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mjones19 · Sep 9, 2003, 03:44 PM

looking to sell the lapper, but have plenty of history, personal data etc. that i want to clear out of the machine. is there anyway for me to somehow restore the computer to its original state, as if it were coming out of the box brand new?

sorry for being a clueless newbie.

ericwass · Sep 9, 2003, 03:46 PM

Use the Software Restore disks that came with the computer. Should wipe the disc and bring it back to factory ship state.

By the way, which Ti is it and how much do you want for it?

nobitacu · Sep 9, 2003, 03:53 PM

Try this program out. It works great backing up your hard drive.

Carbon Copy Cloner 2.2

Ming

(sorry, you wanted to bring the computer to the state when it was brand new. This is not the program for it. Yea, just use the system restore disc.)

mjones19 · Sep 9, 2003, 03:55 PM

actually, don't want to back it up, just want to wipe the thing totally clean so i could sell it and the recipient would be getting it free of my nonsense!

rjt1000 · Sep 9, 2003, 04:42 PM

hi mjones,

yes, you are right to be concerned about properly cleaning up the hard drive before selling it. if you dont do that, someone with the inclination and the proper easily available tools can read the areas of the hard drive that were deleted and resurrect credit card numbers, social security numbers and other data that could leave you victim to identity theft.

as you probably know, when you trash a file or just normally format the hard drive, you are just clearing out the index. so the original data remains.

for most users, i think "zeroing all the data" (writing zeros to every block) on your hard drive is good enough. sure, even still, government agencies could probably sniff the data off it with million dollar hardware tools, but i think this is enough to keep the usual hacker types at bay.

(if you want yet more security get a shredding program that overwrites the blocks more than once with random data. like shredit x:
http://www.mireth.com/pub/sxme.html )

OS X's drive utility has an option to zero all data and it comes free with OS X

you will need to startup from an external firewire drive or in target disk mode from another firewire equipped computer. (start your powerbook second and hold down the T while starting up)

then just run drive utility to format the PB's internal drive and dont forget to click on options and choose "zero all data". (this will take some time depending on the size of your hard drive).

then just use the software restore disk to write back all the original software.

best wishes,

rich (pismo g3 500)

TheIceMan · Sep 10, 2003, 01:44 AM

mjones19:
Try SuperScrubber.

Mithras · Sep 10, 2003, 06:47 AM

Incidentally, the going rate for a Titanium 667 (if that's what this is) is about $450. I'm interested in buying one, by the way.

iWrite · Sep 10, 2003, 08:33 AM

Uh, why not just insert the OS 9 software system restore CD and start up holding down the C key and simply reformat, then reload OS X afterwards?

As soon as OS X is loaded and restarts (as it does) push the eject key and get your OS X CD out then wait for the registration splash screen to appear. When it does simply hold down the power button until it turns off.

You're good to go at that point -- done.

When the person gets the machine and starts it up it will restart to the registration page as if it's brand new.

Good luck.

juanpacolopez · Sep 10, 2003, 09:21 AM

Originally posted by Mithras:
Incidentally, the going rate for a Titanium 667 (if that's what this is) is about $450. I'm interested in buying one, by the way.

You're joking right?

Add a "1" to the front of that number and you'd be in the ballpark

babajazz · Sep 10, 2003, 04:30 PM

I'm sure he's joking.....I hope he's joking. Akkkhhh....salesmen!

wilsonX · Sep 10, 2003, 05:39 PM

I definitely would go with the zeroing out the hard drive option posted above. Mostly for your protection.

romeosc · Sep 10, 2003, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by babajazz:
I'm sure he's joking.....I hope he's joking. Akkkhhh....salesmen!

He was, look athe smiley face. I too would buy a dozen at $450!

koffinkanser · Sep 11, 2003, 10:51 AM

what about a 400 model? with a 30GB hd and 640mb upgrade? want to sell mine, so am just wondering what to expect for it.

juanpacolopez · Sep 11, 2003, 11:16 AM

Originally posted by romeosc:
He was, look athe smiley face. I too would buy a dozen at $450!

Yeah, I think I'd have to max out the 'ol AmEx for that one

Buy 10 or so @ $450, sell them for $1500... that'd be a $10k profit.