An iMac just fell in my lap. Help me help it work.

Factual Questions
1

So my wife’s friend, that doesn’t work due to a very rich family that carries her, has sloughed off some gear that was destined to a Dumpster. Picked up a new Sony monitor for the Linux box (later, KVM switch) and an iMac.

Yes, she was going to throw it out because the “color was off” and “the desktop is too cluttered”.

Bonus for me.

However, I haven’t used the Mac OS for awhile and it took me about 30 minutes just to remember how to close a window/task. (If the makes sense. I’m talking about closing it, instead of hitting the minimize button on the upper right side of the wondow.)

Anyway, I need to clean this shite up, and don’t know how to delete programs, etc. I’m used to intuitive things like going to My Computer, selecting Remove Programs, etc.

So I’m looking for a basic tutorial on how to clean up the desktop, remove crap like Snood, Yahoo internet access, and whatever else she threw at this thing in an everlasting quest of hurting computers in all forms.

C’mon Mac folks. Sell me on how this is easier to use! You may earn a convert.

2

Hey, I just acquired one from my MIL, for similar reasons. It’s all ruby red and cute and I think I’m in love.

To delete programs, just drag the applications you don’t want to the trash (they’re usually in the applications folder, but they don’t have to be). Pull down the Special menu and empty the trash. All gone.

But, get rid of Snood? Are you nuts?

3

Crap, never mind the above. Trial and error is working well.

However, it seems there may be a problem with the HDD. I keep getting errors when running the fix disk utility. Am I looking at reinstalling the OS? Am I looking at a useless machine? Any advice on this would be appreciated.

4

What kind of iMac? One of the early versions or one of the later versions?

5

It’s MacOS 8.6. Disk First Aid keeps trying to run on startup, always fails. No disk in the CD-ROM drive. Disk First Aid fails on every attempt after boot up.

One thing that’s bugging me, it seems I need to randomly click here and there to get the option to restart. THis isn’t very intuitive. Also, there’s no “trash can” present on the desktop, though I know it should be there. What am I doing wrong? (BTW, I’m doing everything with the single-button mouse. The keyboard works, so maybe that’s the angle we should be working with.)

I’m guessing it would be easiest to just do a full reinstall, but the HDD may be the problem. Any way to figure out if it’s a software or hardware problem?

Also, I connected the ethernet cable to attempt to connect to the net, with woeful failure. The same router is connected to this box, so I know the conn is good.

The further I get into this thing, the more I realize why PC’s are dominant. Gimme a Windows box with a bad HDD, and I know where I stand within 10 minutes. This damn iMac is killing my spirit.

6

As far as how old it is, I’m guessing first generation. I think I found (don’t ask me how) a file or 3 from '98 and '99. I won’t bet my dog’s lives on it, but let’s be safe and say 10 years or so.

7

Well, at least it should be easier to replace the hard drive in one of the older iMacs. The newer ones go with that flat-screen setup and I have no idea how anyone can do any work in there.

8

[QUOTE=duffer]
The further I get into this thing, the more I realize why PC’s are dominant. Gimme a Windows box with a bad HDD, and I know where I stand within 10 minutes. This damn iMac is killing my spirit.
[/QUOTE]

It’s a perspective thing - it’s what you’re used to. I’ve used macs for over a decade, and if you gave me a sick PC I’d wouldn’t have a damn clue. You mean I can’t just drag the app to the trash? I have to go to use a special utility just to delete a program? That’s silly! (To me, that is.)

As far as the restart option, you need to have the Finder as the frontmost application - then restart and shut down will be in the shutdown menu. If other applications are in front, those options won’t be there.

Did the iMac come with the install discs? If so, you probably could wipe the drive and reinstall from a CD.

9

the “special” menu, that is.

10

Nope, no discs. Not expected since it was free, of course. What am I looking at as far as an OS to get this thing running in terms of cost? (I’m not giving up yet, though.)

It could still be a hardware issue, but I found another glitch in this thing.

