[chrisdisregard]

When I first got my 17" iMac I thought it was pretty great (though seeing them come out with iSights about a month later was kind of annoying) but I just saw one of the new 24" iMacs in person for the first time today. Those things look amazing! Even though I can't really afford to, I'm now thinking about saving up a bit and upgrading. In the past I've always just kept computers around until they've finally died on me, and only upgraded every couple of years. Anyone here have any advice on selling a new-ish iMac? I seem to recall reading about some program that completely deletes your files and everything so they're unrecoverable, but can't seem to find it again. I still haven't completely made up my mind yet, but any pointers or advice would be nice.

[brokenjago]

Mac OS X Tiger has a function under the Finder called "Secure Empty Trash." This will permanently delete all your files and/or folders so they cannot be recovered.

[mark.s]

Originally Posted by chrisdisregard 

I seem to recall reading about some program that completely deletes your files and everything so they're unrecoverable, but can't seem to find it again. I still haven't completely made up my mind yet, but any pointers or advice would be nice.

Boot from the Mac OS X install disk, run disk utility from the menu and erase the drive, choosing 'zero out data' from the security options dialog.

[stefanicotine]

"Zero Out Data" is the fastest, but it isn't the best. Choose "7-Pass Erase", or "35-Pass Erase" for completely unrecoverable data. They may take forever, but they do a fine job