[X-Newbies] Erase contents of hard disc

[Keith Mills]

Thank you all. I can even switch it on and off. Now that the disc is out, all that I get when it comes back on is an alternating (very small) flashing question mark and insignia in the centre of the screen. Nothing else. 

I had already done the install and restore process.

Is it safe to dispose of? My wife is sick of it sitting on the freezer un the kitchen. Quite honestly, I know nobody who wants it and my plan was simply to get rid of it at the local tip

Keith

On 8 Apr 2011, at 18:01, Michael Burton wrote:

> On Apr 8, 2011, at 4:30 AM, Keith Mills wrote:
> 
>> It certainly  looks like nobody can help. And now there is an added problem. I cannot even eject the disk. Every time that I try to "Quit Installer", it merely restarts the computer. Everything is going round in circles.
>> 
>> Dare I just take it to the village tip and hope that my data is safe from .... whoever?
>> 
>> In desperation.
>> Keith
> 
> 
> I could be wrong, but I believe you actually DID successfully erase your hard drive. It doesn't take long, because the system normally just replaces a few disk-level data structures, marking most disk space as free for use. I think you were surprised by how quickly it worked, and didn't believe the disk had actually been erased.
> 
> In fact, almost all of your data is still on the disk, but it's not accessible by "normal" means. However, a malicious (or curious) person could probably recover most of your data using data-recovery software.
> 
> If you re-do the erasure of your hard drive and select a Security Option other than "Don't Erase Data," the process should take significantly longer, and you'll feel more confident that your data has actually been erased. The "Zero Out Data" should be sufficient to protect you from any ordinary hackers. The "7-Pass Erase" or "35-Pass Erase" options are relevant if you're worried that the intelligence agencies of some government might try to get your data.
> 
> After erasing the hard drive, you should use the installer to do a "restore" from your "Install and Restore" disk. That installs OS X and restores the disk to the state it was in when the computer was new. Then the computer should be able to boot from the hard drive, rather than the DVD-ROM, and I believe you'll be able to eject the DVD.
> 
> Good luck. 
> 
> -- 
> Michael Burton     michaelburton at brainrow.com     (614) 263-7948
> Home Page (rarely updated) : http://pathetic.brainrow.com/
> Blog (occasionally updated): http://brainrow.com/
> 
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