Erasing old MacBook Pro hard drive

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OnceBitten

535 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2976103 1-Oct-2022 21:21

Ok thanks for that - it's worked fine and installed a new OS and restarted.... then I get to the end (I think it is the end) and it asks me to create a computer account with full name, account name. password....etc...

I don't want to do this because I intend to sell the MacBook - and the next owner can do all that as far as i am concerned, but I can't go any further without doing it....

Can I make up an account name / password to get through this - and can it be changed at a later date by the next owner?

sorry - this is really starting to frustrate me!

OnceBitten

535 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2976108 1-Oct-2022 21:39

I made an executive decision and set up an account... I'll give the details to the new owner

it seemed to work ok - didn't ask for a 4 digit password (even though I'd set one up) and the windows screen came up pretty quick

when I was using the old MacBook I'd turn it on, enter the 4 digit passwprd and it would take about 10 minutes to go through before the windows screen would come up.... then if I clicked on e-mails or google chrome, I had enough time to have a shower, make a coffee and watch some TV before they would be ready work.....

I was quite surprised it seemed to boot up pretty quickly....

I've got no idea what a 2012 MacBook would be worth, so I'll do some googling

thanks for all your help!

RunningMan

8912 posts

Uber Geek

#2976111 1-Oct-2022 21:42

OnceBitten:

then I get to the end (I think it is the end) and it asks me to create a computer account with full name, account name. password....etc...

I don't want to do this because I intend to sell the MacBook

The answer's right there in the artlcle linked earlier.

After resetting NVRAM, your Mac will start up to the setup assistant again. To leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing setup.

1024kb

1165 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2976113 1-Oct-2022 21:47

To be both absolutely sure that no data is ever recovered, & to give that old MacBook the best value for money performance boost, open up the bottom tray & remove your old hard drive. Replace it with a SATA SSD. Now attack your old drive with a drill or hammer - damage it good. Now your data is secure - no-one's recovering that. Ever. If you leave a used hard drive in a computer, there is always a chance that your data will one day be recovered. Maybe minimal chance but the acceptability of this risk depends upon your level of paranoia. If the drive is physically inoperable then your mind can rest easy, data is gone for good.

The Mac has now had the performance bottleneck removed - those old spinning drives are ridiculously slow & clumsy. The read/write speeds are 10x better, it's quieter & battery lasts longer too. You can buy a 256GB SSD for $50 or thereabouts & it's the single best way to breath new life into an old computer.

Shift + Option + Cmd + R installs the original OS that was delivered on that machine.
Option + Cmd + R installs the latest version of MacOS available for that Mac.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

OnceBitten

535 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2976122 1-Oct-2022 22:43

RunningMan:

The answer's right there in the artlcle linked earlier.

After resetting NVRAM, your Mac will start up to the setup assistant again. To leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, press Command-Q to shut down instead of continuing setup.

thanks - I didn't see that bit sorry....

OnceBitten

535 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2976123 1-Oct-2022 22:47

1024kb: To be both absolutely sure that no data is ever recovered, & to give that old MacBook the best value for money performance boost, open up the bottom tray & remove your old hard drive. Replace it with a SATA SSD. Now attack your old drive with a drill or hammer - damage it good. Now your data is secure - no-one's recovering that. Ever. If you leave a used hard drive in a computer, there is always a chance that your data will one day be recovered. Maybe minimal chance but the acceptability of this risk depends upon your level of paranoia. If the drive is physically inoperable then your mind can rest easy, data is gone for good.

The Mac has now had the performance bottleneck removed - those old spinning drives are ridiculously slow & clumsy. The read/write speeds are 10x better, it's quieter & battery lasts longer too. You can buy a 256GB SSD for $50 or thereabouts & it's the single best way to breath new life into an old computer.

Shift + Option + Cmd + R installs the original OS that was delivered on that machine.
Option + Cmd + R installs the latest version of MacOS available for that Mac.

thanks - but I'm not interested in replacing the hard drive

I'm pretty conficent that I've erased it fully

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