How To Format Hard Drive On Mac
A Mac machine is every user’s delight. However, making some certain changes such as taking backup or formatting the hard drive for Mac owners can be a wee bit difficult for them compared to those who own Windows or Linux computers. Today, we will learn how to format the hard drive on your Mac machine and that too without sweat! Just follow the steps written below and you will be fine!
Step 1: Backup
Remember to take the necessary backup of all your files or content from your hard drive since all the data will be permanently erased from it. Hence, before beginning the format, make sure that you have taken the required backup from your system’s hard drive.
Step 2: Boot
I. Using the original installation DVD: To format your Mac’s hard drive, you need to boot your system from a different location. If you have an old generation of Mac (below 10.7), then you will need the original installation DVD to boot and format your system’s drive. You need to be very specific in this case. For instance, if you have a system with OS X 10.5 and use a DVD for 10.5.3, then all your efforts to boot the system will be futile.
II. Using the recovery disk: If you own a newer generation of Mac, then your system will consist of a Recovery Disk containing the basic OS X repair and installation files. Simply boot from this Recovery Disk and re-install the OS X without an original installation DVD.
Step 3: Disk Utility
- After you are done with the ‘boot process’, you will see a screen with ‘Select Disk Utility’ option. If you are unable to find the Disk Utility option, go to top menus and search for the ‘Utilities’ option (or Applications>Utilities).
- When it opens, you will find a list of all the hard drives that are currently available on your system.
- From this list, all you need to do is select your system drive and find the ‘Erase’ tab. That’s it. Now select the format of the hard drive you want to format and check various security options* in order to prevent the recovery of deleted data (quite handy if you are reselling your system).
*What are the Security Options?
- The simplest security option will erase all the data from your hard drive and convert it into empty space.
- However, if you go for additional security options, the disk utility will ‘zero it out’ one or more times and make it difficult for others to recover the previous data. Also, remember the fact that although more number of passes ensure enhanced security, it can take more time (maybe a couple of days, depending upon the size of the disk).
Step 4: Erase
When you are done with the aforementioned instructions, click on the Erase option. This will kick start the formatting process and will wipe out all the data from your hard drive.
To conclude
These are some basic steps to format your Mac machine’s hard drive. Although it may not be a cakewalk for some of you, it is no rocket science either. So, just give it a try and after you have done it more than once you will become a pro at it in no time. Good luck!
