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boxcar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 16, 2003
24
0
ok... so i just bought a dual 1.2 pmac new for pretty cheap money (that's why i didn't wait for the g5)
i'm wondering if there's anything i should do immediatly when starting the machine up... should you partition a mac's hard drive? etc.... any tips would be useful as i am clueless!!
 

patrick0brien

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2002
3,246
9
The West Loop
-boxcar

I acree with mnkeybsness, there really is no need to partition your drive.

The original need to partition drives was when computers could only access 2gb at a time, so you had to partition a particularly large drive to get use of all the platter space.

There is no limitation like this nowadays. As a result it's actually detrimental to partition as your machine thinks i has more than one drive, but the platter is still read from a single armiture - thus will wear out the drive sooner.

The first thing you should do is start the puppy up, and see what happens. If the drive needs formatting, pop the OS X disk in, and find Disk Utility. Erase, format, and innstall.
 

Kwyjibo

macrumors 68040
Nov 5, 2002
3,809
0
I like to partition my drives....it keeps everything more organized...I uslly have 10gb for my os and apps and then all my docs and music and stuff on whatever space is left
 

Freg3000

macrumors 68000
Sep 22, 2002
1,914
0
New York
I had to partition my old Blueberry iMac once when I upgraded the hard drive . . .

I went from a 6 GB to a 40 GB hard drive in January of 2002 (at that time it cost me about $120!). When I popped it into my iMac, I was required to partition the drives, because there was an 8 GB capacity. I ended up with four 8 GB drives and the one around 5 GB. It was horrible. I separated my drives into OS X, OS 9, Games, Virtual PC, and Digital Video.

So, I would also recommend not to partition. It really doesn't have much of purpose anymore.
 

pEZ

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2003
384
0
Madison, Wisconsin
The only reason I have two partitions is because of the Panther beta - I didn't want to install it over Jaguar and then go through hell to get it back again if Panther was too buggy (which it is).
 

jbrown

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2002
996
4
London
I second those who like to partition....very useful for test files, OS 9, obviously Panther beta ( but only if you are a developer mind...:rolleyes: ) ......and booting into if your main partion fails....good luck
 

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
I love me my partitions. But don't do it. Wait a year or so, see what partitions you'll need. You cannot just guess at these things-- Decide how many partitions, for what purpose, and most importantly, how big. Then partition if the mood strikes you. For now, tho, just have fun with OS X :)

pnw
 

tjwett

macrumors 68000
May 6, 2002
1,880
0
Brooklyn, NYC
congrats on the switch! first thing i always do is run Software Update and download any updates you need. there should be a bunch depending on when your machine left the factory. after that you should run Disk Utility and fix all permissions. then i like to setup my preferences and go. maybe import your music from another machine. unless you're really in love with partitioning your HD then go for it but i think you'll find that the standard system setup is capable of keeping your machine very organized. you'll see. enjoy!
 

blogo

macrumors 6502
Apr 1, 2002
290
0
I would rather buy an extra HD, because the you got another partition and much more space. :)
 

boxcar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 16, 2003
24
0
alright... no partition!
i've been playing with her all day and am completely in love!!!
i've been transferring all my cd's over (my pc totally crashed and burned.. nothing salvaged)
so far it's taken about 30 minutes to import 200+ songs.
i got it from a reseller for around 1500
it's a 1.2 dual proc with an 80gig hard drive.
i didn't realize that g4's had firewire 800 too!!

i need to get aol for mac though... errr.. maybe i should just use the earthlink trial membership.

ok.
thanks for all the help!!
 

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
229
its time for the PARTAAY for your new apple lifestyle. you need an apple shirt, hat will do. you need to take 1 of those white apple stickers in the box and put 1 on your car so you wont have any crashes. ok im just joking (well actually i have all those things and more hehe). just enjoy your new computer and stop worrying, this isnt windows.

iJon
 

iDesigner

macrumors newbie
Jul 7, 2003
8
0
North Carolina
Oh I would definitely advise you to switch to Earthlink. AOL is satan, I had to report them to the BBB because they refused to give me a refund when I cancelled service. Then, 3 months after I cancelled, they re-activated my account and started trying to draft money from my credit card. It was a big nightmare and my bank had to suspend AOL from charging me.

