Tim, Great minds think alike, Not sure in our case but that was my thought also.
From: 'Tim Kilburn' via MacVisionaries <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, 11 January 2020 6:23 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Erasing data without reinstalling OS? Hi, Go in to System Preferences, Users & Groups, press the lock and enter your password to unlock this pane. Press on the Add User button and create a new user. There is a pop-up menu to the VO-left of the Name field that you need to change from Standard to Administrator. After setting this to Administrator, enter the info in the fields including name and password. Once you've confirmed all this, close System Preferences and log out of this user. At the Login screen, log in with the new user using the password you just created. You will need to turn VO on for this user and your settings from the other user will not be present. Go into System Preferences, Users & Groups and delete your original user account. Make sure to select the radio button that says to delete the Home folder. This process will delete everything from your original user account, including settings, Desktop/Documents items, iTunes items, pictures. The whole kit and caboodle. It will not delete applications though. You will need to do those manually if you wish to remove them. Alternatively, you don't really need the Mavericks installer to do a complete wipe/re-install. You can restart the computer, and when you hear the startup chime,, as it is sounding, press down the cmd key and the r key at the same time. Keep them down for about 5 to 6 seconds then release them. Wait for 2 to 3 minutes then try turning VO on with cmd-f5. If it does not work, give it another minute or two and try turning on VO again. Once it is on, you may need to continue through the Language Chooser to the MacOS Utilities window, or it may just go directly to the MacOS Utilities window. Once at that window, select Disk Utility, then Continue. Wait a few seconds for Disk Utility to open, select Macintosh HD from the Disk Selection table, then Erase from the Toolbar. Make sure that its format is set to MacOS Extended (Journaled) and press the Erase button. Wait a few minutes for it to do its thing, then cmd-q to Quit Disk Utility. This will take you back to the MacOS Utilities window where you can select the "Re-Install MacOS" item and then Continue. Follow the prompts, making sure to select Macintosh HD as the destination disk. It will download Mavericks from Apple and, voila, you've set it up as a brand new machine for them with all your apps and data removed. HTH. Later... Tim Kilburn Jamf Certified Tech Apple Teacher (with Swift Playgrounds Recognition) Fort McMurray, AB Canada On Jan 10, 2020, at 09:56, 'Harry Bell' via MacVisionaries <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I have an old MacBook 2009 running Mavericks which I want to give away to a blind friend. Is there a way of removing all my data without having to reinstall the OS? I no longer have a copy of Mavericks to use to reinstall the OS. Any help would be great! Thanks Harry -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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