Lost Original Install Discs

[Fredstar]

Hey there,
I lost them for my iMac G5, i guess Apple won't replace them, so i am looking on Ebay to replace them. Are the install discs for G5 computers all the same? As in if there were original install discs for a power mac then is it the same as the iMac ones?
thanks

 

[robbieduncan]

In theory they are all different, and all locked to the class of computer they came with. So PowerBooks install/restore CDs cannot be used on iMacs.

It's all based on the internal type the machine reports. So PowerBook CDs can be used on iBooks as they all report as powerbookx,y. You might be lucky and iMacs might report themselves as powermac.

The other issue is that PowerMacs come with different bundled software so the restore would restore that software bundle and not the iMac one (so no AppleWorks for example).

 

[PatrickF]

As mentioned above, the restore discs are specific to the machine type, however, the retail Mac OS X discs can be installed on any Mac (other than the Intel ones as the retail OS X set doesn't support those yet).