I agree with kirkmc; why not just erase the disk and reinstall the OS?

I've done this so I can update & install software before handing it to tech-shy/novice people who won't, for example, know about installing Flash, but who should choose their own password.

Exactly.

I've also done it before selling a computer after doing a clean install to make sure all the software I was selling with it was installed/registered (for stuff like iLife).

I'll add a "mee too". I've done this over the years when gifting my old machines to my family. It makes the machine feel new to them while having 3rd party things already installed.

Unconvinced this is needed as any machine should be fully wiped/reloaded with OS before passing on and any machine you get second hand should be wiped and reinstalled as a precaution anyway.

The best use of these commands/hint is for fixing OpenDirectory issues (users DB corruption)
I have had to use these commands in the past to fix hosed accounts during an upgrade/update etc.

Wiping and re-installing on a used computer you receive might be good practice. But I can assure you that the majority of 'normal' people who are buying second-hand machines to have a cheap computer just use what arrives in the box. That's why it's nice to update the software and reset to the Setup Assistant for the non-tech person who might receive your old Mac.

The reason I would do this is if I wanted to deploy a system with custom applications already installed. You can go through this process once, then make a disk image to restore onto multiple machines.

Thanks for the well written instructions. I've been using similar instructions going back to the 10.4 days. I've gotten a lot of helpful info from Mac OS X Hints over the years to make it happen!

As gopes pointed out, this is extremely useful to use, say, in a script so that you can fully update, setup, etc. a machine before handing it off to the end user or imaging it for deployment.

And since we're talking about resetting Lion here, short of other shortcuts, for many users erasing and reinstalling means starting with 10.6, updating to gain access to the App store, downloading >4GB, installing 10.7, and running software update. Pretty time consuming just to remove a user account.

As agentx suggests, any machine being transferred from owner to owner should be wiped and erased first by the original owner, and again by the new owner. Sure, zeroing the data and doing a full install & update of the operating system TWICE IN A ROW may require a lot of time, a fair amount of effort, and no small amount of technical knowledge, but to borrow a line from Aliens, "It's the only way to be sure"

For any place that has to set up more than a few units for sale/deployment/imaging/whatever, it's invaluable to be able to get all software updates & installs done to a machine and then reset it to the welcome sequence.

You would only need to start with Snow Leopard if the Mac has only had Leopard or Snow Leopard installed on it. Or if it is an older Mac with a new HDD. If the Mac has already had either Lion or Mt Lion and does not have a new HDD or it shipped with Lion or Mt Lion, then there is no need to install Snow Leopard, you would use OS X Recovery;
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

Or if it is one of the following models that did not ship with Lion or Mt Lion, the EFI firmware can be updated to use OS X Recovery;
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4904

Yes, it requires an internet connection and yes, you will need to download the installation at 4 to 5 GB.

So this would be an ideal way to delete my present account, which for some reason or other, has a few things missing in it, mainly the ability to eject any disk or mounted disk image without having to go to Disk Utility?

On re-booting, just restore from Time Machine and all should be working as it should... right?

This is very useful for anyone who prepares used macs for sale.
Many times a mac of a year or more older would install to an OS version that isn't the latest, and isn't the best user experience to get a "new" mac, then have to spend a couple of hours downloading updates.
With this method you can setup a generic user after the fresh install, do all of the updates, and any freeware/shareware programs that people may find useful, then do the prep steps in this hint.

There will likely still be a handful of updates depending on how long between prep & purchase, but especially with some of the iLife updates being over 1 GB and the Combo updates being close, it really is better customer service.

If you're doing this often, it's better to make a generic clone or netrestore-type of image and install that after erasing and zeroing out the data on the HD. No commands and reusable. Just ensure you provide the discs for all those 3rd-party apps you put on the machine that aren't freeware.

When preparing a Mac for sale/passing on, I do wipe the drive (usually with seven-pass data overwrite) and reinstall the OS. But as others have said, if you want to install software such as the iLife that came with the computer, you need to create an account to do so. I also include the original disks, but most computer users aren't tech-savvy enough to install the software if it's not on the drive. I also run software update as others have mentioned. My experience in technical support for friends shows that non-tech people often don't install updates even though you get notified and it's a one-click process. I consider it good manners when selling a Mac to ship it in an up-to-date condition that provides a proper 'out of the box' experience (I.e. the Setup Assistant). Hence this hint. :-)

I approach passing on computers to others exactly the same way; your work on this hint is much appreciated. :)

A lot of this is superfluous...why not just reinstall?

Reading comments is hard, I guess.

I do this at work all the time. When someone gets a new Mac they bring it to me first (or have it shipped to me directly). Then I put on all the stuff we need, configure the VPN, install Chrome and Firefox, create shortcuts and add any documentation. Then I reset and let them take it home to set up, with everything ready to go.

Disk Images work if you have a lot of the same model, but since I get a machine in about every 3 months that needs to be set up this way I just do this- there would be too much updating needed to make it more efficient (and again, either the updates get run beforehand on the image, or I need to do them after creating an account).

Also, very nice when setting up a machine as a gift. I can put on a Humble Bundle or something similar, and still let them set up their account info.

This hint goes thru many steps to "reset" an OS X system, however, data is still all available for recovery. When getting rid of your Mac, always do at least a 1-pass secure erase of the entire internal storage.

AppleExaminer.com shows many ways that OS X and iOS data is recovered for analysis.

Best wishes to all and thank you for this great site!