EMacs PPC G4 upgraded from 9.2.2 -10.3.9 how do I add classic software?

Question

I'm new to posting in forums & unsure about which OS to post in.
I run a Mac computer lab at an elementary school. I need to add some licensed software that only works on OS 9. How do I do that without losing the ability to use the OS 10.3.9 & 10.2.8 programs which I mistakenly deleted before upgrading?
eMac info: PPC G4 1.25 &1 GHz, 256MB DDR SDRAM, HD-40GB, OS 10.3.5 upgraded to 10.3.9. Also have PPC G4 800GHz, 128MB RAM, HD-38GB OS 9.2.2 upgraded to 10.2.8.
My experience is mostly PC but I'm slowly learning Mac.
Ideas anyone? I need this for a class on Fri or Mon.

Answer 1

Hi, kigc -
With regard to the eMac models, Classic (OS 9) can be installed only from the original disk set that came with each machine; the specifics of doing so vary a bit depending upon what the original OSX version was for each machine. One or more of these Apple KBase articles should assist in doing that -
Article #106294 - Mac OS X: How to reinstall Mac OS 9
Article #107383 - Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3: How to perform Mac OS 9 clean installation with Restore CDs
Article #42929 - Using Restore Discs with Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3..3
Article #151871 - Mac OS X 10.3: Installing Classic
Although all eMacs can use OS 9 as Classic, not all are OS 9 bootable. The 1.25GHz eMac models are not OS 9 bootable; the 1.0GHz models are OS 9 bootable only if the machine has ATI Graphics and the original optical drive is not a Superdrive.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86209
With regard to the G4 800MHz model, that would be a G4 Quicksilver (2002) model. It is OS 9 bootable, but only using the model-specific version of OS 9.2.2 which shipped with the machine on a stand-alone Software Install CD for OS 9; that disk is the only source for installiing OS 9 (Classic) on that machine.
<hr>
If you do not need to boot any of the above machines to OS 9, and need to use it only as Classic, then you can copy a working OS 9.2.2 (or perhaps an OS 9.1 or 9.2.1) System Folder from another machine. This should work fine as Classic, but will not be able to boot the machine (even if it is OS 9 bootable).
On those machines which are OS 9 bootable, if the hard drive does not have OS 9 drivers installed (this can happen if the drive was formatted using OSX's Disk Utility and the option to install OS 9 drivers was not selected) then not only will the drive not be available when the machine is booted to OS 9 (such as to an OS 9 Install CD for machines capable of using one), it also can not be used for OS 9 booting. The absence of OS 9 drivers will not have any effect when using OS 9 as Classic.