SOLVED mac users i need your help

[Acuradude]

ok first off i also have posted this in the laptop section becuase i really dont know where this would go!!!!!!






ok mac guys i have a friend that has a mac powerbook it is the g4 with 400mhz processor.

he is wanting to upgrade the ram to 1gig and upgrade the hard drive to about 20gig. and im the one that has to do it for him!

he has no system restore disk and he thinks it has panther on it but not sure!

and there is no product key code (like what windows have)

Now i have ever even looked at an apple before i dont know anything about them except the ram and the hard drive install will be about the same as a normal laptop.
the ram is two sticks of 512mb pc100 so-dimm 144 pin can you all help me find the cheapest possible???? so far the lowest i have found has been $29 per stick!!!
the hard drive needs to be ultra ata 66 ata-5 could you all also help me find the cheapest possible at aleast 20gig???? so far the lowest i have been able to find is about $20!!
my ?'s are what operating systems can it handle (from my research it looks like it is limited to jaguar/panther/ and tiger) is that correct?
also do macs even need a key code for the os like windows?
also could i just buy him a system restore disk?
also where is the cheapest place to find this stuff?


thank you all in advance!!!!!!!!!


also would this work to be able to completely replace his OS it says it is compatible with his laptop but im not sure is it would be a full replacement and would it come with a product code or does apple even need a key code????

 

[Edward78]

I am not sure about this, but I think as long as the OS isn't the server version, it doesn't need a key.

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

None of the desktop versions of Mac OS have ever needed a serial number.

The prices of parts aren't going to get much lower than what you've already found. $25-30 is the going rate of 512MB SDRAM SODIMMs. They were never very common to begin with, so there's not a huge supply of 'em anymore. You're definitely not going to find a laptop hard drive for less than $20, unless you run across a used one... but buying a used hard drive of unknown history is a bad idea anyway.

Also, you can clone the existing OS install to a new hard drive pretty easily, just using Disk Utility. The only snag is that you'd need a firewire adapter to hook up the new drive... the older Macs can't make bootable volumes over USB. Other than that, though, all you have to do is hook up the new drive externally, go into Disk Utility, select 'Restore' and point it to the old hard drive as the source, and the new one as the desination. Then just check to make sure the newly cloned drive will boot, and if it does, swap it in.

 

[Acuradude]

but he is wanting to do a clean install of the OS but thank you for your help!!!

 

[benbaked]

You can do a clean install off of your installation media by holding down the "C" key immediately after the Mac startup sound to boot off of the CD/DVD. That model Powerbook officially supports booting OS9.1 thru 9.2.2 and OSX versions 10.0 thru 10.4, as well as various distros of PowerPC Linux.

 

[Automata]

You can do a clean install off of your installation media by holding down the "C" key immediately after the Mac startup sound to boot off of the CD/DVD. That model Powerbook officially supports booting OS9.1 thru 9.2.2 and OSX versions 10.0 thru 10.4, as well as various distros of PowerPC Linux.

He says in the first post that he doesn't have a disk.

he has no system restore disk and he thinks it has panther on it but not sure!

 

[benbaked]

He says in the first post that he doesn't have a disk.

If he wants to do a clean install, like he indicated in his last post, then he is going to need a disc.

 

[Automata]

If he wants to do a clean install, like he indicated in his last post, then he is going to need a disc.

I understand this, I'm just saying he doesn't have a disk.

 

[Acuradude]

in the link in my first post at the bottom its a link to a disk i need you all to tell me if that is what i need or does he need to go buy a whole new OS

 

[benbaked]

Best chance is probably going to be eBay for that. Checking Google Products people want an insane amount of money for old versions of OS X installation media (~$200 for example), far more then the laptop is worth IMHO. On eBay you might be able to score a copy of OS X 10.4 for under $50, here is a sample search:

link

Whatever OS X installation disc you purchase be sure that the label on the disc is not gray. Those gray label discs are restore discs and they are specific to the Mac model stated on the disc label. I suspect a restore disc for a Titanium G4 is going to be tough to find, your best bet is a retail disc. OS X 10.0 thru 10.2 retail discs have a white label on top of the disc, 10.3 and 10.4 have a black label on the disc. Those will boot and allow you to install.

Additionally I recommend staying away from version 10.5 "Leopard". Officially it won't install on that model Powerbook as the CPU's clock speed doesn't meet 10.5's system requirements (although it can be installed with the aid of 3rd party software it will be EXTREMELY sluggish on that old of a laptop, frustratingly sluggish). And of course, stay away from 10.6 "Snow Leopard" as it is not at all compatible with that laptop. I hope this helps.

 

[Acuradude]

ok thank you very much!!!

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

I suspect a restore disc for a Titanium G4 is going to be tough to find, your best bet is a retail disc.

Not just that, but the restore disk for a TiBook is not going to be an OSX disk anyway... the 400mhz model shipped with OS 9.1.

I'd definitely recommend, if you're going to get a retail copy of OSX, don't get anything older than 10.4 (Tiger). While 10.3 (Panther) runs a little better on that hardware, you'd run into a lot more problems with software support... many programs, including the newer versions of internet browsers, require Tiger at the minimum.

 

[benbaked]

Not just that, but the restore disk for a TiBook is not going to be an OSX disk anyway... the 400mhz model shipped with OS 9.1.

I'd definitely recommend, if you're going to get a retail copy of OSX, don't get anything older than 10.4 (Tiger). While 10.3 (Panther) runs a little better on that hardware, you'd run into a lot more problems with software support... many programs, including the newer versions of internet browsers, require Tiger at the minimum.

That's wild, I have a three disc set of restore discs that came with one of my workplace's 400mhz Titaniums and the discs labels read that it has both 9.1 and 10.0.0.3 on it.

Regardless, good point about going with Tiger OldTB, that's the version I recommend too. With 1 GB of RAM Tiger is tolerable.

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

and the discs labels read that it has both 9.1 and 10.0.0.3 on it.

Hm, didn't know/had forgotten they came with 10.0. However, 10.0 is completely useless, to the point that I disregard it as even being part of the OSX family. Hardly any software will run on it, it's sluggish and buggy as hell, and it's missing some rather important stuff, like CD burning support and a large number of peripheral drivers.

 

[benbaked]

Hm, didn't know/had forgotten they came with 10.0. However, 10.0 is completely useless, to the point that I disregard it as even being part of the OSX family. Hardly any software will run on it, it's sluggish and buggy as hell, and it's missing some rather important stuff, like CD burning support and a large number of peripheral drivers.

Agreed. IMHO OS X didn't become a real good operating system until 10.3. 10.2 was close, but still rough in spots and lacking features the classic OS had. 10.3 was one of the prime reasons that prompted me to buy a Mac back then, it was pretty good for its time.