IMac running os 8.6, all icons are locked

Hello all,

Thanks for reading and breaking things down for me, I'm a complete Mac Noob. I recently bought an Imac off of Craigs list that turns out to be from a local highschool, it is running mac os 8.6, it is a tray loader and I believe it is rev 4. I want to make this coputer into one that will email web browse and do basic things like word processing and possibly file sharing, this will be for my mother so I want to keep everything simple. I've looked into running system 7.5.5 on it for speed or into running os X on it but I would need to do some modding for that. Or I could just keep 8.6 on it but I have no Idea how to undo whatever the school as done to inhibit all of the programs. Thanks In advance for all of your help and I'll be quick to answer any questions you may have about the computer.

You shouldn't have to "mod" anything on that iMac to run OS X.
The only thing you might want to consider is adding more RAM.
Outside of that, it should run OS X just fine.
I would suggest 10.3.x for it. You can get retail copies of it almost anywhere on the web. Even if the use is minimal, I would really recommend putting some version of OS X on it. Anything else is extremely outdated, and while it will work, support and apps are limited.

some things to think about:

a) the imac can't run os 7.5, only Os 8.5- 10.3 are supported
b) if you want to run OS X, you should have 256mb+ ram, and 6gb + HD space
c) if you re-format the hard drive and re-install the Operating system, the school's security program that locked the icons will be removed.


hope this helps!

macEfan said:

some things to think about:

a) the imac can't run os 7.5, only Os 8.5- 10.3 are supported
b) if you want to run OS X, you should have 256mb+ ram, and 6gb + HD space
c) if you re-format the hard drive and re-install the Operating system, the school's security program that locked the icons will be removed.


hope this helps!

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Will this work for install of OS X It says the disks are for an Ibook but I dont see why they wouldnt work.

counterfit said:

Will this work for install of OS X It says the disks are for an Ibook but I dont see why they wouldnt work.

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You are going to want to find a retail version. That set is designed for the iBook and likely won't work for your needs.
The one you want should come in a black box and have black discs with it, not gray ones with some other machine name on it.

Most people don't realize, that the recovery disk on contain the binaries for the system is came with. Where as the retail version has all of the binaries for the systems being supported.

rman said:

Most people don't realize, that the recovery disk on contain the binaries for the system is came with. Where as the retail version has all of the binaries for the systems being supported.

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Not saying your at all wrong but quite a few of the people sellling are claiming that the Emac disks will work for an Imac, I am not saying they are right at all(refer to the noob comment earlier in this thread) Maybe there just patching it with the correct drivers or simething? Not sure but would be a much cheaper way to go since I only payed 30 bucks for 2 Imac's, one working one not working.

Thanks in advance guys for your help.