I have an old G3 Lombard Power Book, 10.3.9, (Specs) that is in excellent condition, though the display has a short-lived red tint during startup. Aside from that, it works as well as it ever did.

Rather than having it sit idle, I would like to donate it to a senior citizen home or such.

But before sending it along, I wish to erase the drive. But alas, the Install CDs are lost to the ages and I don’t want to purchase same.

Ergo, have you suggestions re the best way to erase and then reinstall the OS? (I wonder if I took it an Apple store they would be charitable enough to do that for me.)

Is it absolutely necessary to wipe the drive, or would simply erasing everything that's not part of OS X and doing a secure overwrite of free space suffice?

My next best suggestion is that you find a generous pack-rat.

Edit: Maybe defrag first?

Artie,

While it's not absolutely imperative that I erase first, I do prefer that. I have an attorney son in law who did some work on that machine, and while I think all pertinant files have been securely deleted, it is possible there are files that escaped me.

If success with the gang at the Apple store or a benevolent pack-rat are not to be had, I may well try the selective erasing routine.

I appreciate your good intentions but around here, institutions generally will not accept old computers like your G3 PowerBook. If they do accept it at all, they will hand you a nice thank you and a donation receipt and as you leave via the front door someone is at the back door putting the old computer into the Goodwill collection bin. (Goodwill handles electronics recycling for our county and maybe the entire Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.)

Do everyone a favor and eliminate the middle man. Take it to the recycling center yourself. By the way, even in that case I would scrub the hard drive before donating it. Who knows who may get access to it when Goodwill sends it on to China or wherever for "recycling".

good-intentioned and tempting though it may be, I'd agree you do need to consider the receiver and whether they want something that old. A retirement home might not be such a bad place for an old machine, but schools are a good example of institutions that don't accept donations of very old gear because it causes them more harm and hassle than good. Don't get offended if they turn down your donation of a 15 year old computer.

Some progress.

I visited the local Apple store and they advised that if I return on the 9th, they would erase the drive and reinstall the OS at no cost; most generous me thinks.

Even when the machine was new, it required a fair bit of on-going attention and TLC, so indeed a school or such where the multitude are banging away, well, the results are predictable...

Ergo, I am now searching for a bright preteen who is from a desperately poor family.

My trip to the Apple store, if nothing else, was an experience. Many of the techs milled about, some taking pictures of a never seen real-life Lombard.

Alas, several Geniuses later, still no joy. They just did not have the software to wipe the drive, and with frustration, opined that I should keep it for archival purposes. It was also suggested that the machine may have come with both 10.2 and OS 9.x and that is why it is nearly impossible to boot without the original install disks.

So for now, I’m at an all stop, at least until I figure out my next step.

Have you considered mounting it in a nice glass case with a discreet brass plaque identifying it as an "antique Lombard" model and donating it to a science and history museum as an exhibit?