new to iMac, overwhelemed and i think i have issues

Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac power PC G3, 512mb 500Mhz
i am so new to iMac (as of 2hrs ago), This machine is supposed to have snow leapord in it (??? i bought it second hand no install disk) here is the basic's: 500 MHz PowerPC G3 512 MB SDRAM first is there anything on here to help with viewing web pages, reading help files (like clear type font)? I was told there was no cooling fan as it has "conventional cooling" (no clue), i tried to do a sync with my dell axim x5, which it said it was synced but tryiing to transfer my music files over and what not was a pain in the rear and did nothing but allow for a forced quit. I am thinking on just getting rid of the dell pda now, i was going to get one with a wifi card, but if it will not sync and get the driver in..........am i wrong in thinking that with 512mb ram and 500 MHz that firefox should respond a bit quicker? there was Mac Microsft office 2004 which i removed, and other programs and out of a 20gig drive i have 12gig's left (???) seeing as there is no cd burner on here, do i need to go looking for a burner or someway somehow get a lower copy of mac os? is there a way i can do this through a usb flash drive? when i went to get it, i was old he had just finished doing updates on it, and that start up was going to be slow until it gets used to these updates?? i am so lost, and i think now would be a most excellent time for coffee and a deep sigh and go "UMMMMM" lol.....i have worked with windows since 3.1 (tried to hide my age now :p ) all i can say is "URGH! help??"
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
i am so new to iMac (as of 2hrs ago), This machine is supposed to have snow leapord in it (??? i bought it second hand no install disk) here is the basic's: 500 MHz PowerPC G3 512 MB SDRAM first is there anything on here to help with viewing web pages, reading help files (like clear type font)? I was told there was no cooling fan as it has "conventional cooling" (no clue), i tried to do a sync with my dell axim x5, which it said it was synced but tryiing to transfer my music files over and what not was a pain in the rear and did nothing but allow for a forced quit. I am thinking on just getting rid of the dell pda now, i was going to get one with a wifi card, but if it will not sync and get the driver in..........am i wrong in thinking that with 512mb ram and 500 MHz that firefox should respond a bit quicker? there was Mac Microsft office 2004 which i removed, and other programs and out of a 20gig drive i have 12gig's left (???) seeing as there is no cd burner on here, do i need to go looking for a burner or someway somehow get a lower copy of mac os? is there a way i can do this through a usb flash drive? when i went to get it, i was old he had just finished doing updates on it, and that start up was going to be slow until it gets used to these updates?? i am so lost, and i think now would be a most excellent time for coffee and a deep sigh and go "UMMMMM" lol.....i have worked with windows since 3.1 (tried to hide my age now :p ) all i can say is "URGH! help??"

First of all...this computer CANNOT have Snow Leopard on it...because you cannot install Snow Leopard onto a G3. Not only can you not install Snow Leopard onto a G3 computer...you cannot do it on a G4 or a G5...the computer needs an Intel Processor for Snow Leopard.

As to your other issues/questions. You are clearly expecting way too much from this computer. It is 8-9 years old! I have three computers just like it.

It sounds like you want this 8-9 year old iMac (which you may have paid $50 bucks or less for) to do everything a brand new computer can do...and that's just not going to happen!!!:(

This iMac is capable of doing a lot of useful tasks...but I think that your expecting way too much.

Just my humble opinion,

- Nick
 
OP
S
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac power PC G3, 512mb 500Mhz
first, i need to say thank you for the warm and hearty welcome it appears to the world of owning a mac, and i can see the error in my ways of thinking that i could switch to something as old as this iMac, and being ever so foolish in stating what was i told when i purchased this. Also i see i was truly mistaken in not posting that was entirely new to this OS, and i belive i should have spent what? ( +/- ) $1,000.00 for something that would be entirely forigen to me. i belive i will ask for a complete and utter refund of this iMac or toss it out the window and return to M$ were expectations of any kind can be truly unmet (as stated in the m$ liscense agreement). and yet i scratch my head and wonder why not more people try to get help in the online community.
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Can you do me a favor? I take it the iMac boots to the OS, Click on the Apple up in the Top Left corner of the screen and on About This Mac. Post what version of the OS is installed. That way you can be better helped.

It sounds like whoever sold you the machine told you a few shall we say NON truths! :D

What did you pay if you do not mind me asking?