Earthlink is great because they are simple and don't BS you all the time. The only downside is they try to send you junk mail about their services, even when you don't want it. But I don't use their email, so it's not a problem.

Good luck!
 

cubist

macrumors 68020
Jul 4, 2002
2,075
0
Muncie, Indiana
Nice machine, Boxcar! Dual 1.2 and 80 gig hard drive. You realize that that's a faster machine than 90% of us have...

Did you get a combo drive or a superdrive? How much RAM? Monitor?
 

boxcar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 16, 2003
24
0
i got the superdrive. only because that is what the apple store in NH had in stock (no sales tax and a 30min drive from boston)
it's only got 256 of ram, but i just order a 512 stick this week and will probably grab another 512 soon.
i just bought a crappy 17" CRT flat screen monitor from officemax, it was cheap and i just wanted to get up and running asap!
this machine is soo much fun.. though i can't figure out how to repair permissions, and i run the software updater and it said that my system was up-to-date, but i think it's running 10.2.3 and isn't 10.2.6 available?

thanks again guys/gals!!
 

Catfish_Man

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2001
2,579
2
Portland, OR
Originally posted by boxcar
i got the superdrive. only because that is what the apple store in NH had in stock (no sales tax and a 30min drive from boston)
it's only got 256 of ram, but i just order a 512 stick this week and will probably grab another 512 soon.
i just bought a crappy 17" CRT flat screen monitor from officemax, it was cheap and i just wanted to get up and running asap!
this machine is soo much fun.. though i can't figure out how to repair permissions, and i run the software updater and it said that my system was up-to-date, but i think it's running 10.2.3 and isn't 10.2.6 available?

thanks again guys/gals!!

SW update is a little funky sometimes. If you go to apple.com and look around some you should be able to find a 'combo updater' for 10.2.6. Repairing permissions is done with disk utility (in the utilities folder), but is unecessary in most cases.
 

5300cs

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2002
1,862
0
japan
Heh, all my friends in Boston used to drive up to NH to get things sales-tax-free .. especially cigs.

When I switched, I listed all the apps I used on windows, then went about looking for the Mac equivalent. IE > Safari, Outlook Express > Mail, Nero > Toast , etc.. it took a while but it was fun in the process. I also found that trying to use windows again now sux 'cause it doesn't have all the programs I'm so used to!

Knock yourself out, sounds like a nice machine.
 

mnkeybsness

macrumors 68030
Jun 25, 2001
2,511
0
Moneyapolis, Minnesota
Originally posted by iDesigner
Oh I would definitely advise you to switch to Earthlink. AOL is satan, I had to report them to the BBB because they refused to give me a refund when I cancelled service. Then, 3 months after I cancelled, they re-activated my account and started trying to draft money from my credit card. It was a big nightmare and my bank had to suspend AOL from charging me.

AOL charged my friend double for 5 months. they just billed him twice for each month on one bill and wouldn't admit their mistake. he threatened them with the BBB and lawyers and they refunded him.
 

Kwyjibo

macrumors 68040
Nov 5, 2002
3,809
0
Originally posted by mnkeybsness
AOL charged my friend double for 5 months. they just billed him twice for each month on one bill and wouldn't admit their mistake. he threatened them with the BBB and lawyers and they refunded him.


hmmm my dad has had problems with them too before we got cable but now those problems are over and i'm really happy to have wifi all over the house with broadband.....the odd thing about AOl tech support and billing is that its in India...apparently its cheaper to pay all those longdistance fees and teach a group decent english than to pay american workers and american taxes....
 

Daveman Deluxe

macrumors 68000
Jun 17, 2003
1,555
1
Corvallis, Oregon
Actually, a lot of companies are moving tech support and other back-office operations to India. A lot of the Indian techs will watch Friends and other American shows so they can keep a conversation up if a caller is chatty. They even make up fictitious lives in case somebody asks about their personal life.

It's actually not that different from when a lot of back-office operations were in Ireland.
 
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