Any Help Would Be Great For A Newbie

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Hi everyone! I'm obviously new to this forum as well as new to Macs. A family member has left a computer for me and I would love to get to know how to use it as well as update the OS if possible. It is a Power Mac G4 desktop (tower is clear) with a 22" HD monitor. The OS is MAC OS 9.2. I have no idea how old this computer is. Some more info about this computer is Mac OS Rom 9.0.1, built in memory 1.25 gb, largest unused block 1.18 gb. Hard drive says 45 items with 52.33 gb available. Some installed programs include Appleworks 6 and IE 5. Sorry if this info is useless but I don't know how to find out any more. Will I be able to upgrade to Leopard? If not, is there another OS i can upgrade to? Any info would be great - thanks in advance!

*Processor info - PowerPC G4 *Machine Speed - 933Mhz
 
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G'day and welcome.

Using Leopard will depend on the model. Go to the Apple icon in the menu bar and click 'About this Mac' and advise what information is there, particularly the processor speed and Firmware or Boot ROM Version.

Memory and HDD are okay. If you wish to upgrade to OS X of any description, you will have to get the machine online and maybe update that firmware by going to the Apple web site and downloading this, if necessary, and instal following instructions.

To instal Tiger (OS X.4) or Leopard (OS X.5) it will be necessary to purchase a full retail install DVD, which is a black colored disc and NOT grey model specific versions. From your description with the size of monitor I think we will be pleasantly surprised with the specs.
 
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All the info I listed is what's under About This Computer. There isn't a whole lot of info there. Is there anywhere else I can look?
 
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Macbook White 2.16GHz 2Gb OS X 10.5, 16Gb iPhone 3G Black
on "about this computer" then click on "more info" it will bring up a whole new window (system profiler) with your entire computer spec. then post the bits harryb2448 mentioned.
 
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Under System Profile: Processor Info-PowerPc G4, Machine speed-933mhz, Active enabler-Mac OS Rom 9.0.1, System 9.2.2 US. Boot ROM Version under product info - $0004.33f2

That's what info is under System Profile. (PowerMac G4)

Control Panel - 37 items
Extensions - 207 items
Applications - 303 items

Hope this helps - this is all info I see under system profiler.
 
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The info you've provided shows that the machine is more than capable of running OS X, probably the newest version, Leopard. If not, it certainly would run Tiger, which Leopard just replaced. It wouldn't run as fast as OS 9 does in your machine, but 9 is dead technology. It hasn't been updated in more than seven years. JavaScript and Flash are big problems.

Get rid of OS 9 because you don't know anything about it, anyway, and you probably don't have any of the third-party pay-money maintenance applications that are an absolute must with OS 9.

If you buy Tiger or Leopard, make sure it's the full retail version that will load in any machine, not one of a myriad of model-specific versions that ship with each model Mac. OS X on a disk that shipped with an iMac or a PowerBook, for example, won't load in your machine. So beware of "deals" on eBay.

If you can save 9, though, by burning it to a disk or something, it might be worth it, as a sort of hobby/conversation piece. OS 9 doesn't need an installer, so even if you save only the system folder — and if you want to, an application or two or three (or all of them) — 9 will run again just by dragging the system folder onto a drive (though like OS X, it might be model-specific and might not run in anything but a tower).
 
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Thank you Brown Study! I noticed that when i try to get on the internet I get to Google then the comp runs very very slow while trying to access web pages. Could there be too many programs running or just from the old OS?? Thanks again for the info!!

Any ideas on a reputible place that will have the full version of Tiger for a reasonable price??
 
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There could be quite a few variables, from running too many apps at once to IE 5, if that's what you're using. Try cleaning its cache, history and its download history. I think it was prone to sluggishness when those files grew too large, if I remember correctly.

I doubt this will help the slowdown issue, but who knows. As one of OS 9's forever-maintenance procedures, you could try rebuilding the desktop. OS 9 doesn't need extensions on file names, such as .exe or .doc, because it has an invisible database (also and confusingly) called the desktop, that links the apps' creator codes to their icons. So clicking on a document icon finds the app to open through this desktop database.

But over time the database can become clogged (like the interweb's tubes) and corrupt, making a "desktop rebuild" necessary. To do this, restart the Mac while holding down the Option/Alt and Command/Apple keys. A popup (eventually) will say, "Are you sure you want to rebuild the desktop?"

Click on OK or Yes, or whatever the affirmative is, and the desktop database will be cleaned up. There are freeware apps that do a better job of this, one of them being TechTool Lite (for OS 9, of course).

Rather than simply rebuilding the desktop, TechTool Lite nukes it, and rebuilds the desktop from scratch. This is better, because 9 might be rebuilding any original corruption.

Total Desktop Rebuild is another free app that also deletes the desktop. (Search for them on the web. Versiontracker and Mac Update might still have them.)

Total Desktop Rebuild is a system extension that goes into the Extensions folder. Once it's in place, it takes over when you hold down the Option and Command keys. But for now, rebuild the desktop plain vanilla. It might cure any other problems, as well.
 
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Any ideas on a reputible place that will have the full version of Tiger for a reasonable price??
Haven't a clue, sorry. eBay seems never to run out of system disks, but you must be sure it will boot your machine. Tiger machine-specific disks are grey, apparently. The all-Mac-model Tiger disks are black.

Edit: I've repeated Harry's post about the colours. Obviously, it's bedtime for Bonzo (3:05 a.m.)
 

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