[drivenlegend]

I came into possesion of an iBook G4, 1.33Ghz PowerPC, 1.5GB Ram, 40GB HDD, OSX 10.4.2, CDRW, etc. Traded a guy an old PC laptop for this thing straight up, cause he hated Macs... go figure. Anyway, I've fallen in love with it, but I REALLY wish it had some more hard drive space. I figured I would send it into MCE to get their 100GB hard drive and their DVD writer upgrades done. Here's my questions though. I recieved this book second hand and I only got 2 discs with it, one labled iBook G4 Mac OSX Install disc 1, and the other labeled Mac OSX Install disc 2. I'm just curious as to whether these are all the discs I'm supposed to have, or are there other discs (I.E. #3 or #4) that I'm missing?

I kinda need to know this because if I get the upgrade service done, they also offer a Mac OSX 10.4.6 Tiger installation for a nominal fee. Just curious if I should pay them to go ahead and do this, or should I just wait for it to come back to me blank, then install using my discs? Also, they have the iLife 06 installation option, is this worth it? I will be messing with movies and photos, but I have traditionally just used Finalcut, Toast, and Photoshop for this.

Final question for now... Is OS9 really needed on my iBook. Its there, and the second installation disc includes it automatically. I can't help but think that a complete second OS is probably taking up a lot of space, can it be safely removed and how? And if so, are there any negative consequences.

Thanks in advance!
Nate

[dimmer]

I'd go for the Tiger install assuming the fee is OK with you: your version of OS on the CD's would be 10.3 at best. iLife 06 is a $50 application, so it really depends upon whether you think those apps are worth it.

OS 9 isn't needed and is pretty easily removed: trash the folders called "System Folder" and "Applications (OS 9). That said, you'll be freeing up a couple of hundred MB's tops, and you won't be able to use any Classic apps--so if that's not important to you, get rid of it (it's easy enough to add back in later).

[megasad]

Originally Posted by drivenlegend 

Here's my questions though. I recieved this book second hand and I only got 2 discs with it, one labled iBook G4 Mac OSX Install disc 1, and the other labeled Mac OSX Install disc 2. I'm just curious as to whether these are all the discs I'm supposed to have, or are there other discs (I.E. #3 or #4) that I'm missing?

Sounds like you've got all you should do; I only got two DVDs with my MacBook. They should both be dual layer DVDs, the first containing all of Mac OS X itself and the second containing iLife (I'm guessing '05 on your discs, but go to /Volumes/Mac OS X Install Disc 2/packages/ (when you have the second disc in the drive) and double click one of the installers to find out.

Originally Posted by drivenlegend 

Also, they have the iLife 06 installation option, is this worth it? I will be messing with movies and photos, but I have traditionally just used Finalcut, Toast, and Photoshop for this.

If you're used to Final Cut then you don't need iMovie and that's the only part of the paid iLife package I actually use, so I can't comment on the rest.

Originally Posted by drivenlegend 

Final question for now... Is OS9 really needed on my iBook. Its there, and the second installation disc includes it automatically. I can't help but think that a complete second OS is probably taking up a lot of space, can it be safely removed and how? And if so, are there any negative consequences.

Your iBook can't actually boot into OS 9, it only uses the installation to run Classic. So, if you have no software that needs Classic to run, then there's no harm in deleting it. From memory, Applications (OS 9) and System Folder are the two folders you need to delete from the root of your hard drive. However, they're probably not more than 400MB combined, so not exactly a lot of space...

[megasad]

Originally Posted by dimmer 

I'd go for the Tiger install assuming the fee is OK with you: your version of OS on the CD's would be 10.3 at best.

The 12" 1.33GHz iBook came with 10.4.2 or 10.4.4 standard. If it is a 14" model however, then I guess it could be 10.3.5 or 10.3.7... Whenever someone mentions an iBook I always assume they mean the 12" one, only the 14" if they specifically mention it... Which is probably foolish on my part. Oh, well.

[pat++]

You should have more CDs than this I believe... You should have at least the restore disks I guess... btw do not compare MacBook disks... iBooks cannot read dual layer DVDs i think.

[megasad]

Originally Posted by pat++ 

You should have more CDs than this I believe... You should have at least the restore disks I guess... btw do not compare MacBook disks... iBooks cannot read dual layer DVDs i think.

If they are CDs, I agree, but not if they are ~7GB DVDs. My eMac from 2004 also only came with two dual layer DVDs and even my G3 iBook from 2001 can read them; it's only writing that's relatively rare.

[drivenlegend]

Well, my book is a 12, it has OSX 10.4.2 on the first disc, and the second one is labeled as install disc 2, but on the right side of the disc it says "includes OS9." I just don't want to send the lappy away and have it come back then when I go to install my discs end up missing one or two. If I am missing one I suppose I should go ahead and pay MCE to install OSX 10.4.6 However, if I do have all the discs I'll need, I'd rather save the $100 on the new OS and just reuse mine... Ya know?

Nate

[drivenlegend]

Hey, good news... I deleted those two folders you guys suggested, and it freed up 6GB of space. I suppose its because the person who owned this book before me probably had a bunch of stuff installed in 9, so by deleting all that it got rid of a bunch of random stuff.

Well here's a new question. IF I have all the install discs, can I just buy a laptop hard drive from my work (Western Digital 120GB from Office Depot)? If I can just use a normal laptop hard drive and then I can order the DVDRW DL drive from MCE for $100, and I have a friend who works at Best Buys Geek Squad who said that he'd install the drives for $40 each, and guarantee the work.

Hmmm, so I can pay MCE $357 for a 100GB HD, the DVD Writer, and installation, OR, I can buy the drive from work for $130 (but I'll probably get it cheaper) and the writer for $100, and last but not least, $80 for installation. So... $357, or $310 and not have to be out of my laptop for a week. Doesn't sound like much I suppose, but $40 is $40 right?

I guess I should just be happy with it as it is... but I'm a tinkerer by nature, I'm always looking to expand and tweak.

Thanks again for all the advice!
Nate

[megasad]

Originally Posted by drivenlegend 

...I just don't want to send the lappy away and have it come back then when I go to install my discs end up missing one or two. If I am missing one I suppose I should go ahead and pay MCE to install OSX 10.4.6 However, if I do have all the discs I'll need, I'd rather save the $100 on the new OS and just reuse mine... Ya know?

So long as they're both ~7GB DVDs, I'm sure you have all the discs you need, but if you're unsure, why not try installing the OS using them? See if it asks for a third or fourth disc?

Originally Posted by drivenlegend 

...Hmmm, so I can pay MCE $357 for a 100GB HD, the DVD Writer, and installation, OR, I can buy the drive from work for $130 (but I'll probably get it cheaper) and the writer for $100, and last but not least, $80 for installation. So... $357, or $310 and not have to be out of my laptop for a week. Doesn't sound like much I suppose, but $40 is $40 right?

I guess I should just be happy with it as it is... but I'm a tinkerer by nature, I'm always looking to expand and tweak.

Since you say you're a tinkerer, I'd go you one better and suggest installing the hard drive and optical drive yourself, using these instructions. That way it would only cost you $230. But only if you're comfortable with the breaking open of snap-fit plastics and your machine is no longer under its first year warranty.

[drivenlegend]

I saw the do it yourself instructions... I'm not quite comfortable enough with my skills to do that. Waaaay to many pieces and parts. And no, its no longer under manufacturers warranty.

Nate