What to do with my G3 Blue and White

Alright, this is my first post, so bare with me. Recently I have purchased a used Powermac G3, B&W 350MHZ computer. Within it, it contains a 6gb hard drive, and 256 MB Ram. I have never owned a mac before and I am very limited on my knowledge of them. I do enough on a PC to get by, so I hope they are similar. I purchased this computer ($60) for just a few things. One, for internet capability, via dial-up. Two, for Word processing, as well as other Office programs. And Third, to upload and download the few songs onto my 1gb ipod.
My first question is this. The computer itself doesn't come with and OS discs, yet it has Jaguar already installed. My girl friend has a G4 Powerbook, with the Panther discs, Is it possible to used her discs to upgrade the OS, and or would that be a smart thing to do, do to the lack of other program use. Two years ago, when she bought it, they said something about having limit user capability. Something about she could only use it on 3 computers or something. I don't understand how the lincencing works. She also has the new Office software, and she told me the same about Jaguar as she did Office, limited users. I don't understand how putting the programs on here would limit her uses else where. Its going to be her computer in the end.
My next question is, I know that it does need to be upgraded, and I am sure that the computer will be Rev.1, meaning the hard drive upgrade will be a hassle. I thought it would be easier just to find a small external drive just to get by. Its going to be mainly adults using it. Not a lot of junk and or pictures. Like I said, very limited use.
It comes with 256MB RAM, I do know that you can go up to 1G RAM via 4x256 Max. Do you think it would be worth the $ to upgrade the RAM. Also, if I were to do so, do you think that 1G is necesary for my basic use? Please tell me what you suggest as to the style and or brand?
I am in the process of trying to find a G4/ maybe 400-500 processor to switch out, just to assit in normal use. Through out ebay, they aren't thay expensive expecially the smaller processors. Is there a big change in speed from the G3 350 and the G4 400. Enough to worry about it?
I hope I am not to much of a rookie with all this. I am always up for a challange, ecspecially when you use someone elses money, though it is very limited.
G3 Blue and White Mac OS X (10.2.x) G3 350, 256mb CD-RW 6GB HD
G3 Blue and White Mac OS X (10.2.x)
G3 Blue and White   Mac OS X (10.2.x)  

Hi Rowdie Man,
Welcome to discussions.
The G3 B&W is a very fine computer, still very capible today. It is my favorite macintosh(im typing this post on mine). For starters 1gb of RAM will deffinatly make the computer nice and snappy, even for basic programs, so id recomend the upgrade. the 6gb HD will be enough for the OS, but you wont have much room for installing programs. You will have two options for upgrading the HDD, 1. you can buy a PCI ATA controller card (around $40, and must be mac compatible) and put a Large Drive on the machine, the card will increase drive access preformance, thus making the machine faster. 2. If you dont want to drop the extra $$ into the card you can put a new HDD in the bay under the CD-ROM, and bypass the flaky ATA controller. To do this you will need to remove the Zip Drive (if you have one) and slide the HDD in. Set the Jumpers on the CD drive to slave and the HDD to Master. If you indeed purcase a G4 processor it will make the Machine much quicker. BUT it MUST BE a ZIF proccessor, or it won't fit in the machine. Now onto the OS. Upgrading to panther will make the computer quicker. Are your girlfriends panthar disks retail bought (black disks with a grey X on them)? or are they the Powerbook Disks?-those wont work. As far as the 3 user limit, that wont limit the use of the computer, it just can't be installed on more than 3 computers at one time.(this only applys if you register andthe computers are on a network. If the software is only on the powerbook, installing on your computer will break the 3 user limit.
happy upgrading,
Patrick

Similar Messages

  • What do folders with a red circle and white dash in them mean?

