The Practical Guide To Mac Security: Part 20, Erasing Your Mac

[@davidfolts5893]

Gary has the best Apple product videos ever!

[@debreale5236]

Thanks so much, Gary. I’ll follow your advice and turn my old one off for a couple of weeks to make sure I have everything I need on the new one. The migration seemed to go very well. As always, you’re a lifesaver!

[@patti3d]

Thank you so much. Have my old mac just sitting there in the closet waiting for this tutorial! Perfect!

[@abhikm001]

Oh Gary! You are the end all be all of everything related to Mac. Thank you!

[@davidgory1757]

I basically followed this to prepare my old late-2014 27" iMac for a trade-in to Apple on a new 24" M1 iMac. Worked just as you said!

[@loisskiathitis8926]

Excellent video tutorial today! Thank you for the visuals. I just have to call it a great reference point video. Thank you, Gary! 👏👍🏻❤️

[@warrengh5647]

Thanks for that Gary. As my 4 year old 27inch Mac seems a slow would this be a good procedure to refresh the system ?

[@macmost]

I wouldn't go to the extreme of erasing your Mac. I would try to figure out what is causing the issue. Use Activity Monitor or take it to the Genius Bar.

[@warrengh5647]

@@macmost Thank you for advice Gary will give it a try. Just thought maybe how to use/understand ( fully ) the Activity Monitor tutorial? Probably not that simple though. Thanks again.

[@macmost]

@@warrengh5647 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqu4pHSjYqtqn5o

[@jessej.guevara7086]

I have a old iMac with High Sierra and a Windows wired keyboard. What keystrokes do I use to reset this computer please.

[@macmost]

support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065

[@tombrown8428]

Great video Gary. Do you have an introductory course for a person switching from windows to Apple?

[@macmost]

Yes. The course is "The Guide To macOS Big Sur" at courses.macmost.com There will be a new course this fall when Monterey comes out.

[@HiFiInsider]

is it better to use Target Disk Mode to erase the entire SSD including all the partitions from another Mac?

[@macmost]

No. Just use this method.

[@karthickg2050]

Hi Gary... I am very happy to get updated with MacMost for all the apple related stuff. It is an one stop solution for all queries... Thanks for all the effort... Kindly make a video "How we can use Time Machine to do back up and sync between two external hard drive on Mac?" Also, Kindly suggest is there any software which can do the same ""Which is the best software to do back up and sync between two external hard drive on Mac?" I am awaiting for your guidance. Thanks in advance...

[@macmost]

Earlier in this series there is a Time Machine video. But you use that for a backup, not for any kind of "sync." Syncing is best done just using iCloud.

[@karthickg2050]

@@macmost Thank you for the reply MacMost. To clarify more, iCloud will be good choice to sync Mac laptop inbuild hard disk to iCloud and from there to the external hard disk. But I am looking for back up and sync between two external hard disk which normally have folders and files in finder app. What I had found out it that some software like "ChronoSync Express" , "GoodSync" etc can do it. Here, ChronoSync Express is also available in apple App Store. Goodsync is on their website. Basically, I am looking for back up and sync for the finder app between two external hard drive. Because, when the external disc is of large size say 5TB, later to find out which files and folders are not backup ed is highly time consuming and difficult task. Here, I am not looking to back up and sync app like calendar, reminder, Mail etc. I am looking for folders and files in the finder app like word, excel, pfd, video as a whole and not the content of the files. For Example, if I change anything on a MS word, then I am not looking to reflect as immediate change on the external hard drive. I need when I what to back up and sync, I have to do it. Kindly guide me is there any way to do this wih Mac inbuilt software or free software available in apple store. If it is not available on inbuilt Mac software or on apple store free software. Then, I need your suggestion to get paid software either on apple store or on their website. Thank a lot for helping all the beginners to Apple ecosystem and Mac user worldwide. I am awaiting for your reply. Thanks in advance.

[@macmost]

@@karthickg2050 Oh, so you want to back up an external drive to another external drive on one computer? First, I would suggest just using Time Machine. Get a big drive and have Time Machine back up both your Internal drive and external drive to it. That's easy and automatic. If the only reason you want to do it is to back up your data, just use Time Machine.

