Upgrading Powerbook G4 to Leopard?? HOW??

[Dragonlady69]

My brother has a Powerbook G4 ver. 10.4.9
Processor 1GHz
1MB L3 Cache
Memory 512 MB DDR SDRAM
He no longer has the restore and install disk and we thought we might be able to upgrade to Leopard and give it to our parents to use - as I have my original disks. The computer isn't working so well. Sorry but I'm quite new to mac as I only bought mine back in March of this year. I know windows but not Mac. Can this be done? And if so how? Thanks!

 

[TEG]

Go to a store that sells Apple software (Best Buy or an Apple Store) and buy a copy of Leopard. Then insert the CD and restart the computer and hold the 'C' key to boot off the disc.

TEG

 

[pit29]

Go to a store that sells Apple software (Best Buy or an Apple Store) and buy a copy of Leopard.

Yes. And check Leopard's system requirements before you buy.

Then insert the CD and restart the computer and hold the 'C' key to boot off the disc.

TEG

Maybe. Leopard is sold on a dual layer DVD, and only the latest generation of PowerBooks can read those. If you have an earlier one that can technically run Leopard, connect it to another Mac using FireWire, and start it while holding down "t". You can then access the PowerBook's harddrive from the other computer and use it's DVD-DL drive to install Leopard.

 

[TEG]

Yes. And check Leopard's system requirements before you buy.

Maybe. Leopard is sold on a dual layer DVD, and only the latest generation of PowerBooks can read those. If you have an earlier one that can technically run Leopard, connect it to another Mac using FireWire, and start it while holding down "t". You can then access the PowerBook's harddrive from the other computer and use it's DVD-DL drive to install Leopard.

Your answers are crap. All PowerBooks can read all DVDs, the dual layer stuff only applies to the burning of discs. Also, it is a 1GHz G4, well above the 867Mhz required by Leopard.

More memory may be necessary, but that is cheap.

TEG

 

[FF_productions]

I have a 1.67 ghz PowerBook and a 12 inch 1.33 ghz PowerBook.

I used Leopard on both of these machines for a while...

Then I downgraded.

The 1.67 powerbook has 1.5 gigs of ram and smokes with Tiger, Leopard just wasn't meant for a G4.

If you really need the newest OS and newest features, then yes, upgrade. If you want the fastest OS for your computer, Tiger is the best way to go.

 

[WarMachine]

I disagree entirely with that statement. I just installed Leopard on a iMac G4 (1GHz processor, 768MB RAM) and it's substantially faster than before. One thing you have to remember is that as soon as you install Leopard, Spotlight starts indexing the drive, and that can take a couple of hours (depending on the size of your HD). During that time, the computer is a little slower obviously, because it's doing a lot of stuff on the background, but once it finishes the machine is comparatively faster than Tiger.

You were just impatient and didn't give Leopard a chance.

 

[FF_productions]

You were just impatient and didn't give Leopard a chance.

I used the 1.33 ghz with Leopard since Leopard came out.

I used the 1.67 with Leopard for 2 months...

I gave Leopard a chance...I still use it with my Mac Pro, it's more then capable with that.

 

[macrem]

I have the 1.67GHz PowerBook with 1.5GB RAM and can report that Leopard runs great on it...

If I rip from a DVD on my PowerBook vs. my MBP 2.4GHz C2D + 2x2GB matched RAM, for instance, there is a major difference, but for normal day-to-day stuff the 1.67GHz PB machine with 1.5MB is a decent Leopard machine. I guess you do need more RAM compared to Tiger but like someone else mentioned RAM is really cheap these days.

 

[iAthena]

Tiger runs fine on my G4 and I never really had the incentive to upgrade it. I figured on just getting a new Mac with Leopard and keeping my G4 on Tiger.

 

[suzy2008]

Downgrade question?

I have 1.33ghz PB G4 with 768mb of RAM... I'm thinking that isn't enough for leopard. I upgraded last week and this week has been a slow one for my computer. I swear the battery life has crapped out as well. To downgrade back to Tiger do I just stick in the install disks that came with my machine originally?

Suzy

 

[notjustjay]

I have 1.33ghz PB G4 with 768mb of RAM... I'm thinking that isn't enough for leopard. I upgraded last week and this week has been a slow one for my computer. I swear the battery life has crapped out as well. To downgrade back to Tiger do I just stick in the install disks that came with my machine originally?

Suzy

Yep. That's what I did when I restored my 12" PB to Tiger, to sell it (I used a Leopard family pack so I didn't have the license to give to my buyer). I'm fairly certain that Tiger ran faster on the PB than Leopard did, too, but as you can see from the variety of responses in the thread, it's very subjective.