I have the Trash bin on the desktop. I tried to drag and drop, to no avail. It’s a one-button mouse, of course, so I know it isn’t a case of hitting the wrong button.

Is it a matter of the thing booting to a “profile” that I’m not getting? Does an iMac have a setting where you can boot to a recovery/safe mode?

11

OS 7.5.3 is available as a free download from Apple - IMHO they should make all versions of the old OS free now. Later versions are probably floating around on eBay for not much.

Does pressing Apple-Delete send files to the trash? If you double click the trash can a window with the contents of the trash should appear. Can you drag anything into that window?

The equivalent of booting to ‘safe mode’ is starting up with extensions off. Hold down the shift key until you get the “extensions disabled” message.

12

Incidentally if you’re into Linux there’s probably a distro somewhere that would work on it.

13

I’m not familiar with OS 8.x. I’m fairly new to Macs (less than a year and a half), and the oldest OS I’ve used was 9 – just long enough to replace it with OS X Tiger. Tiger came preinstalled on my PowerBook, but I bought a new, unregistered copy of OS 10.1 on eBay for $20 for the used iMac I picked up.

A couple of things ISTR: There are different versions of the iMac. I’m not sure OS X will work on older ones. Someone else who knows more than I can answer that. Does your iMac have a tray CD, or a slot-loading one? And: In order to install OS X I had to install intermediate versions. I couldn’t just go from OS 9 to OS X. The seller on eBay was kind enough to include a CD he made with all of the intermediate upgrades.

I have my iMac (which is a G3 Indigo 450 or 500 – I forget which) up at the house, and I use it when I’m there. Slower than the PowerBook G4, but works like a charm.

As for the Trash, you say it’s not on the desktop. My iMac and PowerBook (and every other Mac I’ve used – but remember that I’m new) have Dock options. The Dock is like the taskbar (?) on the bottom of a PC. Like a PC, it can be hidden. Try moving the cursor to the sides of the descktop to see if it pops up. You should find Trash there.

Anyway, that’s all I have. I’ll turn you back over to the experts.

14

Figured out the trash deal. I forgot a new window doesn’t necessarily appear as a new window.

I’ll check out the link for the OS, though of course it will be with this PC. The TCP/IP seetings are messed up to the point of no internet access. Though that may be due to the previous owner’s settings.

The CD drive works, so booting to a disk seems possible.

Would I be better off going with the Mac OS or a linux distro?

(Too impatient, I’ll try both and come back to read why either was a mistake.) :wink:

15

The old iMacs will run OS X. It sounds like you’re dealing with an old iMac with a messed up copy of a very obsolete operating system and a bad hard drive. Don’t base your opinions on the experience you’re having.

Replacing the hard drive in a G3 iMac is easy. Pull the bottom cover off (it just pulls of), take two screws out, disconnect a couple of obvious connectors, then slide the whole computer assembly out. The hard drive should be obvious. It’s just a standard IDE hard drive. One gotcha is that for some reason, you have to keep the partition on which the OS is installed to 8 GB or less on those old Macs IIRC. The computer won’t have a problem seeing a bigger partition, it just can’t boot from it, so you can install the OS on a small partition then use the rest for a big partition for data.

We’d need to know exactly what kind of iMac it is to say what version of OS X will run on it. If it’s one of the later models, the newest version of OS X (10.4 Tiger) will run on it. The way to tell is to check to see if it has a built-in Firewire port. If so, Tiger will run on it. If not, I think Panther will run on any iMac G3. Panther is a very usable, stable OS.

Anyway, my suggestions if you really want to use the machine:
Replace the hard drive, which is really not hard at all.
Buy a copy of OS X, and install it.
Learn to use OS X, and don’t assume that just because it’s different from what you’re used to that it’s bad. I got frustrated at first when I got a Mac too, but now I’m much more comfortable on a Mac than on a PC.

16

[QUOTE=duffer]

So I’m looking for a basic tutorial on how to clean up the desktop, remove crap like Snood, Yahoo internet access, and whatever else she threw at this thing in an everlasting quest of hurting computers in all forms.

