive is connected to the computer and powered on. Open the main drive (the drive that contains the operating system) [this will be the DVD drive in your case - mack].

Open the Applications folder.

Open the Utilities folder.

Open the Disk Utility application.

The drives are displayed on the left side of the window. Click on the drive (the upper listing with the numerical capacity) that you wish to partition.

Once the drive is selected click on Partition tab.

Click on the Options button to select the partitioning scheme.

Click on GUID for Intel-based computers or Apple Partition Map for PowerPC-based ones and then click on the OK button.

You will see several options for setting up the drive. Once you have selected the number of partitions, the format type you want (Mac OS Extended), and a volume label, click the Apply button. Click the Partition button to confirm your selection and begin the partition operation.

Following the completion of this process, the drive will appear on the desktop. It is now ready for installing a bootable operating system on it.

Due to differences between WD's version and what I was seeing I wasn't able to follow the above note for note but I was able to get through the partitioning process.

Once that was done, I initiated the install process. Along the way I chose which drive to install the OS on and selected the external.

After installing I selected the external as my startup volume.

There's probably something I didn't do correctly because I have to click through a disk eject message whenever I boot up. Small price to pay, though.

I contemplated replacing the internal myself but chickened out and looked into making an external work instead. And by Jove, it did!

[Hanna]

Thanks! That would have been easier. Oh well. I got a good price (after rebate) on a 1TB drive and it will be an experience. A good one, I hope.

[Hanna]

It worked! It was a bit of a hassle, but my SO and I put in a new drive and got Snow Leopard loaded. $75 and a few hours is all it took.