2004 powerbook g4 needs re-install

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Ok, last year I bought a Powerbook G4 off Craigs List because my detestable Toshiba had given me one more problem than I could handle. My daughter is a Mac owner and so I just decided to get a used Mac as an entry level trial. I bought from a nice young man, an older Powerbook G4 for $300 - of course it had no install disks but that never even crossed my mind. It worked, it got online, etc. And he needed rent money. Well soon I discovered I needed to reinstall to get rid of some stuff, and of course he was no where to be found. I uploaded OS X. After lots of looking, I discovered that the laptop had been part of a school district on the left coast, and had lots of specialized software. So...it was relegated to the pile of laptops and old used equipment. Since then, I have added two new Macs, an MBP and another Powerbook. Now I need to add a laptop to my music studio basically for internet and home networking. I ordered what I thought were install disks from ebay, (I believe it to be Apple) but it is a Software Restore. When I insert the Restore disk, it won't load cause it can't find Version 9. I tried using my new Powerbook install disks, but it just spits them out.
I'm so confused - what can I do? Can anyone help?
 
C

chas_m

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Yes.

You will need to find a RETAIL copy (black discs) of either Tiger or Leopard for that G4. That's the only thing you can use that will actually work to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS.

These will cost you around $100, and you may well need to upgrade RAM or even the hard drive to run these (not to mention possible software costs) so you may want to evaluate whether this is worth doing. IMHO, it isn't -- you'd probably have better luck buying a newer used Intel Mac portable (and this time, insist on original disks for both the OS and any third-party software -- a sure-fire way to be sure you're getting a legit deal from a legit person).
 
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Osx tiger

I bought one of these G4's last year two and have since bought 2 more for backups and they work well with the work I do. I had to reinstall tiget on the first one I bought when I had to buy a new hard drive. I had trouble getting all the programs to install like iMovie. I found a simple little program online that, once I had Tiger installed, read the OSX dvd and display all the files on the disk and I could then install the ones that did not install, like iMovie.

I forgot what that program is called and can't find it online anymore. ANyone have any idea what that was and where to find it?
 

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