C’mon Mac folks. Sell me on how this is easier to use! You may earn a convert.
[/QUOTE]

There are two easy ways to make this computer easy to use. One’s expensive, the other isn’t.

Expensive way: Install OSX.

Free way: Install Yellowdog Linux.

Both should solve your problem nicely.

17

[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent]
Expensive way: Install OSX.
[/QUOTE]

If you call a double sawbuck ‘expensive’. :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:

Duffer: Here is a site posted by Nonsuch last year when I got the iMac. It may be helpful to you for identifying your iMac. (Here’s mine.)

18

[QUOTE=drewbert]
OS 7.5.3 is available as a free download from Apple - IMHO they should make all versions of the old OS free now. Later versions are probably floating around on eBay for not much.

[/QUOTE]

7.5.3 won’t run on any iMac.

Without knowing what model iMac it is, it’s not possible to determine the maximum supported OS. Your iMac definitely supports up to OS 9, and at least up to OS X 10.3. Best bet is probably OS 9, should you find a copy. OS X is likely to be slow, especially if you have less than 512 MB RAM (it is almost certain that the machine does not currently have that much, it’s probably in the 32-128 MB range).

Repairing the current install is going to be a bit difficult if you don’t have a lot of Mac troubleshooting experience. You can get pretty far, however, by deleting all unwanted apps from the hard drive, and going into the System Folder and deleting the contents of the Preferences folder.

If you still have problems, open Extensions Manager (Apple Menu -> Control Panel) and choosing the “Mac OS 8.6 Base” or “Mac OS 8.6 All” option from the “Extension Set” menu. Reboot when prompted. That will disable all non-Apple extensions. From there, you can selectively re-enable extensions as needed.

Hold down the shift key when booting to disable extensions (like “safe mode”).

Extensions are the Mac analogue to drivers on Windows.

Disk Utility may not be able to fix the disk, since you are booting from the disk that needs repair.

The iCab browser is the most up-to-date browser for pre-OS X systems.

Configure network access by going to the Apple menu, then Control Panel, then TCP/IP. Make sure “Connect via” is set to Ethernet and “Use 802.3” is unchecked. Change the other settings as needed to work on your network. There’s no OK button, just close the window when you are done. You may have to answer OK to a prompt to activate TCP/IP.

As far as identifying the exact model, does the iMac have any of the following?
Slot-load CD drive
Tray-load CD drive
Firewire ports
Transparent top case
A little plastic door covering some of the ports

Also, check Apple System Profiler (usually in the Apple menu) for detailed specifications. Knowing the processor speed will be very helpful in identifying the model.

19

Some pretty good advice and info so far. Here’s a quick update on some things.

Using the trash can I was able to apparently delete enough stuff that the boot up no longer gives any sort of error. Looks like the HDD itself is OK.

The hardware itself:

If you’re looking at it from the front, on the right side there is what would have been an access cover. (Broken off) In that area are the 2 USB ports for the mouse and k/b. Also an ethernet port, speaker port and mic port. Also what looks like a dialup modem port. No firewire it seems, though that could be wrong. (Never used firewire.)

The CD tray ejects and and is the style where it looks like the right side of the platter is missing. It doesn’t seem to have a gear, but rather spring loaded. The case itself is the transparent purple.

Going to System Profile I find the following:

Virtual mem: 64 MB
Built-in mem: 32 MB
Vid mem: 6 MB L2 cache: 512 KB

Processor is the PowerPC G3 running at 333MHz

Again, it seems the hardware is OK so far (no boot errors), but still haven’t attempted TCP/IP config. I’ll try it next. I’d like to stay with the MacOS instead of Linux as I’m already running a Linux box. I’ve used Macs in the past and just need to re-familiarize myself with it.

One other thing. Is there a way to delete previous profiles set up on it without hindering any functionality? In other words, can I get this set to condition where it’s like I just pulled it out of the box?

Thanks again for the help in all this. I really appreciate it.

20

Is it one of these?