How do I get my macs ready to sell?

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:38:51 -0700, FFjim wrote
(in message ):

> I have an G4 iBook and a G4 iMac that i want to sell to fund a new G5
> iMac but I’m not sure how to make sure all my old files & preferences
> & stuff are wiped out so that they are ready for a new user??
> Any help would be much apreciated as the G5 is going on the credit
> card this week and I am going to have to pay for it somehow!
>
>

The quickest and easiest would be to erase the HD and reinstall the OS from
the original install disks. For the casual user, this would make the computer
like it was when you first started it up, including Apple's registration
screen.

With one erasure only, your information would not be visible by normal
detection. But advanced forensic techniques could still possibly recover your
data. There are programs that will overwrite your HD multiple times. IIRC,
Apple's Disk Utility will do this. Overwriting the HD 8 times is considered
normal military spec security, although if the military wants to be
absolutely sure the data is destroyed, then acid etching the drive is called
for. This of course would destroy the drive itself. I would recommend
multiple overwrites of all drive sectors followed by reinstalling the OS from
the original install disks.

Stephen C.