- #How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover how to
- #How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover mac os
- #How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover password
- #How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover windows
This means it’s not possible for an attacker to use the resetpassword utility from recovery mode. Modern versions of FileVault encryption provides whole-disk encryption of your Mac.
#How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover mac os
If you opted out of the encryption or you’re using a previous version of Mac OS X, you should enable FileVault encryption now. FileVault encryption is now enabled by default on OS X Yosemite - assuming you accepted the default option while setting up your Mac, you should be safe.
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If you’re using a Mac, you should ensure FileVault encryption is enabled.
#How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover how to
RELATED: How to Encrypt Your Mac's System Drive, Removable Devices, and Individual Files
#How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover windows
But Windows doesn’t make this as easy as a Mac does - these tools aren’t all just a quick keypress away while you boot your Windows PC.Įnable FileVault Encryption to Protect Your Files
#How to wipe a mac clean without abiltiy to recover password
There are ways to reset your password on Windows, of course. However, it means a thief can quickly wipe your Mac and start using it. This at least protects your personal files from a thief - they’ll just have to start over from scratch. RELATED: How to Wipe Your Mac and Reinstall macOS from ScratchĮven if your Mac is securely encrypted, anyone with access to it - for example, a thief who stole your MacBook - could enter recovery mode and use the “Reinstall OS X” option to wipe your entire hard drive. These same tools are available by booting from OS X installation media - a DVD or USB drive - on a Mac. This would allow anyone with access to your Mac the ability to change your password and access your user account, although FileVault encryption can protect against it.
Traditionally, it’s been possible to boot into recovery mode and select Utilities > Password Reset from the menu, which you could use to reset a password if you’ve forgotten it. This option was removed back in OS X Lion, but you can still access the same password-reset utility in recovery mode by selecting Utilities > Terminal, typing resetpassword into the terminal window, and pressing Enter. Recovery Mode doesn’t normally require a password to access, even though you’d need to enter your password when booting your Mac normally. The key to this process is Recovery Mode - a special environment anyone can access on your Mac if they reboot it and hold Command+R as it boots up. Your Mac will begin wiping the drive.RELATED: How to Bypass and Reset the Password on Every Operating System When you’ve picked how many wipes you’d like to run, click “OK,” then click “Erase” back at the initial prompt. Seven passes is going to take a long time, and even three passes will take at least an hour, so only use these options if you’re really, really paranoid. The Pentagon is even more paranoid: they use seven passes.
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But three passes is what the US Department of Energy uses to securely delete their files. RELATED: You Only Need to Wipe a Disk Once to Securely Erase ItĪs we’ve discussed before, you probably only need one pass, at least with modern hard drives. The first notch to the right of “Fastest” writes over the entire drive with random data once the third notch, three times. That’s not what we want, so let’s move the slider. The first option, “Fastest,” will delete the partition but leave all files untouched. You’ll see a sliding scale with four options: Click the “Security Options” button on the bottom. Make sure you click the drive you want to securely delete: you do not want to erase some other hard drive by mistake! When you’re ready, click the “Erase” button. Connect the drive you want to securely delete, then click it in the sidebar.