Jerad Hill Blog

People are always asking me what they should do with their old Mac. Often that question is followed up with a long story about how long they have had their Mac and all that it has done for them. There are many options when it comes to selling your old computer but there is also much to worry about. Your Mac gadgets contain personal data and if you are not very tech savvy then you are probably worried about your personal data that was on that computer being harvested. In this article I am going to give you two bits of advice. The first is a safe and easy way to clear your hard drive of personal data before selling your Mac and the second is a great way to sell your Mac and get decent money for it.

Safe Mac Data Removal

The safest way to remove data from a Mac would be to format the hard drive thoroughly. If you are planning to replace this Mac with a new one, this process will be pretty easy. The tutorial below provides you with the safest and most thorough way of formatting your hard drive aside from destroying it completely.

You will need 2 Macs to complete this. Most people buy a new Mac to replace their old Mac leaving a short period of time when you have two Macs. Pretty much all Macs from the last five years or so have a Firewire port. This may change soon but for the time being they all come with Firewire. You will need your two Macs and a Firewire Cable. The cable does not have to be very long, just long enough to connect the two Macs. If your old Mac does not have a Firewire port then you will have to go with option two below. You will also need a fresh copy of Mac OS X. You can either use the disc that came with your Mac if you have it, or a new “Full” version of Mac OS X operating system you can get from Apple.Com or another retailer. You will need a Full version and not an upgrade disc. Make sure that the version of Mac OS X that you plan to use is compatible with your Old Mac if it is not the original disc that came with it.

WARNING: Make sure that you have transferred any data to your new Mac that you want to keep before continuing with this process. Once you complete this process it will be almost impossible to get the data off of your old Mac’s hard drive. In my tutorial below New Mac is the Mac you are keeping and Old Mac is the Mac you wish to safely erase the data on. This process is actually quite easy so excuse my lengthly explanation of things. I just want to make sure you don’t make any mistakes.

Step 1: Make sure your new Mac is turned on and your old Mac is turned off.

Step 2: Using the Firewire cable, connect your two Macs. Make sure that both Macs are connected to power (laptops).

Step 3: On your old Mac, hold down the “T” key on your keyboard and turn on the power. Continue to hold down the “T” key on the keyboard until you see the Firewire logo (see image below).

Step 4: On your new Mac you should see your old Mac connected as if it was an external hard drive. This will allow you one last change to grab anything off of the old Mac before shredding the hard drive contents. You can navigate to your User folder by clicking on the drive icon for your old Mac (it will have the firewire logo in the icon). Navigate to your users folder by clicking on Users then choose the user account name. You will now be in the Home folder and you can access the files that were on your old Mac’s Desktop, Documents, Music, Movies, Photos and Shared Folders. Copy any files that you want to keep over to your new Mac.

Step 5: Once you are absolutely sure that you have everything off of your old Mac and are ready to format the hard drive, continue to step 6.

Step 6: On your new Mac, open your Applications folder and navigate to the Utilities folder. In the Utilities folder there is an application called Disk Utility. Open that.

Step 7: You will see a list of connected disks on the left hand side. Make absolutely sure to select the drive on your Old Mac. If you are unsure as to which drive to choose, disconnect all external hard drives you have connected to your new Mac just to be safe. You don’t want to accidentally format the wrong drive.

Step 8: This step has a four part process. See the image below to follow along.

• Select the drive you wish to format. Unless you had renamed your old Mac’s hard drive it will probably be called Macintosh HD. The icon for your old Mac’s hard drive will be a firewire disk icon.
• Select the format option “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
• Title the hard drive Macintosh HD
• Click on the Security Options button

Step 9: After you clicked the Security Options button, a drop down window appeared with format options. Select the 7-Pass Erase Format Process. Depending on your hard drive size, this process could take quite a bit of time to complete. I recommend setting this option at the end of your day and letting it run over night. The 7-Pass Erase process writes 0’s over the entire hard drive 7 times. The 7-Pass Erase process meets the US Department of Defense standards for securely erasing magnetic media. My guess is that if the Security of Defense is cool with it, then I am cool with it.

Formatting recommendations: Your hard drives on both machines will be spinning during this entire process. If your are on laptops I suggest setting them both on a table so proper air flow can get into your laptops and onto the hard drives and processors. The format process is not a taxing process on your system but it is a long process of continuous running. Its better to be safe and avoid long periods of heat if at all possible. After the hard drive format on your old Mac is complete it will have been successfully erased completely.

Step 10: Insert the restore disc or new Mac OS X install disc into your Old Mac then turn it off and disconnect the Firewire cable. You will not need your New Mac for the rest of the tutorial so from here on out when I mention Mac I am referring to your old Mac.

