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Rhobes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 28, 2004
357
7
Bigfork, MT
Hello All-

GIVEN:
I have a G4 iMac with OS 10.2 & OS 9.2.2, 768MB Ram 80GB HD 800MHz, using Explorer 5.1 (~2yrs old).

USE:
I use OS9.2.2 mostly because of my photoshop and camera, there are too many exceptions for me to deal with OS X when editing in PS & connecting the camera for downloads. OS X is rarely used. I use the internet & e-mail excessively.

PROBLEM:
There has never been any type of service or clean-up done to the iMac since new (2 yrs old), it has always been put in sleep mode when done. It has gotten slow and a continual ERROR MSG (no code # on it) pops up after it has been on line for 10-15 min, at practically every new e-mail read or new web site visited. The ERROR says "There is not enough memory to open the plugin shockwave try alocating more memory to internet explorer". This occurs constantly although the link dosen't require shockwave. I have allocated plenty of memory to explorer and it doesn't help.
I have been told the imac needs to have the HD defragmentized, internet clean-up, anti-spyware, files deleted and optimized. I am basically lost trying to pick between them all. Seems one software dosen't have what the other has. Some work only on OS X or 9.2.2 some on both.
What would be the best complete package software for a computer illiterate to buy?

:confused: :confused:

P.S. There is only one Mac person in Missoula MT, needless to say it's hard to find help in the woods...... :eek:

Thanks in advance........Bob & Patti
 
okay so you use a digital camera and photoshop...and you are using 9.2.2 because?

your problem is quite obvious. you use 9.2.2. this system actually requires defragmenting and clean up. why don't you elaborate on some of these "exceptions" you have with OS X as i'd like to see your reasoning behind sticking to an antiquated OS.

simple solution. upgrade to OS X. far cheaper than using 9.2.2 and buying software that would be akin to patching a severed aorta with a band-aid, it just won't work.

if you insist on using 9.2.2, familiarizing yourself with memory management should be something you are already in the process of doing, if not, i suggest doing this. that way you are capable of managing your memory (which OS X does on it's own) rather than getting constant memory overrun errors and swap files (which trash your disk and fragment it to hell).

once again OS X with HFS+ Journaled is your friend, get aquainted.

i would rather use windows 98 than anything prior to OS X, OS X is the only reason I even use a mac (sorry it's not for the superior hardware haha).

"What would be the best complete package software for a computer illiterate to buy?" obviously since you call yourself a computer illiterate, you won't take offense when i tell you you are NOT CAPABLE OF USING OS 9.2.2!! This is your problem right off the bat. OS 9 is not user-friendly, and it's not even compu-guru friendly...switch to OS X for the love of god, I find it amusing people still use previous OS's...like i said, i'd rather be on a wintel machine.
 
Rhobes said:
Hello All-

GIVEN:
I have a G4 iMac with OS 10.2 & OS 9.2.2, 768MB Ram 80GB HD 800MHz, using Explorer 5.1 (~2yrs old).

USE:
I use OS9.2.2 mostly because of my photoshop and camera, there are too many exceptions for me to deal with OS X when editing in PS & connecting the camera for downloads. OS X is rarely used. I use the internet & e-mail excessively.

PROBLEM:
There has never been any type of service or clean-up done to the iMac since new (2 yrs old), it has always been put in sleep mode when done. It has gotten slow and a continual ERROR MSG (no code # on it) pops up after it has been on line for 10-15 min, at practically every new e-mail read or new web site visited. The ERROR says "There is not enough memory to open the plugin shockwave try alocating more memory to internet explorer". This occurs constantly although the link dosen't require shockwave. I have allocated plenty of memory to explorer and it doesn't help.
I have been told the imac needs to have the HD defragmentized, internet clean-up, anti-spyware, files deleted and optimized. I am basically lost trying to pick between them all. Seems one software dosen't have what the other has. Some work only on OS X or 9.2.2 some on both.
What would be the best complete package software for a computer illiterate to buy?

:confused: :confused:

P.S. There is only one Mac person in Missoula MT, needless to say it's hard to find help in the woods...... :eek:

Thanks in advance........Bob & Patti
I agree with BrianKonarsMac that you should use MacOS X rather than MacOS 9.2.2. I disagree with him in the strongest terms that MacOS 9 requires defragmentation or that it is inferior to Windows 98. Be that as it may, I have the feeling that someone has sold you a bill of goods about MacOS X or that you somehow screwed-up your original installation. For what you are doing, MacOS X will make your life so much easier. When you plug-in your camera, iPhoto (or Image Capture) will launch automatically to download your photos. You seem stuck using an old version of Photoshop. However, shareware app GraphicConverter does a beautiful job with with modest edits. It is completely functional in unpaid mode. The most recent version of GraphicConverter can be used as an iPhoto replacement.

The superior memory management in MacOS X has tangible benefits beyond being jargon-enabled and buzzword-compliant. It speeds up web browsing. It speeds up graphics editing. The browsers available to MacOS X, including IE 5.2, are newer than those in MacOS 9 and, with the exception of IE, are more standards-compliant.

Make no mistake, MacOS X and MacOS 9 are different. In some areas, MacOS 9 is stronger. In the main, however, MacOS X is far superior. MacOS 9 was the culmination of 16 years of development. It was a very different OS than System 1. In another 12 years, MacOS X (or its successor) will be a very different OS than MacOS X 10.3. Take the time to learn MacOS X. It is easy, but the rewards are great.
 
Thanks for the insights guys, guess I'll look into OS X a whole lot more (which is what it will take me).
Rhobes
 
Rhobes said:
Thanks for the insights guys, guess I'll look into OS X a whole lot more (which is what it will take me).
Rhobes
Hmmm ... I guess you started the same thread in 2 forums. I responded to this post over in the Software forum a couple of days ago. Sounds to me as though you have a memory leak, although I completely agree that you should be using OS X. It's only a matter of time before OS 9.2.2 goes away.
 
Thanks for all the help. I have upgraded to Panther & decided to make the change and start learning it.
Rhobes
 
And if you ever feel a need to have a 3rd party utility in OS X (which you probably won't... it generally just works), try Xupport. But make sure you understand what you're doing before clicking any of the more serious sounding buttons.
 
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