[@karthickg2050]

@@macmost Thank you so much to MacMost and your team. I was totally unaware that time machine can also be used for back up ing the external hard disk. Please make a video for “How to back up an external hard disc to another external hard using time machine?” In case, video is already made, then kindly let me know about it. Thanks a lot to Gary and MacMost team…

[@karthickg2050]

Thank you so much Macmost. I watched your TimeMachine software usage video. It was very helpful. The back up process was so simple. I am very happy about it. I also backed up my internal and external hard drive with TimeMachine. However, I am wondering how can I use TimeMachine to backup my OneDrive. Is that possible to backup OneDrive with TimeMachine? Thanks a lot in guiding me. I am awaiting for your guidance.

[@hermes8258]

I had once vowed to never use apple products again after being unable to reset my iPhone (or maybe it my Mac laptop, I forget) unless I connected to the internet and used my AppleID. That surprised me because if memory serves me correctly one could and can still do this with Android phones and PC laptops. Internet access unavailable? Irrelevant. But with my Apple product some years ago anyway, I was required to sign in to return my device to factory default. This strikes me as perhaps safer but also inconvenient and even intrusive. Never mind what border crossing I was at in a not exactly uncensored country for digital privacy rights, but in any case the wifi at the airport was down. I was at my wits end. I failed to wipe my Apple device. So, lesson here for me was, making all data irretrievable is not fast and easy. It might even be impossible to do so 100%. What say you Gary?

[@macmost]

I'm not sure what your exact circumstance was there. I've never had to erase a MacBook in a hurry like that so I can't relate.

[@hermes8258]

@@macmost Working as an unlicensed reporter in a major Asian nation. I was on a flight to another country. One of these countries has press censorship and the laws of the western nation allow access to all digital devices upon entry. So, partly out of principle and partly for privacy practice, I never cross a border with any data on any device - phones, tablet or laptop. I make this a rule. However, this is cumbersome, though presumably there are cloud solutions. I do get tired playing at being James Bond though. A simple 'kill switch'? Thing is I don't understand half of it. Hence taking your course. Thank you.

[@macmost]

@@hermes8258 How long ago was this? I wonder if it would work now if you tried to reset without a connection. Or just do it at the last point where you know you have a connection to sign out of Find My (I assume this was the issue?).

[@hermes8258]

@@macmost 8-10 years ago. Yes, of course, planning ahead with a good connection (non-WIFI?) would help a lot, not leaving everything to the last minute. I consistently have troubles backing up my devices with budget hotel connections. I think that I have backed everything up but discover late that in fact everything did not get backed up even overnight. But I am a computer nincompoop, which is why I am taking your excellent course. In fact, I start my day with one of your videos, putting the speed on 75% and repeating as necessary. Often I stop and try out what you are pointing out. I cannot emphasise enough how useful your videos are compared to the competition.

[@gregorynelson4216]

Thanks, Gary. If I am just planning on recycling my Mac, do I need to go thru the steps of reinstalling MacOS?

[@macmost]

Not really. After erasing it doesn't matter too much. If reselling, or you think recycling would end up putting the old Mac back into actual use (not being disassembled), then reinstalling macOS does make it easier on the other end for a tech to check what works and what doesn't on the Mac. Otherwise, they would probably need to reinstall.

[@davidstaller8247]

When I get a new Mac, will that new Mac recognize my time machine backup from the old Mac after I erase hard drive on old Mac from a different external drive I did not erase? Can I recover individual file from it?

[@macmost]

Not sure. I've never tried that. But you can just dig into the drive manually in the Finder to look for a file.

[@theoneD1]

Is it guaranteed that when you erase your mac like as you suggested, that it will erase everything and nothing can be recovered?

[@macmost]

Within reason. Probably a large spy agency like the NSA could throw a ton of machine and man hours at it and get something. But otherwise there are far easier ways to get data of value than trying to pull old bits from a used drive.

[@davidempire4874]

If you update to Monterey, you can erase your Mac with one click.

[@macmost]

Yep. That's an exciting new feature. I plan to do a tutorial on that once Monterey is out (or close).

[@davidempire4874]

@@macmost It will likely be out next month and a good portion of your viewers are likely already on the beta.