    i bought a used 2 year old macbook pro last week did an erase and install with leopard and once that was done with nothing transfered firewire the drive had over 20 gigs of used space on it so i started snooping around and saw a number of folders in a folder labeled base system that have a solid red circle with a white dash in the middle next to them after clicking on them it says i do not have permission even though i am in under admin? any ideas to what it is what to do or why it took over 20 gigs to install? i think it took less than 10 on the imac we have. thanks

    one4truth wrote:
    i bought a used 2 year old macbook pro last week did an erase and install with leopard and once that was done with nothing transfered firewire the drive had over 20 gigs of used space on it so i started snooping around and saw a number of folders in a folder labeled base system that have a solid red circle with a white dash in the middle next to them after clicking on them it says i do not have permission even though i am in under admin?
    the fact that you are an admin doesn't mean that you automatically have access to everything. those folders are owned by the system and have restricted permissions. you should not mess with them. those permissions are mostly restricted to prevent curious users with itchy fingers from damaging the system. as an admin user you can change those permissions and give yourself access to those folders but as i said you shouldn't.
    any ideas to what it is what to do or why it took over 20 gigs to install?
    20 Gigs sounds like a bit too much. have you installed any programs besides leopard itself?

  • My older ibook g4 is locked up with an icon flashing. looks like a file folder flashing a blue and white face/question mark. what is this?

    my older ibook g4 is locked up with an icon flashing. looks like a file folder flashing a blue and white face/question mark. what is this?

    Apple's suggestions for dealing with the flashing question mark folder:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US
    Niel has summed it up pretty nicely.

  • What's up with the website design and development software inDesign? All I see on the Adobe website is Muse.

    What's up with the website design and development software inDesign? All I see on the Adobe website is Muse.@@

    Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
    Startup - Gray Screen
    Startup Issues - Resolve
    Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

  • What is wrong with the app store and how long before its fixed, im downloading atna very slow pash and i have a 10mb uncontested line.

    What is wrong with the app store and how long before its fixed, im downloading atna very slow pash and i have a 10mb uncontested line.

    Sorry, its on both my iphone 4s (2 iphones) and ipad2 that the app store is slow, I have done all the above and still when i download a 1 mb app it take about a half a hour just to download and previously it wasn't even a second. When browsing the web the devices are fast and internet speed is good, but when going in to app store it takes long to load and show me the new app, updates, featured app ect. We watch movie online and the streaming is brilliant. Even on my windows pc the app store is slow and sometimes says that i store could not be opened, i have also tried on my buddies wifi and there it does exactly the same which makes me think that its on apples side, but why do you not have any problems? 

  • Anybody using a G3 Blue and White with GarageBand

    Any problems with this software and the G3 Blue and White tower...?

    Hello Christian, I Have I B&W with garage band and I believe its good for record analog tracks,for amp simulation or some other stuff the G3 needs more proccesor power, I'm try to save some money to get the G3 1ghz cpu, I would suggest to you if you want to spend some money on it get the cpu and if you buy memory for your computer make sure its 100% compatible because the wrong memory can give you at lot of trouble...

  • PCI video card replacement for PowerMac G3 (Blue and White)

    Hi, I am new to this forum. I apologize if this issue has been addressed before, but I have been reading over the forum for the last 2 days and tried all the steps I could find. I have an old PowerMac G3 (Blue and White).
    It used to run fine. I had a friend with a similar computer and he
    needed a video card, so I gave him the one in my Mac G3, because I was not using it at the time.
    Now, I have decided I want to use it. I am running into an issue with the video (It takes PCI), I get no display, but I can hear the hard drive spin, it lights up, I hear the Apple "ding".
    I have about 6 PCI video cards laying around, and I have tried all of them, resetting the CUDA each time. Still cannot get a display.
    I have tried different slots on the motherboard, checked the PRAM battery, (it was good). Tried booting off a live Linux CD for power PCs, tried the commandoption+pr until I hear the apple "ding" go off 2x, I have tried a different monitor and monitor cable.
    Nothing seems to work, I need to know what I should try next.
    Thank you for your help in this matter.

