Hard drive wiping checklist

Macintosh Hard drive Wiping procedure

Mac hard drives are wiped while still inside the system. This is because Macs take forever to disassemble. Currently Mac hard drives are wiped using the tools available during the network installation. Details are contained in the MacBuild checklists. If you should need to wipe a hard drive using a CD rather than the network you can use the instructions detailed below.

Please follow the steps below to wipe a hard drive. If you come across problems, such as the system won't boot from CD, you can refer to MacBuild Tips 'n Tricks for troubleshooting.

Steps	Notes/Detailed Instructions	Done
Turn computer on and insert Ubuntu 8.04 Alternative Install CD. Then turn off computer
Boot from CD	Hold down the "c" key while turning the computer on. Release the key when boot menu appears and type "rescue"
Go through the prompts given and chose the appropriate options	The options you should select are English, United States, NO, USA, and USA.
Execute shell	Use the tab key to "go back" two screens to a menu of options. Use the arrow key to highlight "Execute shell" and press enter.
Run badblocks	At the prompt type "badblocks -wvvf -c1024 /dev/hda" and hit enter. If that command fails, try "badblocks -wvvf -c1024 /dev/sda" instead.