As far as what the other user said about Snow Leopard, he is correct. Snow Leopard will only run on an Intel Mac. I am trying to help you find just what OS is installed on your iMac.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
1,346
Reaction score
50
Points
48
Your Mac's Specs
21" iMac * 2.8 Ghz Intel Core i7 * 16GB 1333 Mhz DDR3 * 1TB HD *AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
I have to agree. Your Mac cannot possibly run Snow Leopard, so I don't know how it could have come installed with it. If it's second hand and there is no install disk, then I'd have to ask... where did you get this computer from that they gave you no install disk yet promised that Snow Leopard would run on it? You may have been ripped off.

Your issues sound more like things that would happen with an unregistered Mac, in which case no one can guarantee anything for you.

The only help anyone can give you is to reinstall the OS and start from scratch, which should already have been done for you. Otherwise, there could be all kinds of issues with your Mac that will take much more than the posters here can advise you on.
 
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
380
Reaction score
7
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
iMac 20" 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 4gig,Mac OS X Maverick, Macbook Intel 2gig, iPhone 3G
Price!!!!!!!

I cant believe you paid $1000 for it! You could have got these for $999 from Apple;

Refurbished iMac 20-inch 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
20-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory
Built-in iSight Camera

or this for same price


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Illuminated keyboard
:Oops:
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
150
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Webster NY
Your Mac's Specs
iMac 21 inch
maybe I " should have spent what? ( +/- ) $1,000.00 for something that would be entirely forigen to me."

Notice the word "should" he never said how much he paid for it.
 
OP
S
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac power PC G3, 512mb 500Mhz
*snerts* it was $95 which to me was ok, as i sold a m$ i built out of parts i found when out for walks, so no skin off my nose there :D as for what it says when i open the apple is: Mac OS X Version 10.4.11 Processor: 500 MHz PowerPC G3 Memory 512mb SDRAM then i click on more info and that is entirely new to me. But i am slowly getting the hang of this, as for asking him for a instal cd, he muttered something about it came from a DVD and this one has no DVD rom. yet on another issue of a cd got jammed in there and through google search i tried: reboot with apple mouse button pressed, the open firmware "eject cd", i tried the keyboard eject, the terminal duntril open tray (i think that was the command), but in calling him and having a 30 day warranty (WEG) he said he will bring me a new imac. I am learning a few neat tricks about the mac world and this so far cool (now if i can get my darn dell amxi x5 to sync) but again i am curious can the sofware be booted via usb flash drive? or do i need to hunt down retail disks? and yet another question came to mind (as i have no idea what version this is) would it be wise to look for mac panther os?
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,517
Reaction score
34
Points
48
If its a slot load Imac theres a little hole in the right corner of the slot. You use a paper clip extened to litely push the button back there and the CD ejects. How if its really stuck the Drive would be removed and replaced. Thats not a bad machine. You can surf the web and do graphics,wordprocessing. Just do not expect to do motion video Utube stuff real fast.
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
10.4.11 is OSX Tiger. I would not go to Panther 10.3 as there is so little support for Panther. It's old, Safari will not work properly with many sites. I would stick with Tiger on that 500Mhz G3.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
*snerts* it was $95 which to me was ok, as i sold a m$ i built out of parts i found when out for walks, so no skin off my nose there :D as for what it says when i open the apple is: Mac OS X Version 10.4.11 Processor: 500 MHz PowerPC G3 Memory 512mb SDRAM

$95 is not too bad of a price to pay for this computer...although I would have tried to get it for less.

But it's a good computer to get a "feel" for Macintosh computers...and if you like it...then you can decide if you want to spend more money to get a faster Macintosh.

If you have any additional questions...please post them.

Have fun with it,

- Nick
 
OP
S
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac power PC G3, 512mb 500Mhz
ok, going to try and type this message out again (as i closed the window last time), and yes there was some 'untruths' and ty for telling methe proper OS. now a very quick note: for whatever reason, the dell axim x5 will not do it's thing properly with the imac (yeah dell and them being stubborn). i have pocketmac properly installed and i have a ipaq i tried. the ipaq works a++, but...LOL i have m$ exe files and for some reason on pocket pc it will not open that option, so no clue. i tired looking for vmware, but nothing yet, i am working on it. One day later after having the imac, the hard drive crashed (i am impressed at myself and scared LOL)i have two cd's now, one is apple care protection plan and another is emergency boot cd...and instructions on how to use it. don't get me wrong, i mean the imac and mac world is most awesome, but i guess i should have gotten something better or with more ram (??) to run apps i need for windblows based devices i have here.....*sigh* if i cannot figure this out, i may have to revert back....but i will keep working at it
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,517
Reaction score
34
Points
48
If I got this right..The disc you got may not work with that Imac. Most disc for that Imac generation are orange and white. They will say on them for imac DV or system version OS9. Thats want came with the machine. If its been upgraded to OSx that requires a full retail version of ten.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top