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ibook 900 comes with OS 9 installed but no disc?

QCassidy352

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Original poster
Mar 20, 2003
12,183
6,341
Bay Area
I'm selling my ibook 900 so I can buy a new 12" powerbook...

The ibook 900s ship with OS 9 preinstalled, but there appears to be no disc to reinstall it.

This is a problem because I'm going to do a clean install of X before I ship. And that erases the whole HD, right?

So with no disc, I won't be able to put OS 9 back on, and several potential buyers have expressed interest in using OS 9.

I don't understand why Apple gives you an OS preinstalled but no means to restore it. :confused:

Can anyone suggest a "fix" here? Maybe a way to clean install X without destroying 9? Or a place to get an OS 9 disc (hardly seems illegal since they gave me the software in the first place)?

Failing that, can I just back up some system files for 9 and copy them back after the clean install?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Actually, you want to use the Software restore CDs or DVD that came with your computer. This will not only install OS X, but it will also install all the applications and such that came with it.

It basically puts it back to a factory default configuration.

Just boot off the Restore DVD or CD#1 and follow the directions.

And you do need to use the set that came with your computer or a set from an identical model. these sets check what type of computer they're being installed on. There is some sets that work on multiple models, but you're best off using the one that came with it.
 
do thin instead of reinstalling x. open your applications folder. then open your utilities folder. you will see an application called software restore. then follow the friendly directions and that will restore your whole computer to the original way, instead of just wiping it out and installing mac os x.

iJon
 
Originally posted by iJon
do thin instead of reinstalling x. open your applications folder. then open your utilities folder. you will see an application called software restore. then follow the friendly directions and that will restore your whole computer to the original way, instead of just wiping it out and installing mac os x.

iJon
Click to expand...
This restores the applications. The guy wants to wipe the computer for resale. He need to boot off of and install from the Software Restore media.
 
Originally posted by Bear
This restores the applications. The guy wants to wipe the computer for resale. He need to boot off of and install from the Software Restore media.
Click to expand...
well it depends. apple does it two ways now, and im not sure how they do it with ibooks. most of the macs now come with 1 dvd. if you boot off of it it will just let you reinstall x, not restore the computer to its original condition. this is why apple put that software restore application in the utilities folder. the other way apple does it is they have 1 mac os x install cd, then they have like 3-5 restore cds and you can boot off of.

iJon
 
Originally posted by iJon
well it depends. apple does it two ways now, and im not sure how they do it with ibooks. most of the macs now come with 1 dvd. if you boot off of it it will just let you reinstall x, not restore the computer to its original condition. this is why apple put that software restore application in the utilities folder. the other way apple does it is they have 1 mac os x install cd, then they have like 3-5 restore cds and you can boot off of.

iJon
Click to expand...
With the DVD, after you install X, it lets you do the applications. Which includes OS9/Classic.

Since the guy wants to wipe out the hard drive, he need sto boot off the Restore media, whether it be CD or DVD.
 
im assuming it will be cd's since its an ibook, i would have to check though. basically all he needs to know is that it can be done, as long as he kept his cds

iJon
 
ibooks come with 3 "restore" CDs and 2 "install" cds, and yes, I still have all original disks. So the concensus is that I should use the "software restore" CDs, right?

And just to clarify, yes, I do need to wipe all of the data completely off the HD, both for my own security and for the new owner's convenience.

thanks for the replies and advice guys. :)
 
yes use the restore cd's. and to make sure your data will not be recovered you can go an extra step and zero the hard drive before it reinstalls.

iJon
 
When i blew OS X out of the water, i wiped the drive clean and started again with the cds that came with my iBook. It installs OS 9 when installing OS X using the cds that came with your iBook.

Then use the software cds to put the iApps back on.
 
The iBook comes with 2 OS X install CDs, and 3 restore CDs. The restore CDs are NOT bootable! You need to boot from the first OS X install CD and follow the instructions. Once X is installed, you then insert the first restore CD and open the SoftwareRestore.pkg or whatever it's called.

When using this method, you'll be presented with the registration assistant and you'll be asked to enter your name and everything. If you're selling the iBook then you probably don't want to have to do this, so does anyone know a way around this?
 
wow, thanks nermal. That's a very good point. I don't want to have to re-enter my name, etc. Will it be possible to reinstall X, then get 9 back on there without registering?
 
ok, I am now preping the ibook for shipping, and have one final question.

I did a clean install of OS X, and then used the software restore CDs. However, there is a problem. While I was using the computer, I renamed the HD from "Macintosh HD." After my clean install/ restore, the new name I gave the HD still appears.

I DO NOT want ANY traces of my settings or data left on this machine. If a clean install doesn't restore to factory fresh conditions, what will??
 
Something I've learnt from Windows is that in order to make sure everything's gone, you really need to delete the partition and recreate it when reinstalling.

By the way, did you figure out how to get around the registration? I tried to avoid it but couldn't figure out what to do.
 
no, I never did find a way around the registration page. I just had to create a new account in the buyer's name.

Well, all I did was do a clean install of the OS. Everything seems to be gone... certainly nothing shows up on any searches, and the accounts are all deleted...

I don't want my personal stuff found, but even if someone did recover things, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world. There's certainly nothing that could land me in jail or violate NDAs or anything of that magnitude...

I could do another clean install and zero the hard drive, but realistically, how easy would it be for anyone to recover data at this point? The ibook is all packed and ready to ship; it would be a real pain to go through the whole install process again.
 
Your never really going to get rid of any trace of your files unless you install a new harddrive all together.

I had initialized my system drive and then ran system restore to get it back to the original settings + configuration. Which it offcourse did. I did however later that day realized i had not backed up several files before i initialized and i did infact need them.

After a little bit of research i got my hands on a copy of Norton Utilities and discovered that using the volume recovery feature i was able to get my entire drive back with relative ease.

Now - the guy buying it probably won't go as far as doing that - probably doesn't care too, but it is something to think about.

EDIT: from what i have read- the entire system would have to be entirely rewritten - not deleted - atleast twice inorder for the files to not be recovered.
 
thanks for the reply, though it is a bit disturbing.

By "rewritten twice," do you mean zeroed twice? Or does doing an "erase and clean install" of OS X rewrite the drive?
 
Secure Delete: Aladdin's version of completely wiping out data. The application writes over what you want to "delete" three times. Time consuming.

Zeroing out a Hard Drive takes many hours, but it uses the same method. Write over, then write over again.

So what does a complete erase and install of the Mac OS X software do? Interestingly enough, the clarification I found for this distinguishment is quite simple:

Erase/Delete means the data is set to be written over.
"Zero out" mean the data is written over multiple times, and is set to be written over again.
 
so can someone tell me how to actually zero the hard drive? I need to do it tonight, and I don't have any third party drive erasing software. thanks.

edit: never mind, I found it. Not going anywhere for a while... maybe I'll grab a snickers. ;)
 
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