Step 11: Turn your Mac back on while holding down the “C” key on your keyboard. This will force your Mac to boot from the CD which it probably would have anyway due to the fact that there is nothing on the main hard drive any longer. From here the process is pretty simple to install Mac OS X back to it’s new state as it was when you first purchased your Mac. It will walk you through the process. When the installation is complete and you get the Welcome screen asking you to choose a language, hit the eject button to remove your disc. Once your disc is out, hold down the power button until your Mac turns off.

Complete! You are now ready to sell your Mac safely. You can now be confident that whomever ends up buying your old Mac will have a fresh Mac and absolutely no way to get your old data.

Options for selling your Old Mac

eBay: Though I absolutely hate eBay, it is a decent option for selling your old Mac. You won’t get the most money for it but if the price is right, it will sell.
Amazon.Com: If your old Mac is not that old then you can probably find it on Amazon and list it there. Older items on Amazon usually take longer to sell but you can get better money then on eBay if it does sell most of the time.
Craigslist: I usually try to avoid Craigslist, but for selling computers it works pretty well. I suggest that if you are going to use Craigslist, use it to sell your laptop so you can meet the person at a Starbucks or somewhere public. You never know what kind of person you are going to meet when using Craigslist.

The Best Option for Selling Your Old Mac

Powerbook Medic is now offering to buy your old Mac Gadgets. Powerbook Medic is where I buy any replacement parts I need for my Mac Gadgets. Visit their website, enter what it is you are wanting to sell to them and they will make you an offer based on the fair market value of the product. If you like the price they have a few hassle free shipping options for you to send your device to them. It is highly likely that they will probably take your device apart and sell it piece by piece given that is the nature of their business. I have checked out the options for several devices and their buyback prices are pretty decent. The better condition your device, the more you will be offered.

Just like with selling most things, you will probably get a better price by selling to a private party but with the speed in which new technology comes out and the ease in which people can complain about something if they are not happy, it may be easier to sell it to a company like Powerbook Medic.

Have you had a positive selling your Mac? Let me know what your method was in the comments box below.

Technorati Tags:
secure mac formatting, restore mac hard drive, 7-pass erase format, sell my old mac, safe formatting mac

Hey friends, I have a give-a-way today. It’s a 3 day, 2 night vacation. I’m going to make this super simple to win so see the details below. The vacation package I am giving away is part of a incentives package I purchased to use as incentives for my business. It’s 100% legit and you don’t have to spend any money to use it. If you win, you simply book your vacation and go. The only catch is that you have to book it in the next 30 days because it will expire soon. You can choose between Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe or Laughlin.

How to win!

1. Post a link to this blog post on your Facebook and Twitter if you have one. You can do this more than once, if it comes down to a close tie then multiple posts will determine the winner.

2. Like my Facebook pages. I have two of them. One for my Photography and one for my new Creative Studio.

• Jerad Hill Photographer Like Page: http://facebook.com/jeradhillphotographer
• Studioten Like Page: http://facebook.com/studiotencreative

3. Follow me on Twitter.

• My personal Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeradhill
• My Studio’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/studio_ten

4. Get creative. Post about it on your Facebook, Twitter, or blog. Heck, if you want to get crazy you can even record a short video and upload it to Youtube.

5. Post in the comment section of this blog. If you shared a link to this post, post in the comments, if some of your friends Liked our Facebook, let me know in the comments. The more creative the better! Let me know what you did to share in the comments section of this post.

The winner will be announced on Monday April 18th! Remember, the goal here is to share this with others. The more sharing you do, the better chance you have to win.

Details: I currently only have one of these to give away. This program is accommodations only and does not include any transportation. Certain blackout dates may apply. This can not be sold or transferred. Must be 21 or older. Must call to book reservation with in 30 days. Participating hotels and locations are subject to change. This give-a-way is in partnership with Marketing Concepts.

Hi all! As many of you are aware, I am teaching a class this week on Mac Basics. I thought it would be fun to do a give-a-way.

I have three tickets to my class that I will be giving away. The class is April 7th, 2011 from 6-9pm. Read more about the class here. Below is what you will have to do to be entered to win. When the winners are decided, each of the following things listed below will have to have been done, so make sure you follow directions.

Post a comment below:
Post a comment below introducing yourself and what you would like to learn how to do on your mac. Feel free to get as descriptive as you want.

Facebook:
Post the link to the class registration page on your Facebook to share it with your friends.
Post this link: http://macbasicswithjeradhill.eventbrite.com

Extra Credit:
Post the class registration link to Twitter: http://macbasicswithjeradhill.eventbrite.com/

Thats it! Just do those two things and you are entered to win. I will announce the winners Tuesday evening.

Please make sure that the class is of interest to you and that you will be free to attend on Thursday evening before entering.

Thanks!

I have been told that I should teach a class on the Mac. Trust me, I have wanted to teach a class on the Mac for a long time. With some changes and adjustments that I have made and will be making over the next few weeks, I will not have the ability and space to do such a thing.

