# Mac Experts, I need some advice here **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-experts-i-need-some-advice-here/361243 "2006-06-19T02:52:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-experts-i-need-some-advice-here/361243/1 "2006-06-19T02:52:33Z")
My daughter recently bought a replacement for her 2-year old I-Book. We’re going to either E-Bay, or some other way, sell the I-Book. Aside from documents, what kind of personal info might be on here that I want to delete before we sell? I have total non-familiarity with the mac, other than playing with it a little when she first got it, but I can find my way through the menus and such pretty well. Are there settings, or identification things that get installed at some point that I want to lose, and if so, how? She doesn’t save user names or passwords at any places she visits in Safari, so I think we’re ok there. What I’m thinking is anything on the HD itself that I want to find and smoke out before I hand the thing to a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-experts-i-need-some-advice-here/361243/2 "2006-06-19T03:02:31Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > My daughter recently bought a replacement for her 2-year old I-Book. We’re going to either E-Bay, or some other way, sell the I-Book. > > Aside from documents, what kind of personal info might be on here that I want to delete before we sell? > > I have total non-familiarity with the mac, other than playing with it a little when she first got it, but I can find my way through the menus and such pretty well. > > Are there settings, or identification things that get installed at some point that I want to lose, and if so, how? She doesn’t save user names or passwords at any places she visits in Safari, so I think we’re ok there. What I’m thinking is anything on the HD itself that I want to find and smoke out before I hand the thing to a stranger. The simplest thing to do is re-install the OS before selling the machine. If you are given the option don’t save the system folder/files. Let the installer delete everything. It wouldn’t protect from a forensic analysis of the machine, but nobody is going to run undelete on the disk and get anything. Remember this is a NIX machine (admitedly running an Apple file system. But the results will be very similar), so once gone the files are really gone. So, put in the system disk, reboot holding down the C key, and double-click the installer. ---
**Author:** ![happywaffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee59a6/32.png) [@happywaffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happywaffle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-experts-i-need-some-advice-here/361243/3 "2006-06-19T22:22:16Z")
When you restart holding the C key, it sends you straight to the installer. Just go through the installer steps, and when you get to “Select a Destination,” click “Options” at the bottom of the screen and choose Erase And Install. Your personal data will go bye-bye. Simple as that! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-experts-i-need-some-advice-here/361243/4 "2006-06-20T00:58:28Z")
From the Mac Help files: > [@](#): > > You can securely erase a disk to make sure the confidential information it contains cannot be recovered. > > Usually when erasing a disk, Disk Utility does not erase the files’ data. It erases just the information used to access the files. **Many commonly available disk recovery applications can easily recover that data.** When securely erasing a disk, Disk Utility writes over the erased files’ data, so it can never be recovered. You can choose to write over the data once, 7 times, or 35 times. Writing data over the disk 7 or 35 times is more secure than writing over it once, but takes longer. > > In Disk Utility, select the disk you want to erase and click Erase. > Specify a volume format and name for the disk. > Click Security Options and choose to write over the disk once, 7 times, or 35 times. Click OK. > Click Erase. (bolding mine) So, launch from the CD, go to Utilities, Disk Utility, and follow the above instructions.