    "I have about 6 PCI video cards laying around, and I have tried all of them, resetting the CUDA each time. Still cannot get a display."
    If these graphics cards are designed for use in PCs, they won't work in your Mac. Compatible graphics cards must be programmed with a Mac ROM. Some "PC" cards can have their EEPROM chip flashed with a Mac ROM, provided that someone has extracted the particular Mac ROM code for the card in question. A web search will provide leads for that. If you just want a decent graphics card, go for a Radeon 7000 Mac Edition (2002 vintage card). If you check eBay, you should be able to find a flashed "PC" Radeon 7000 card. I'd try to get the one with 64 MBs of DDR memory, as opposed to the 32 MB model. If you don't mind spending more $$, you can find a more current PCI graphics card for your G3, like the Radeon 9200 at Other World Computing.

  • Slingbox -how do yo put the yellow, blue and white things in the comcast box?

    How do you connect the slingbox to the comcase box?   the directions say it goes between the comcast box and the router.   There is no receptical for the slingbox on the comcast internet box.    What is the thing in their movies that the yellow blue and white things go into?
    Bestbuy phone does not work They shift you from one person to another over   At this point they have been shifting me back and forth for 35 minutes.

    Comcast internet box?
    Um, it would go between your cable box and the router.
    Some comcast HD boxes might not have SD composite outputs any more, and if the colors yellow and white are involved, the Slingbox is probably a standard def version.
    Without knowing:
    Exactly which model of cable box you have
    Exactly which model of Slingbox you have (there are multiple versions, some with high def component inputs and some without)
    It's not possible to help you.
    In general, it should be, for a standard definition setup:
    Composite video output from cable box (yellow RCA jack) to composite video input of Slingbox
    Audio outputs from cable box (Analog stereo is two RCA jacks, red and white usually) to Slingbox inputs - Optical digital audio may be another option depending on the Slingbox
    Ethernet (looks like a large telephone jack) from Slingbox to a LAN port on your router
    If you have an HD slingbox, then the single yellow RCA would get replaced with the red/green/blue RCAs for component (YPrPb) video.
    *disclaimer* I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of Best Buy, Geek Squad, nor of any of their affiliate, parent, or subsidiary companies.

  • Blue and white G3 video distortion

    just wondering if anyone has ever seen this before...
    someone gave me a blue and white G3 and it turned it on.. started up no problem...
    i shut down the computer, opened it up, added ram, and started it up again... when it gets the the "starting mac os x" screen the video looks like it's been through a paper shredder. i figured it was bad ram or something so i put it back to the way it was just to see if it still had the same problem. i continued to get this kind of video distortion until i reset the PRAM.
    so basically, it doesn't matter whether i start up from the hard drive, a mac os x cd, or a mac os 9.1 cd... same distorted video if the computer has not been started up while resetting PRAM. every time you restart it, you have to do it or you get the weird video.... anyone familiar with this? it's really strange.

    it's weird.. because this is the stock ATI 128 rage card that comes with a G3 and i'm using it with the 15 inch studio display flat panel (the really early one, that is the same colors as the G3). i'm not using any adapters to connect the display. no matter what i set the resolution to, it always does this when i restart. only when i reset the PRAM will it actually look normal. even if i boot a CD without resetting the PRAM i get the same video distortion... is there some weird issue with this display and this video card? doesn't seem like there would be since this display was released during the time that this G3 was the top of the line apple desktop...

  • HT4796 Blue and white barber pole stripes during transfer process from pc to iMac

    Using migration assistant from pc to iMac. After selecting files to xfer, the blu and white barber pole striped progress bar is running w/ no time status. What is the meaning?

    On a Windows PC, the iTunes folder is located at
    \Documents and Settings\<your username>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
    On a Mac, the iTunes folder is located at
    /Users/<your username>/Music/iTunes/
    Without getting into the specific details on how to do it, all you have to do is transfer that complete iTunes folder from the PC (using an external drive, networking, etc.) to the Mac. When iTunes is NOT running on the Mac, replace the existing iTunes folder with the one from the PC. When you run iTunes on the Mac, it should be like iTunes on your PC.
    If you purchased protected songs, videos, and other media from the iTunes Store, you will need to authorize your new Mac with your iTunes Store account.

