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LizaNYC · Dec 16, 2007, 09:17 AM

Sorry for the newbie question --

I own a MacBook that I love, and just bought a iBook G3 off eBay that is running Tiger 10.4.10. Unfortunately, it's being sent without the restore discs, or any of the original discs, for that matter. Also, the people who I bought it from haven't been very responsive, and didn't send me their password for the laptop.

Will I be able to restore the computer back to it's original settings and set it up as a New User without these discs? I imagine the restore discs for iBook G3s are now hard to find, or is it possible to do the same with Disc Utility?

Thanks!

megasad · Dec 16, 2007, 04:16 PM

Setting up a new user would provide as close to an original-settings-setup as possible without the install discs, but as you don't have the password it might prove tricky to make said new account in the first place... Plus, you would not know what had been installed in other parts of the hard drive, what software, drivers etc.

If the people you bought it from continue to refuse to send you the install discs, either the original restore ones or a copy of Tiger, then as someone else will be sure to point out, you don't actually have a legal OS to run on the iBook, even if they've left 10.4 on there.

If you know the exact specifications of the machine you bought (processor speed, ram, hard drive etc.), you can determine the kind of restore discs you need and eBay is usually quite forthcoming. But that would only give you Mac OS X 10.2 at best as no G3 iBooks came with 10.3 or above. If you want 10.4, your best bet would be to locate a PPC install disc, either second hand or otherwise, and go from there.

LizaNYC · Dec 17, 2007, 09:13 AM

Many thanks for your helpful response.

Would this work in the iBook -

I located a set of 7-CD install/restore CD's for sale, that includes software restore discs (Mac OS 9, Applications & Mac OS X 10.2.4). But it's for Jaguar, not Tiger. Would you recommend going with Tiger? I also have an iBook G4, and want to be able transfer files between the two laptops using my .Mac account. I run Tiger on the iBook.

Thanks again!

dowNNshift · Dec 17, 2007, 09:39 AM

Liza --- If you call up Apple Sales (1-800-MY-APPLE) and give them your Serial Number, they'll sell you a replacement set of restore discs or give you the option to purchase a retail box OS X 10.4 Tiger.

I wouldn't recommend buying software off of ebay, you can easily get burned or unwittingly purchase pirated, or incompatible software.

LizaNYC · Dec 17, 2007, 09:41 AM

Thanks for that heads up!

I didn't realize Apple still sells old restore discs -- would they have them even for an older G3 that I purchased off eBay, and not directly through an authorized Apple dealer? I agree -- I would much prefer to buy from them rather than eBay, even if it costs a bit more.

Andrew Stephens · Dec 17, 2007, 01:26 PM

Apple will usually only sell you the restore discs that came with that particular machine, so again you will be stuck at 10.2.

A few days ago I would have said that was your best bet, but on the advice of other forum members I have just installed Tiger on a 350 MHz iMac G3 (so your iBook is going to be faster than this) and it runs great. Tiger is a way better OS than Jaguar so I'd recommend trying to find/buy a Tiger install. You will need to make sure your iBook is RAM'd to the max to allow Tiger it's best shot but I wholeheartedly recommend it over a Jag install.

LizaNYC · Dec 17, 2007, 01:39 PM

Thanks - yeah, I called Apple, and they no longer sell the restore discs. I found a store here in Manhattan that does, however, and they would set-up the new G3 for a price! I would much prefer Tiger, since that's what is on my G4, and it runs beautifully. If I get a Tiger install, that wouldn't include all the other applications I'd find in the other discs -- so would I lose those? Or would I use the restore CDs along with the Tiger install?

Koralatov · Dec 17, 2007, 01:59 PM

I whole-heartedly second Andrew Stephens' comments on Tiger; I run it on a 466MHz Clamshell, and it runs really well. Be warned, though, it can be a tad slow if at opening up applications, and if you overload it too much, it will beachball a bit, but it's still a fantastic OS for the iBook. I echo Andrew Stephens' comments about maxing out the RAM: I'm on 576MB, and it's infinitely better than the 192MB I was previously on.

Something that I do think limits my performance somewhat is that I have a 10GB hard-disk with only 4.82GB free. This may or may not be an issue for you depending on the size of your HD, but Tiger definitely runs better with about 10GB of free space to use for a swap-file.

One more thing: be warned that Tiger won't run as well on a G3 as it does on a G4, even with comparable clock-speed. I have a 500MHz Cube (G4) and a 500MHz G3 iMac, and there's a whole world of difference between the two; the cache-structure on the G4s is much stronger, and the AltiVec instruction set probably boosts it too. Tiger is vastly smoother on a G4.

Sorry about the length of this post--it kind of kept growing as I was writing it.

Andrew Stephens · Dec 17, 2007, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by LizaNYC

Thanks - yeah, I called Apple, and they no longer sell the restore discs. I found a store here in Manhattan that does, however, and they would set-up the new G3 for a price! I would much prefer Tiger, since that's what is on my G4, and it runs beautifully. If I get a Tiger install, that wouldn't include all the other applications I'd find in the other discs -- so would I lose those? Or would I use the restore CDs along with the Tiger install?

Yes you are right your Tiger disc will not have updated versions of the iApps, since these come with the machine NOT the OS so upgrading to Tiger wil leave you with the older versions of the various iApps. You will need to buy those separately.

LizaNYC · Dec 17, 2007, 02:45 PM

Oh, well. So much for finding a "bargain" on eBay.

Andrew Stephens · Dec 17, 2007, 03:14 PM

it's only $79 for iLife 08 tho'

dowNNshift · Dec 17, 2007, 10:41 PM

Yeah, ebay is a crapshoot... Sorry to hear that those restore discs are just out of range. I too agree with maximizing the RAM and then going with a retail CD set of Tiger which you can buy directly from Apple.

Unfortunately iLife '08 will not run on a G3 PPC Mac (Apple - iLife - System Requirements), although iLife '06 and earlier will.

Ask yourself, do you intend on using iPhoto, iMovie, or Garageband on this iBook? If not, just skip iLife on this portable and use it on your main G4 machine.