Reformatting mac hardrive?

[tom26]

I don't know whether any of you will remember but I managed to buy a used Mac for £50 a week ago. Knowing absolutely nothing about Macs, I was advised that the hard drive needed reformating and that the discs weren't with the machine. Does anyone know firstly how I reformat and secondly where I get the discs from to reformat?

Thanks

 

[Fluke?]

Assuming you have the OS disks and it is OSX..
Boot from the disk by holding the C key down when turning the Mac on to boot to the CD.
Goto Tools (or Go - cant remember!) Then Disk Utility. Select Wipe and chose the level of secure wipe you want.
You should then be able to reboot the Mac from CD and follow the on screen instructions to install the OS.

 

[FreeStream]

What mac is it?

If it's not Intel then you need to get yourself a copy of OS X Leopard (NOT Snow Leopard) they are going for anywhere around £30-50 on ebay at the moment and I'm just about to put my copy on there too.

If it's a Core Duo then you need to find yourself a copy of Snow Leopard.

If it's anything with a Core 2 Duo then you can find yourself a copy of Snow Leopard or Lion.

Hold down option (alt) when you turn it on, hold down the eject button (top right usually), insert the disk, select it when it comes up and off you go. (Or just use a USB stick - google for guides)