  • My pages wont close! i have a thin blue and white box and it won't go away! help, my pages wont close! i have a thin blue and white box and it won't go away! help

    help, i cant clsoe my pages app. i have a blue and white thin box, have tried force quit but then it just pops up again.

    a blue and white thin box
    Please post a screenshot that shows what you mean. Be careful not to include any private information.
    Start a reply to this message. Click the camera icon in the toolbar of the editing window and select the image file to upload it. You can also include text in the reply.

  • Black and White monitor adaptor for connection to a G3 Blue and White?

    Hi, I have a Blue and White G3 Power mac and I also have a black and white G4 with a matching flat screen. Is there an adaptor available which allows me to connect my blue and white G3 to my black and white screen?

    If I make every assumption possible, I think you may be asking if you can use a white-with-gray Apple 17" flat panel display, which has only a digital video connector, in a stock Blue & White G3.
    There are two issues:
    1) The connector on the stock card does not mate with the connector on the display, and there is no cheap fix available.
    2) the display gets its power off the connector, and the Blue & White does not have a way or providing that power.
    Both can be solved together by using the Dr. Bott VGA-tor. But at US$300, it would be cheaper to buy a new display.
    http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=0151-VGAT
    The second approach requires two steps. First, upgrade your Video card to one that provides the Apple DVI connector. The use the Dr. Bott DVI-ator (US$95) to supply the external power:
    http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=0111-DVAD

  • Blue and white sw restore issue

    I recently aquired a blue and white powermac ($40!!!). The machine came with os 8 and the power mac software restore cd's. When i got it, I updated the firmware and did a hdd reformat, then installed tiger. The installation went smoothly and it is running tiger well. I have a few os 8 apps that i would like to run, but my powermac now will not even recognize or boot from the restore cd's. The computer says it cant read the cd and to initalize it. I know the cd is not damaged because my ibook reads it fine. Please help!
    Thanks in advance.

    A CD lens cleaner is a CD with tiny fiber brushes glued on the data side of the CD across certain tracks. You can get them at Radio Shack in the US and Canada, or your local audio store.
    No software is required, they have some lead-in music and you just play them like an Audio CD using Apple CD Audio Player, then instructions spoken over the music will instruct you to skip to the track after the brushes. They are designed for the slow track-to-track sweep of an audio CD player. For use in a data CD reader, you may have to use them multiple times to get enough head contact time to do the job.

  • How do I get blue and white boxes and No Matches Found message to stop showing on launch?

    This is a very annoying problem. I have a brand new client and right now, the first thing he and every student will see is some ugly blue and white boxes with No Matches Found message. It disappears very quickly.  But it happens even when I use a preloader.
    If you could help me get rid of this, I would be very grateful!
    Thank you,
    Ellen

    Anjaneai,
    I tried a small experiment with a few slides that did not have Advanced Actions, using your advice. If I don't use a TOC, the disturbance is very minimal, but as soon as I add back a TOC, even just the default one, it displays the No Matches Found and the blue and white squares!
    At least you found the problem area.
    Any other ideas about how we could get rid of this ugly thing?
    Thank you!
    Ellen

  • Iphone 4s less than year old att, want work, blue and white lines black screen

    I have a iphone 4s with ATT, not even a year old.  I dropped phone and now the screen is black with blue and white lines.  I have attempted to reset the phone with no success.  Is this a matter I can resolve with ATT or do I have to drive to genuis bar to get resolved?

    It's probable that the iPhone has suffered hardware damage, and I don't believe an AT&T Store can do anything for you on such issues. You'll need to take or send your iPhone to Apple and pay their out-of-warranty service charge to get the iPhone replaced.
    Regards.

Maybe you are looking for