I recently purchased a used powermac g4 from a local computer tech school that went out of business. I've never owned a mac before but was interested in learning about them. The powermac came with the cpu, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. No CDs or "extras" When i turn on the mac all i get is a gray screen with a flashing question mark/mac face. Now to my question...if I buy the OS X Tiger from the apple store....will it install and is that all i need? or is there an OS on my mac and i just don't know it? Somebody PLEASE reply.....I'm at my wits end....Thanks
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No OS no CDs - Help!!
- Thread starter outkaste25
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I've read that bulletin which does not seem to help as I have no CDs or install disks. What I'm asking is that if I buy Tiger, do I need anything else and will it install? I am coming from a Windows background where you have update CDs to upgrade.....for a Mac is it all on the Tiger cd or would i need the OS 9 cd AND the Tiger CD? <sorry if i'm repeating myself i am VERY new to it all>
No, when you buy Mac OS X it's always the full version, so you shouldn't need anything else (unless it required a firmware update or something, I dunno).
Just make sure you mac has a dvd drive installed in there. As tiger comes in CD or DVD
No it doesn't. So what you need to buy is tiger on CD not DVD since you only have a CD drive. If you have another mac you can use target mode but from what I read this is your first mac
Unless its been upgraded, it only has a CDRW, no DVD reader.
You could buy a third party DVD-reader, most pioneer drives work, PC drives will work. But burning with require patchburn.
Otherwise I think you may be able to purchase a CD version of Tiger, but would need someone else here to verify that.
Thanks.
To me, the best approach would be buying an internal DVD drive to drop in and then getting the OS on DVD. While a little more effort than just getting the OS on CD, it has the added benefit of leaving the OP with a DVD drive when all is finished. If the OP digs the Mac and continues using it, at DVD is almost a necessity these days.
ok so as not to sound completely loony...how would i go about installing one? i've never messed with any computer hardware be it pc or mac. I also am not close to an apple store so would some place like circuit city have what i need?
I linked you to installation videos earlier.
NewEgg sells perfectly good drives as well.
Turn off the machine and open the side door.
The CD caddy is held in by two screws, one at the front of the case and one near the top.
Remove these screws and disconnect all cables, the CD caddy can then be removed.
Remove the original CD drive, and check the replacement's jumpers are set to master, then fit it in place of the original.
Connect data and power cables and secure caddy with the two screws.
Close up the machine.
The CD caddy is held in by two screws, one at the front of the case and one near the top.
Remove these screws and disconnect all cables, the CD caddy can then be removed.
Remove the original CD drive, and check the replacement's jumpers are set to master, then fit it in place of the original.
Connect data and power cables and secure caddy with the two screws.
Close up the machine.
ok so please understand that i'm new to all of this. When i look at circuit city online all they say is dvd-rw drives compatible with windows. will these work for a mac as well?
I suggested the Pioneer DVR-112D off of NewEgg. It is possible to purchase from retail stores.