This will be my first class, and it will be cram packed with Mac Goodness. This class is perfect for those who are either new to Mac ownership or who have a Mac and feel that they are not using it to it’s potential. This class will also be great for those who have been thinking about switching to a Mac from a PC.

Below are the class details. This class will be held on April 7th from 6pm-9pm in Modesto. Read more below, or visit the registration page.

Introducing: Mac Basics with Jerad Hill

What is it?

It’s a 3 hour class all about the Mac with the goal of sending you away a much better and more effective Mac user. You know, one of those Mac users who just knows how to do everything on a Mac. Yeah, that will be you.

Jerad, why are you teaching a class on the Mac?

I have been using the Mac for a long time. Over the years I have figured out ways to save time and be more effective in pretty much everything I do using my Mac. Several times I week I get asked questions about the Mac. Some are from people who need help doing something and others are people who are unsure about switching to a Mac. If you are a Mac user and want to learn how to use a Mac to it’s potential, this will be a great class for you. If you are thinking about switching to a Mac but really don’t know what they are capable of doing, this class will be a great investment in your potential decision to switch.

What will I be able to do after attending?

Use your Mac more efficiently. Use more of your Mac’s features. Use iPhoto like a champ. Create cool videos in iMovie like a champ. Basically you will be a Mac Champ!

What will be covered?

• Getting around your Mac quickly (Shortcuts, tips, tricks, do’s, dont’s)
• Mac Basics
  *Doing stuff you thought you needed a PC to do.
  *File Management (Copying, Backing up, Burning Discs) 
  *Email Setup, Tips & Tricks 
• Organizing files (Photos, Documents, Video, Music and More)
• iTunes (Organizing Music, Burning CDs, iPhone/iPod Music Tips)
• iPhone Tips & Tricks
• iMovie Tips & Tricks
• Organizing Your Life (Using your Mac to better organize your life)
• Mac App Store

What should you bring?

• Your Mac (If it is a laptop, I don’t think we will have room for Desktops)
  *If you don’t have a laptop, don’t worry. Everything that will be talked about will be provided in a take home format as well.
• A willing mind ready to learn.
• Seriously, that is all you need to bring.

How does Jerad teach?

I’m going to stop talking in third person for a moment.

I am a very hands on learning type of person. I like to watch someone do a task and then try it myself. That is how I have found it is best to learn on the computer. I find that if I focus to much time on taking notes then my mind is not available to imagine myself doing the action. This is why I will provide you with the exact slides and notes that I use during the class for you to reference if needed. If you have a laptop, you can follow along with me. If you don’t have a laptop, you can partner up with someone who does, or jot down ideas as I show you new things.
Because this class is only three hours and I am covering a ton of stuff, I will be moving quickly through the content. This won’t be a problem because I plan to load you up with stuff so that you can revisit everything and focus more on the areas you see being most useful to you. 

What is Jerad providing?

• Super Fast Free Wifi!
• Electricity for your computer if needed.
• Documentation of everything we talked about.
  *That way you can reference back to what was discussed if you forget how to do something. 
• Some cool software.
• Free stuff from his developer friends.
• Probably some cool stuff for the iPhone if you have one.
• Refreshments (Coffee, Tea, Soda, Yellow Rockstars, Water)
• This list will grow as the date gets closer and Jerad comes up with more cool ideas.

Register on Eventbrite: http://macbasicswithjeradhill.eventbrite.com/

Believe it or not, it is actually easier to hack into the accounts of others today then it was ten years ago. Sophisticated software can do anything these days. Several months ago I became aware of a plugin for the Firefox browser that can grab personal data from other people sharing the same Wifi connection. I did some testing and found out that it is very much true and not at all on a small level. You could be sitting in a hotel room on Wifi and someone on the complete oposite side of the hotel could grab your personal information. It’s even easier on smaller networks. Let me explain how it works.

This is going to sound weird, but websites work just like nightclubs. To get in you enter through a specific door. The person running the door (the bouncer) checks your ID. Once you are verified as being over 21 you get a stamp on your hand. That stamp allows you access, sometimes in and out access to the building. When I was young, I remember going to our local theme park where they did a very similar thing. As broke kids we would often pool our money together, one person would pay, get stamped, then come back out where we would do our best to transfer the stamp to each others hands. Give me a break, we were kids.

Websites use what is called a cookie rather then a stamp. When you log into a website, your browser is given a cookie. That cookie tells your browser that this particular computer can stay logged in so long as it remains at the current IP address and will remain active until the user clicks “logout” or the cookie expires.

