[Xaledo]

I am new to macs and but an expert in pc's (of course). So my friend gave me his powerbook to completly erase (I think you call it Zeroing the drive) and reinstall the OSX so he can sell it. He does not have the restore discs. So, the only thing I have is the computer and the power cord. Is there a way to zero the hard drive and then reinstall the operating system without the restore discs? Thanks

[cms]

Originally Posted by rowsdower24

I am new to macs and but an expert in pc's (of course). So my friend gave me his powerbook to completly erase (I think you call it Zeroing the drive) and reinstall the OSX so he can sell it. He does not have the restore discs. So, the only thing I have is the computer and the power cord. Is there a way to zero the hard drive and then reinstall the operating system without the restore discs? Thanks

No. No. and...errr....no.

Obviously not a serious question. Unless you "meant" to ask: Is there a hidden partition on the Powerbook hard disk that will allow you to do a system restore without using system CDs/DVDs, as with some Pee Cees?

The answer to that is also no, btw...........

[Barefoot Matt]

Probably the best thing to do in this situation would be just to delete all personal files and non-default applications. Won't be as good as new, but probably sellable, especially if the buyer already has a copy of Tiger.

PS. If you want to know, the term you're looking for is not "zeroing", it's "reformatting" or "wiping".

[Xaledo]

Yeah, I already knew the term was "wiping" but searching through dozens of forums people always used the term "zero the hard drive". Reformatting isn't the same as wiping a drive because the information is still recoverable.

So, my friend is pretty paranoid about his information being recovered so would the best course of action be to purchase a newer copy of tiger and redo the entire system that way? I looked on ebay and they have fairly new versions of tiger for cheap prices.