Thread: formatting a mac

  1. #1
    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
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    formatting a mac

    I am trying to erase the hard drive of a PowerBook G4...but I don't have the Mac OS X cd. The most logical thing to do would be to use that cd and run the disk utility, but without the cd i dont know quite what to do.

    I know i can boot to single user mode, but I dont know the command in single user mode to format a hard drive...although I do know the fdisk command to repartition. But i want to format the drive.
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  2. #2
    ... kermit's Avatar
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    What are you going to be putting on the disk after you format it? In other words, which filesystem do you want?

    Perhaps this is what you are looking for?
    Last edited by kermit; 01-11-2007 at 08:11 PM.

  3. #3
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidP
    The most logical thing to do would be to use that cd and run the disk utility, but without the cd i dont know quite what to do.
    Torrent a disc, format the drive, and then destroy the disc. Last step is optional.

    Or you could use Linux which I'm sure can do the job. Partition Magic probably can as well.

  4. #4
    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
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    eh...I managed to find a Mac OS X Leopard (yes, that's right, Leopard) cd near my workstation, so I popped it in and got the disk utility running.

    I'd still be interested to know how to do it without the disk utility and Mac OS cd though.
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  5. #5
    MFC killed my cat! manutd's Avatar
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    Well, do you want to keep the hard drive If not, just hit it with a sledgehammer.
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  6. #6
    Frequently Quite Prolix dwks's Avatar
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    In Mac-ese, instead of formatting a drive, you initialize it.

    Well, do you want to keep the hard drive If not, just hit it with a sledgehammer.
    I think the OP could have figured that out, so [s]he probably want to make use of the hard drive.
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  7. #7
    MFC killed my cat! manutd's Avatar
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frobozz
    Torrent a disc, format the drive, and then destroy the disc. Last step is optional.
    actually, it's not illegal to download OS X. Apple actually gives them away(you pay shipping). You basically have to have a Mac to install it, so they figure it wont do any good unless you've already paid for a Mac...

    That may change now with the new MacIntels.

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