[mccrae28]

Hello,
First of all, I'm new-ish to Mac and i'm needing help and some question answered. And Secondly, I'm a poor college student - who can't afford much but that's why i'm asking.

My older brother has just came home from travelling around the world, and he's got a 15" PowerBook G4, Processor 1.67ghz Power PC, Memory 1gb ddr sdram (i have no idea what that means) and it's running on Mac OS X 10.4.7.
I've got his old 12" PowerBook G4, Processor 1ghz Power PC, Memory 256mb built in, and it's running Mac OS X 10.3.9.

I was wondering, can i use his "Mac OS X Install Disc version 10.4" to up-date my Mac operating system? As i've been playing around with his iWeb application (part of iLife) and dashboard, and i'd really like the new version.
But i don't know if i can do it or not.

Questions: (if it can be done)

Is it better to install it on top of everything i've got installed on my PowerBook, or is it better to save/backup everything and install it from a clean install?

Will any of my files (mainly music in iTunes) be lost after upgrading?

What will happen if i need to give my computer i clean install and he's gone with the disc? Do i insert my install disc that came with the computer? And it'll be cleaned back to 10.3 (i think?)

I have no idea how long he's staying for, there's talk that he's leaving on Wednesday - so i'm sort of needing an answer and a "how to guide - if possible" in a "easy to follow a two years old could do it language". (as i'm new and not that great with computers)

Thanks for any help

[OreoCookie]

It's actually two questions: (i) Yes, you can upgrade from 10.3.9 to 10.4 without loosing anything. All your accounts, your settings and your application will be there and it will just work.

(ii) In most cases, you cannot use install disks of another Mac as they are usually specific to the model they were supplied with. Furthermore it is illegal.

[Tsilou B.]

Simply insert his DVD and double-click the installer on that DVD. If the DVD doesn't work on your Mac, it will tell you that before it installs anything, so it's safe to try.
You can also copy iWeb from his Mac and it will work, but as OreoCookie said, all this is illegal as you don't have licenses for iLife 06 or Mac OS X 10.4. Should your brother update to Leopard and iLife 07 next year, then he could thereafter pass on his old versions to you legally.

However, if you want to use Dashboard and iWeb, you really need more memory or your PowerBook will be really really slow. (Even if you stay with OS X 10.3, more memory will greatly accelerate your Mac.) 256MB of additional RAM are just $40 on crucial.com, 512MB $90. I'm sure your PowerBook would feel more than twice as fast, even if you just upgrade from 256 to 512 MB. So it's really worth spending those $40.

Originally Posted by mccrae28

What will happen if i need to give my computer i clean install and he's gone with the disc? Do i insert my install disc that came with the computer? And it'll be cleaned back to 10.3 (i think?)

Yep, that will work, too.

[icibaqu]

is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by icibaqu

is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?

What part about "illegal" didn't you understand.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by icibaqu

is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?

Yes. Give Apple $100 and they'll send you a version that can install on your computer.

[wobbly]

"is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?"

I believe you can use target disk mode, search google or the archives here for step by step, to install from another set of install disks.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by icibaqu

is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?

One can pick and choose what they want to pull from an installer using a tool called Pacifist.

Oh sorry... thought this was a Pacifist thread.

But as others have said, it's not kosher.

[brokenjago]

Apple only charges $70 (as compared to $129 normally) for a student version of Mac OS X 10.4, and $50 for iLife '06 (as compared with $79 normally.)

$70 + $50 = $120, which is less than the normal price of Mac OS X 10.4 alone. Good deal.

is there a way to override the install disc being specified to a particular line of macs? (i.e. ppc imac discs installing on ibook)?

Not that I know of, no. Plus, echoing goMac and others, it's illegal and frowned on by most users in this forum, especially those of us here who create our own software.

[goMac]

I'd buy the software anyway. You never know when you'll have to reload it.

[hookem2oo7]

I only paid $15 for my copy of tiger through my university...thay have a large volume license agreement or something like that...worked out nicely