Old 20 inch iMac Questions.

[iMacUnsure]

First off a little background on this computer. It was discarded in a electronics recycle bin where I work so I do not know the former owner of this machine. The only thing I have in it is $20 for a mouse (Gigaware).

It boots up fine, the screen is clear with no dead pixels, it does make a slight noise on start up but after that its fine. My questions are:

1. Can I run this machine legally?

2. And if so is there a way to register it in my name?

3. Does this machine have the gonads to run Mavericks?

4. It has some Adobe software on it that I would like to leave on it but it also has a lot of garbage that needs to be removed so:

(a). Can I use the Adobe software legally or do I need to remove it?

(b). Is there a quick way to clean this machine up? It has 239GB and all but 31GB are available.

5. Or should I just wipe the hard drive clean and start over?

 

[DeltaMac]

1. Yes, you can use that iMac
2. Yes, you can register, but that's not ever required.
3. Don't know about Mavericks, but it needs to be newer than about 2008 to make it worth the effort, plus you need to make sure it has enough RAM. We can answer better if you tell us exactly which iMac you have. It's booting, so go to the Apple menu, About this Mac, tell us what information you see there, such as processor, OS X version, and memory installed.
4. (skip over)
5. Yes, erase and reinstall is the best plan, particularly when you don't know the history of your "new" iMac.
I would add that you shouldn't expect to keep the Adobe software, as you don't own it, and you don't have a way to reinstall, if you find out that it is improperly (badly) installed, or the app gets corrupted in the future, or you just need to reinstall (it happens)
My added point: You don't know what the previous owner did to warrant dumping the computer in the trash, and you shouldn't hesitate with simply erasing the hard drive and starting over with an OS X install that you can trust. You really don't know what you have right now.

 

[iMacUnsure]

1. Yes, you can use that iMac
2. Yes, you can register, but that's not ever required.
3. Don't know about Mavericks, but it needs to be newer than about 2008 to make it worth the effort, plus you need to make sure it has enough RAM. We can answer better if you tell us exactly which iMac you have. It's booting, so go to the Apple menu, About this Mac, tell us what information you see there, such as processor, OS X version, and memory installed.
4. (skip over)
5. Yes, erase and reinstall is the best plan, particularly when you don't know the history of your "new" iMac.
I would add that you shouldn't expect to keep the Adobe software, as you don't own it, and you don't have a way to reinstall, if you find out that it is improperly (badly) installed, or the app gets corrupted in the future, or you just need to reinstall (it happens)
My added point: You don't know what the previous owner did to warrant dumping the computer in the trash, and you shouldn't hesitate with simply erasing the hard drive and starting over with an OS X install that you can trust. You really don't know what you have right now.

Its 10.5.8 Leopard, iMac 4,1, 2GHz, 2GB Ram, Intel Core Duo

How would or could I install ML on this? Is it possible to down load it onto a jump drive and install it that way. I do not have any CDs or anything. Sorry for all the questions just trying not to break any laws here.

As a side note its not hooked to the internet yet as I am trying to make sure its legal before I do. I do not know if Apple is as strict as Microsoft on its software.

 

[DeltaMac]

Nope

You have an iMac (Early 2006 20-inch)
You are limited to the 2 GB of memory that's already installed.
And, no Mavericks. The latest version of OS X that you can use is 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).

You shouldn't have any difficulty with connecting to the internet - nothing about the Mac makes that challenging (Apple doesn't check when you connect to see if your system is valid/"legal" etc. - so no concerns there.)

You CAN purchase the real Apple installer for Snow Leopard, direct from Apple.
Only $20 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
That would be a Good Thing™ for your "found" iMac, and give you a good system upgrade.

 

[iMacUnsure]

Nope

You have an iMac (Early 2006 20-inch)
You are limited to the 2 GB of memory that's already installed.
And, no Mavericks. The latest version of OS X that you can use is 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).

You shouldn't have any difficulty with connecting to the internet - nothing about the Mac makes that challenging (Apple doesn't check when you connect to see if your system is valid/"legal" etc. - so no concerns there.)

You CAN purchase the real Apple installer for Snow Leopard, direct from Apple.
Only $20 - http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
That would be a Good Thing™ for your "found" iMac, and give you a good system upgrade.

I have already ordered the Snow Leopard suppose to arrive no later than Wednesday of this coming week. Should I erase the HD now or wait until I have the OS X?

 

[DeltaMac]

I have already ordered the Snow Leopard suppose to arrive no later than Wednesday of this coming week. Should I erase the HD now or wait until I have the OS X?

You would need to boot to another system to erase your hard drive, such as the installer DVD that you have ordered.

 

[iMacUnsure]

You would need to boot to another system to erase your hard drive, such as the installer DVD that you have ordered.

How is a DVD going to erase the HD?

 

[DeltaMac]

You can't erase your hard drive while you are booted to a system on the same hard drive - the system won't let you do that.

The Snow Leopard DVD has the installer for OS X.
You have to boot to that DVD to run the installer.
And (free bonus!) while booted to the DVD, you can run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu, where you can erase your hard drive.

 

[iMacUnsure]

You can't erase your hard drive while you are booted to a system on the same hard drive - the system won't let you do that.

The Snow Leopard DVD has the installer for OS X.
You have to boot to that DVD to run the installer.
And (free bonus!) while booted to the DVD, you can run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu, where you can erase your hard drive.

OK, appreciate all the help I guess I will just have to wait on the DVD. In the meantime I need to figure out what the heck I am going to use this one for?