Clueless iMAC Noob

I received an iMAC G4 recently. No disks, no manuals, just the lampshade computer. Keyboard and mouse are on the way..

I want to install a bigger HD, format it and start from a fresh install. But I don't have any OS key that will allow me to re-install.

I have an OS X disk, but using that without a key is piracy and that is not how I roll..

I Google'd for a MAC equivelent to the Jelly Bean KeyFinder, but no luck.

Can anyone tell me how to best proceed?

Thanx

Michale

If you have a retail "black" OS X disc, you have all you need. There is no key.

The "grey" discs will not work, as they are specific to the computers they shipped with.

The disk I have was downloaded from the Net rather than purchased.

I know I am probably skirting a forbidden topic here, but is that what you mean by "black"??

Thanx for the reply.


Michale

Reading thru the forum, I noticed another poster was in a similar problem. He said he bought the Snow Leopard OS disk for $30.

Is the OS for Macs really that inexpensive??

If so, that would probably be the most painless way to proceed, eh?

I would still like to be able to extract the OS Key from the current install.

Michale

Snow Leopard can be had for as low as $25. But alas, it will not run on an iMac G4 as it requires an Intel processor.

No, black as in the color black, which has been the color of the OS X discs up until Snow Leopard.

No skirting, a downloaded copy of OS X is pirated and illegal.
This forum, being located in the U.S. follows U.S. law in this regard and discussion related to pirated material is not allowed.

Your easiest course is going to be creating a new user and deleting the old user from the machine.
The next easiest is going to be in purchasing a copy of Tiger or Leopard, both of which seem to be going for not friendly prices. And you'll want to make sure the disc is black, not grey.

Ahhh I see.

OK, so what OS should I be looking at buying?

I don't even know what's on there right now.. That's how MAC clueless I am..

Thanx again..

Michale

In that case you are ahead of yourself.

I'd suggest waiting until you get the machine in hand before you do anything.

It's quite possible it already has the latest OS installed.
To know which one you have, once booted up, you'll click on the apple in the top left hand corner and then select About this Mac.

Good point. I actually do have it and have booted it up. It seems to work OK..

But it is at my shop so I can't check it out now..

I'll check in tonight.

Thanx again for the replies.

Greatly appreciated...


Michale....

OK, home now...

This iMac is running MAC OS X version 10.3.9...

As Tom Cruise said in A FEW GOOD MEN...

"I don't know what all that means, but it sounds pretty bad."



What are my options here? I just want to add a bigger Hard Drive..

Thanx


Michale

Well you need to go into the Apple Menu Bar and click on the little apple there, and go to About this Mac and then More Info. If the machine is faster than 867MHz processing speed, you can install Leopard OS X.5, black (coloured again) sell for about $125 on eBay, or if it is slower, OS X.4 Tiger would be the go, discs there cost about $100.00.

Whatever you do do not purchase so called, update, upgrade, drop in ir system discs which are all silver grey. As stated you need the black retail install DVD.

Of course you may be happy running Panther OS X.3.9. All comes down to what you want and how much you are prepared to pay.

Adding HDD to an iMac is not for the faeint hearted. Just do a Google on replacing G4 iM ac HDD.

According to the ABOUT THIS MAC button, this unit is an 800 mhz G4 PowerPC with 512 MEGS RAM. Sounds like I want to go with Panther 3.9..


As far as adding an HD, I disassemble about 3-5 laptops a day for a living, so a little hard work never killed anyone. On the other hand, why risk it?

Maybe I am just being a little too ambitious. At the bare minimum, I want to "virginize" this MAC. Get it back to a brand new state, as far as the OS is concerned.

Is there a way to do this without any disks?

Thanx for the reply..


Michale...

You wont be able to clean it up without knowing what you are doing, otherwise you'll need the install discs.
Panther Mac OS X Panther V10.3 Retail Version - eBay. (end time 19-Jan-10 13:47:04 AEDST)
Tiger Mac OS X Tiger Full Retail, Computers Networking, mac os x tiger full. Great deals on eBay!

I wouldn't go too crazy on spending too much on that old work horse, rather than saving up for a newer workhorse

*If you choose to upgrade the Ram or HD, check out iFixit iFixit: Apple Mac, MacBook, iPod, and iPhone Repair Parts for stripdown guide and Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC for what upgrades are available for your machine.

I was just looking at that same listing myself.

As far as this system goes, it's not something I plan on holding on to. It's my intent to give it to a family member that can appreciate a MAC much better than I can and give it a good home.

But I want to protect the privacy of the former user and make sure former data is wiped clean.

Thanx for the reply.


Michale...

It's always a good idea to have an OS disc on hand. One never knows when it will be needed. Amazingly, you read posts here with great regularity that say "I can't find my OS disc!"!!!

toMACsh said:

It's always a good idea to have an OS disc on hand. One never knows when it will be needed. Amazingly, you read posts here with great regularity that say "I can't find my OS disc!"!!!

Click to expand...

I wonder sometimes if I'm the only one who has all mine and know where I store them!
It seems to be the same for all those without backups!

First, let me get this out of the way:
A Mac is short for "Macintosh." It's not an acronym, thus it should not be capitalised.

To put it another way:
mac: a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
MAC: a data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the Media Access Control
Mac: a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc.

Ditto for iPod.

Next, I agree with the above posters; we're not doubted that you can do the job, but the G4 iMac has a really unique design and unless you have some thermal grease handy I really would not recommend going in there.

(but if you DO go in there, you'll want to bump up the internal RAM too while you're at it -- and guess what, its a different RAM chip than the user-accessible slot! FUN!!)

It's a six-year-old (at least) machine. It's not worth spending any real money on, however cool the design is.

If its booting up and working, I would clear anything that's not needed to clear space and leave it pretty much as-is. The next owner can worry about upgrading it.

..and where are their children?