QUESTION :
How do I completely clean out/reset/reformat/whatever my Macintosh? I’m talking a deep cleanse here.
I’m willing to look at any free software that may aid in this.
I’m running OSX 10.6.5.
ANSWER :
Boot the OS X disc that came with your computer, and in the menu bar, go to Utilities -> Disk Utility and select your disk in the left column (e.g. 500GB Hitachi...). Click on the Erase tab at the top, and select Max OS Extended (Journaled) from the drop-down menu. Title your disk (if you want, or leave it as Macintosh HD), and click Erase. Quit disk utility (command + q) and continue with the OS X install as normal.