Performa 6116CD

[83Goldwinger]

I'm a newbie to this forum, but I need help. My brother moved back north and left me to clean out his storage unit. I have uncovered his old Macintosh Performa 6116CD with monitor and keyboard, but no software. How do I erase the hard drive so that I can get rid of this system? He's not sure if he already cleaned it or not, but assures me that it needs to be.

I would appreciate anyone's help.

Thanks,

'Winger

 

[Leografix]

You will have to get Yuurself a Mac OS 7.6 up to 8.6 installation CD, power up the Performa, open the CD drive, throw the CD in, reboot the Performa while pressing "C" on the keyboard to boot off that CD. Then open up disk utilities and format that internal drive.

J

No "Goldwinger" but a "BMW"er ;-)

 

[superpantoufle]

So basically, your goal is to get rid of the computer…

Then, with all respect due to a sacred Mac's soul and without failing in my 68kmla soldier's duty, I would suggest to open the case, take the hard drive away, and sell/give the computer as is!

 

[Leografix]

Grüezi aus Zürich ;-)

J

 

[Bunsen]

A CD is not the only way. You can download a bootable floppy from Apple's Older Software Downloads page. This one should do - Macintosh/System/Mac_OS_8.1_Update/Disk_Tools_PPC.img.bin

However, downloading and formatting a Mac boot floppy on a PC is tricky. Perhaps the easiest way is to use the Performa itself. You can use a standard 1.4MB floppy disk - format it in the Mac and you should be good to go, provided the Mac has its Ethernet dongle /modem and you have access to a LAN /dialup internet

If you don't care about saving the disk itself, there are destructive ways of securely erasing the disk - large magnetic fields, fire, thermite, dismantle the drive and scratch the platters, smash them with a hammer, melt them etc...

If you are near a university, college or public library or A/V department, you could ask if they have a bulk magnetic tape eraser - that would do the trick.

Once that's done, a listing in the Trading Post for the system / parts should draw some interest

 

[Dennis Nedry]

If you choose to format the hard drive, choose the "zero all data" option to ensure all data is securely erased.

I recommend selling the Performa 6116 on eBay. You should also refer to it as a "Power Macintosh 6100" because that is the same thing (mention both names). Allow us to help you get the right info for it so you can sell it properly. You might not make a whole lot with this specific model, but at least the Mac will have another chance at life this way. Supply on eBay is low right now so demand is quite high for old Macs. This is why people get so much money for old Macs on eBay.

I recommend that you download a boot disk image, transfer it to the 6116 on a PC floppy, then have the 6116 make the boot disk out of it for you. Then reboot from the disk (simply have it in the drive and it will boot form it), then use Drive Setup to format the hard drive and zero all data. This will completely clean out the hard drive.

As Bunsen said, you can also bring it to a demagnetizer, that should do just fine. I'm not sure if this will ruin the drive, though.

 

[superpantoufle]

Grüezi aus Zürich ;-)
J

Grüezi aus de Welschland… 8)