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imac macos 9.2 issue.......

T

tgg

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 31, 2005
32
0
Ok i have a friend that has one of those older imacs that has 96mb ram its that aqua blue color, anyways they have comcast cable for internet and they use the defualt built in outlook express that comes with the mac os and all she uses the imac for is email and internet browsing.

Well the issue was or still is that when shes going through her inbox and deleting email or maybe even viewing them the os or more accurate outlook locks up it freezes the mouse still moves but nothing happens when clicking on anything she has to turn off the imac. well i dont know anything macs so i called a local mac store and see if they had a mac os 9.2.1 cd so i got one for 15 bucks and the cd label says hold down c to boot the cd well that didnt work. so at the desktop i saw the cd icon and open it up and ran the installer from there and i chose the option for clean install, well i gues these macs are diffirent than windows cause it looks like it still kept some files that they had already even though it supposely laid down a new mac os install. like even after setting up the internet and outlook setup wizard there prevoius email was still on the harddrive but she gets the same exact issue.

any1 know what could be the issue or is there really a way to format the c drive to really do a clean brand new install? thax...
 
tgg said:
any1 know what could be the issue or is there really a way to format the c drive to really do a clean brand new install? thax...
Click to expand...

Well, for starters its not a "C" drive on a Macintosh... its simply whatever name the user gives it. Usually "Macintosh HD" is a safe name to chose.

When you boot off a Macintosh CD, it looks exactly like a normal Mac OS computer... as in it boots into the Mac OS (that would be like a PC booting into a operational version of Windows XP off a CD). Of course this will not happen if you have an upgrade CD.

If you did do the clean install, then you'll have two different System folders on your computer. The System Folder is, well, the folder that contains the system.

If you performed a clean install and rebooted it should boot into the *new* system folder. Everythnig else is still goingi to be on your hard drive, with the old System Folder labeled "previous system folder" - you can delete that if you want or go through it to rescue anything you might want.

To reformat it (initialize in mac lingo) you need to find a Mac OS 9 CD that you can boot from... and boot from it. There will be a utility called "drive setup" and you run that, chose the volume, click "initialize" and thats it.

Then reinstall OS 9 by clicking the installer icon on the CD after the hard drive has been initialized.
 
Macs are very different than PCs. Im a recent switcher and im learning all the little differences of these two platforms as i go. Be CAREFUL about playing with stuff with out the necessary backups.

If you dont have a copy of a full OS (not an upgrade), then DONT mess around...you'll need that disk to recover anything you may lose, and to boot the machine in a pinch.

Ask questions, and get answers one at a time. =]
 
First off, the problem isn't with the OS, the problem is with her email client.

What email program is she using? System 9.2.1 (which you should upgrade to 9.2.2) is a very stable Operating Sytem. Chances are, are that the email program is outdated and is having a problem with something in an email.

What email program is it and if anything just find another program to use. Are there any other programs freezing the computer.

Also when the system freezes and the cursor still moves try pressing Cmd-Option-Esc. Should allow you to force quit, it doesn't always work though.
 
I know this might sound like a radical solution, but I think it's the best solution. They should buy a Mac Mini. It would cost $600 and it is no problem finding a free (or really cheap) monitor, usb keyboard and mouse. They would get an OS that is light years ahead of os 9. If you're a Windows guy I can tell you that it's almost as big a jump as going from Windows 95, skipping Windows 98, and going right to XP. It really is worth the step up.
 
I obviously didn't read the initial post very well, it is Outlook Express they are using. I'll recommend that you use Eurdora Light (free), or Eudora.

As for buying a Mini, I don't think that is the advice they're looking for but it would fix the problem.
 
Maybe use Entourage 2001. You could probably find one on eBay, prob cost about.. $50?

It's in the Microsoft 2001 mac Suite. :)
 
yea its outlok express seems like a old version though isnt there updates for that outlook express that might fix the issue?
 
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