J G
asked on
Boot to Internet
My system administrator wants me to wipe an imac to make sure no malware is on it. If I boot to internet, will it effectively wipe/reformat the HD and re-install the OS?
serialband
Only if the disk was encrypted and you erase the disk before you reinstall. If you didn't encrypt, you will need to do a secure erase.
ASKER
I want to erase the disk before re-install. How would I do boot to internet and do this?
You asked, "I want to erase the disk before re-install. How would I do boot to internet and do this?"
This isn't how this works... exactly... what you'll do is...
1) Download one of the App store OSX installers onto your machine or a USB drive.
2) Run the Installer.
3) Run Disk Utility + repartition the disk, which will destroy the disk.
4) Exit the Disk Utility, back to the Installer.
5) Install OSX.
Tip: If you're paranoid, you can always boot your iMac from an external drive, which is know to be clear of malware.
Then run the scrub command to overwrite your entire internal disk with random data.
Then run the Installer from USB or external disk, targeting your internal drive as installation target.
Every first step of the sequence begins with a local copy of the Installer, rather than booting from the Internet.
You can jury rig a net boot with OSX + OSX isn't really designed to run in this manner, so you can do it + user experience will be gruelingly slow.
This isn't how this works... exactly... what you'll do is...
1) Download one of the App store OSX installers onto your machine or a USB drive.
2) Run the Installer.
3) Run Disk Utility + repartition the disk, which will destroy the disk.
4) Exit the Disk Utility, back to the Installer.
5) Install OSX.
Tip: If you're paranoid, you can always boot your iMac from an external drive, which is know to be clear of malware.
Then run the scrub command to overwrite your entire internal disk with random data.
Then run the Installer from USB or external disk, targeting your internal drive as installation target.
Every first step of the sequence begins with a local copy of the Installer, rather than booting from the Internet.
You can jury rig a net boot with OSX + OSX isn't really designed to run in this manner, so you can do it + user experience will be gruelingly slow.
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