Websites use two protocols, HTTP and HTTPS. You have probably seen both of these before. Most financial institutions or websites that deal with your financial information work on HTTPS which is “pretty” safe. HTTPS secures your information by encrypting it before it leaves your computer. If it is intercepted somewhere in between it would be hard to read because of the encryption. HTTP however is not encrypted at all. Using characters from Arrested Development as an example, HTTPS is like hiring ICE as a private detective and HTTP is like hiring Gene Parmesan. Notice that both are not that bright, however one is better than the other (in case you were wondering, Arrested Development is amazing, you need to watch all three seasons and morn it’s cancellation).

Most Wifi networks are not guarded. At home you are for the most part safe. It would take someone who really knows what they are doing to access your home network with out knowing your password. In public settings such as a hotel or a coffee shop it is very easy to access the cookies that are being given to another computer. This would be the equivalent to the nightclub doorman copying down the drivers license number of each person at the door and allowing others to see his notes.

There is a plugin for Firefox called Firesheep and it is dangerous. Firesheep automates the process of looking for cookies that are being passed across the network. This is very much the same as automating the process of checking hands for stamps at the door and giving it access to replicate that stamp whenever it wants. Firesheep will grab the cookie as it is being passed through the air and store it. You can then visit the website that cookie was created for, such as Paypal, Facebook, Twitter or any other website, click on the cookie in Firesheep and you are logged in as that person. You will not know their actual password but having access to the cookie will give you access to the website they logged into for as long as that cookie is valid.

THIS IS SUPER DANGEROUS!

Let me break this down into a real world example.

Example: Jane is sitting in Gnarbucks Coffee Shop with her laptop enjoying a Vente Carmel Frapp she will later regret when she can’t fit into her True Religion jeans she just bought. Because Gnarbucks has free Wifi she decides to use it to access the web. She goes to login to her bank though their website to see if the $300 pair of jeans had posted to her account yet. She goes to paybuddy.com where she enters her username and password.

Unbeknownst to her, Jack, who thinks he is cool drinking a tall half-skinny half-1 percent extra hot split quad shot (two shots decaf, two shots regular) latte with whip (what a douche). He has his Acer laptop with him which he always reminds people of how little he paid for it. He is connected to Gnarbucks free wifi, has Firefox open and Firesheep installed. He just got done posting LOLCAT pictures all over Marcie’s Facebook wall. He was able to access her Facebook account when she logged into Facebook while at Gnarbucks from her laptop. Jack notices that someone has logged into their PayBuddy account, his curiosity peaks and he decides to take a look. From what he can see it looks like Jane has some money in there. Because PayBuddy is a 100% online bank, he can see all of her personal information. He copies her name, address and phone number and opens his own “fake” PayBuddy account using a Yahoo email address he set up to look like hers. With his new PayBuddy account he also opens up a eLame Auction account, creates some fake products and sells them. With the products sold, he accepts payment for them, uses the PayBuddy account to order some stuff off of Amazon and closes the PayBuddy account a few days later.

Who do you think will get the phone call about all of this mess? Jane will! It probably won’t be hard for the bank to figure out that it is all fake but it will be a hassle. Jane may have to fill out some paperwork, she may even get emails from upset eLame customers.

This is even more common and much easier to do on Social Networks because Social Networks hired a blind person to watch their door (ie. HTTP). You also want to beware of chat messages, wall posts and links that are shared with you on social networks that don’t appear to be from the person sending them. I always ask the person if they are sending that to me or if they are hacked before I click on it. These “bots” are getting smarter and can even respond to simple questions in chat messages.

The good thing about all of this is that it is not really possible for a person to get your Social Security Number unless you have it stored in one of these accounts. Most online accounts do not store your SSN. However, smart people can get creative and figure something out, just like Jack did. Keep in mind that everything with a login is possibly at risk when you use public internet connections.

How To Protect Yourself From Firesheep Users and Other Hackers

First of all, forget using a browser such as Internet Explorer. If you are using IE you need to stop. I don’t care how cool Microsoft says it is, STOP! Use Firefox or Google Chrome. If you are using Firefox you can install a free plugin called Force-TLS which forces websites to run in HTTPS mode. For Google Chrome, get KB SSL Enforcer. Remember that this is not 100% safe, just safer. It will block Firesheep and other similar software from being able to read your login information.

The ultimate fix would be to simply just not use your computer to do anything important in a public wifi setting. This is impossible even for myself. I use my iPhone or Android Phone as the internet connection for my laptop. This assures that I am the only one connected to that network and specific IP address. If you have a smart phone that allows for internet tethering I suggest you use it.

I hope this helps you thwart unknown attempts are your personal data. The problem is that you don’t know your information is at risk until it’s to late. You may get lucky and wind up with a few unwanted LOLCAT pictures on your Facebook but it’s best to take precautionary measures whenever possible.

Should I find better solutions or more up to date information I will update this post.

Mentions: Thanks @CalebSexton for the link to the douchiest coffee drink order ever.