3 May
2025
3 May
'25
11:39 p.m.
On Sat, 3 May 2025 at 17:03, Brian Knittel via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
Passing on a request: anyone know of a way to erase
user data off a Mac SE
hard disk that will leave the disk and Mac OS intact? The machine works and
could go to a new home but has privileged medical data on it so just
deleting files isn’t sufficient — the free space has to be overwritten. Are
there any utilities available on floppy disk that could do it? Plan B is
taking a sledgehammer to the drive, but seems a waste to go right to
euthanasia if there’s another option.
Is there a particular reason to leave MacOS intact? After removing all the
user data you might as well have a fresh copy of the OS, so I'm not sure
why you wouldn't zero the entire disk and then do an OS reinstall. That's
certainly the most secure way to do it.
-Henry