G4 (?) imac won't work

[stroked]

If I were you, I'd get a retail version of Tiger ASAP. The supply is constantly dwindling, and that just increases the price. You can get it from Amazon.com for $149, with free shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/Mac-v10-4-3-Tiger-DVD-Version/dp/B000C7259K

Isn't that a lot to spend on an old mac that could die at anytime?
Don't get me wrong, I like my old Quicksilver and my iBook, but I wouldn't spend that much on either one.

 

[Wiseman]

Isn't that a lot to spend on an old mac that could die at anytime?

If you adopt the pessimistic viewpoint, then you will achieve nothing. My iMac Flat Panel certainly hasn't died, and I've had it since 2003. Parts are still available, and even if they weren't, other used Macs are available that run 10.4.

 

[stroked]

If you adopt the pessimistic viewpoint, then you will achieve nothing. My iMac Flat Panel certainly hasn't died, and I've had it since 2003. Parts are still available, and even if they weren't, other used Macs are available that run 10.4.

No I'm quite optimistic when it comes to my G4s. I'm also too resourceful to pay $150 for an outdated copy of OSX.

 

[Wiseman]

No I'm quite optimistic when it comes to my G4s. I'm also too resourceful to pay $150 for an outdated copy of OSX.

Since all OS versions are outdated when you buy them, what you're really saying is that you're cheap, and that you will download a pirated version.

Stay classy.

 

[stroked]

Since all OS versions are outdated when you buy them, what you're really saying is that you're cheap, and that you will download a pirated version.

Stay classy.

I'm cheap, but I have never downloaded a pirated copy of anything.

 

[Sabrina2000]

I picked up a boxed retail version of osx 10.4 tiger (second hand) on e bay yesterday for £48 - about $40??......I did first check the cost of tech tools pro and disk warrior but they were coming up at about £30 -£40+ , so in the end thought it made better sense to get a back up os instead......tried onyx and it has cleaned up a lot but it's not significantly faster - though it has helped somewhat.

Looking forward to trying maintenance scripts!! Thanks.

Just ran maintenance scripts but not sure what it did - entered password ok after entering terminal, but in the end it just displayed the comp user name and that was it....not sure if we missed something

 

[DewGuy1999]

I picked up a boxed retail version of osx 10.4 tiger (second hand) on e bay yesterday for £48 - about $40??......I did first check the cost of tech tools pro and disk warrior but they were coming up at about £30 -£40+ , so in the end thought it made better sense to get a back up os instead......tried onyx and it has cleaned up a lot but it's not significantly faster - though it has helped somewhat.

Looking forward to trying maintenance scripts!! Thanks.

Just ran maintenance scripts but not sure what it did - entered password ok after entering terminal, but in the end it just displayed the comp user name and that was it....not sure if we missed something

Glad to hear that you're getting a copy of Tiger.

You didn't miss anything with running the Maintenance Scripts in Terminal, they get executed but there isn't any feedback as to what they did. If I remember correctly, the Maintenance Scripts are one of the options in OnyX so you have probably run them twice now, but that doesn't really matter as running the Maintenance Scripts doesn't harm anything. I originally recommended the Terminal version of running the Maintenance Scripts as way of getting them run as you were reluctant to use OnyX. Now that you have OnyX you needn't bother running them in Terminal, unless of course you prefer to do it that way.

As far as the iMac being slow it could just be the "natural" speed of that iMac and since you're used to the newer Intel iMacs it may seem slow.

 

[fhall1]

I picked up a boxed retail version of osx 10.4 tiger (second hand) on e bay yesterday for £48 - about $40??......

Closer to $80 US

 

[zen.state]

Two things..

1. You should never decide on any OS based on the opinion of any one person. No disrespect to chris but I strongly disagree with his 10.4 recommendation on a G4 1GHz.

2. You paid far too much for 10.4. About a year ago I sold Tiger retail for 30 US shipped to a member here. I also recently sold 10.5 for 60 Canadian.

 

[chrismacguy]

Two things..

1. You should never decide on any OS based on the opinion of any one person. No disrespect to chris but I strongly disagree with his 10.4 recommendation on a G4 1GHz.

2. You paid far too much for 10.4. About a year ago I sold Tiger retail for 30 US shipped to a member here. I also recently sold 10.5 for 60 Canadian.

1. 10.5.8 is slow on a 1Ghz G4... Its not exactly speedy on my Dual 867 and Dual 1Ghz G4s. Tiger is more robust than Leopard, and is recent enough for a machine that isn't the latest in the house (Since the OP has a Intel Mac). Plenty of programs still run for Tiger, and lets face it, most PowerPC Programs will continue to be compatible with Tiger, or not work on PowerPC at all.

2. That is normal for the UK. I see Tiger go for between £40 and £60 regularly (All Mac OS Discs are a lot more expensive here than in the US. Even new.

 

[Sabrina2000]

Thanks for further input on this ...well, tempted to keep 10.4 as all we really need it for is internet surfing and just want a reasonably fast and reliable system. Will hold off installing it though as it's running fine for now.....a little sorry to lose all the free apps that came with the system if/when we do reinstal os , but doubt we'll ever use them really. Did check the cost of 10.4 on US e bay as well but prices were coming out about the same or even more.

Would be interested still to hear views/ opinions on whether 10.4 or 10.5 is best for this particular mac, but not particularly worried about it as at least it'sa back up if the system does crash, and it works out at similar cost to techtools and disk warrior.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Thanks for further input on this ...well, tempted to keep 10.4 as all we really need it for is internet surfing and just want a reasonably fast and reliable system. Will hold off installing it though as it's running fine for now.....a little sorry to lose all the free apps that came with the system if/when we do reinstal os , but doubt we'll ever use them really. Did check the cost of 10.4 on US e bay as well but prices were coming out about the same or even more.

Would be interested still to hear views/ opinions on whether 10.4 or 10.5 is best for this particular mac, but not particularly worried about it as at least it'sa back up if the system does crash, and it works out at similar cost to techtools and disk warrior.

If you do an Archive and Install of Tiger you won't loose anything already on the iMac:

Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5: About installation options

I don't have any experience with running Leopard on a 1 GHz iMac but I've heard that it's slower, considering that Tiger isn't actually a speed demon for me it didn't make sense to move up to Leopard for me if it was going to be slower, plus in my case I would loose the use of my scanner and Classic support.