Five year old Powerbook, time to let go?

I'm Hangin'On to a five year old Powerbook G4 17in. Two years ago the computer crashed and I was able to get it back to normal with an 'Erase and Install' from the disc. Last week it happened again. I had more trouble getting it back, but was able to repeat the 'Erase and Install' and now the computer works 80% of the time. When symptoms resurface, the performance slows greatly, the "spinning ball of death" taunts me for minutes, and occasionally the screen goes blank and I have to force a Shut Down. When I restart it, I get a message that the "OS unexpectedly quit".
There's also a buzzing sound from the left side.
Is it time to let her go?

Hangin'On:
There will always be newer, faster, more powerful computers coming along. Any computer you buy today will be old in a couple of years. The question is, does the computer you have do for you what you need to have done. I would love to get a MacBook Pro, but my wife asks me whether I think I really need one, and I can't honestly say that I do. My eight year old Pismo does for me all that I need to have done. Of course, a MBP will do things I can't do with this baby, but at what cost?
Now, back to your PB G4. Installing a new HDD will breathe new life into your computer. Here are the steps:
• Select and purchase a new HDD.
• Install the new HDD in your computer.
• Format and erase the new HDD.
• Install OS and migrate stuff from old HDD
Your computer will support a 2.5" Parallel ATA/IDE drive up to 250 GB. Here is a list of available drives for your computer. Use the filters in the sidebar to screen for capacity, Manufacturer etc. You can compare drives by checking the boxes then clicking the Compare button at the top. When you see the drive you want, click the button to Compare Prices to the right.
Once you have the drive in hand you will need to install it in your computer. Here are step by step directions for installing the HDD. Once you have the HDD, post back with questions about the directions. At that time I will also post additional tips.
In the interest of keeping this post manageable I will post later with directions for formatting the newly installed HDD, and installing the OS and migrating your data.
cornelius

Similar Messages

  • I would like to upgrade my OS to the latest version.  I now have 10.6.8 and my machine has 1Gb of memory.  Need 2Gb for the new OS.  Is is possible (and practical) to add memory to a machine that's five years old?

    I would like to upgrade my OS to the latest version.  I now have 10.6.8 and my machine has 1Gb of memory.  Need 2Gb for the new OS.  Is is possible (and practical) to add memory to a machine that's five years old?

    You can put two 2gb RAM sticks in your model 2,1 but it can only use 3,3gb. This is a hardware limitation and cannot be changed.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier
    http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/faq/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-3-g b-memory-limitation-details.html
    OWC tests have found that there is a slight speed increase with having two 2gb sticks in rather than one 1gb and one 2gb. Your model is in the gray lines at the bottom of the graph. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Memory_Benchmark/Apple_MacBook/
    You can buy Lion for $29 from the App Store witht a model 2,1 MacBook. Lion will require at least 2gb of RAM but really needs 4gb to run smoothly. As for programs see this list for compatibility with 10.7 http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
    Lion doesn't run any Power PC programs. To see if you have any Power PC programs go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info. When System Profiler comes up select Applications under Software. Then look under Kind to see if any of your applications are listed as Power PC. Universal and Intel will run under Lion.
    Before Mac switched to Intel processors they used Power PC processors from 1994 to 2005. Power PC 601 through 604, G3, G4 and G5. Applications written for the Power PC processors need the application called Rosetta to run on Intel processors. This was part of the Operating System in 10.4 and 10.5 but was an optional install in 10.6. With 10.7 Lion Apple dropped all support for Power PC applications.
    These are good online stores for Mac compatible RAM
    OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/ - They offer Mac tested RAM at very good prices.
    Crucial Memory http://www.crucial.com/ - good place to buy RAM from all over the world. They also have an excellent memory selector that allows you to choose memory based on your computer's model
    Data Memory Systems http://www.datamemorysystems.com/apple-memory.asp - another good, cheap place to buying RAM if you live in the U.S.
    Here are instructions on replacing RAM in a MacBook with a removable battery. http://homeoffice.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=44404
    If you don’t have the tools to open up the MacBook OWC has a set for $5
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/

  • Upgrading from 10 year old powerbook

    I have a ten year old powerbook & need a new machine. Is the basic new IMac going to seem like light years ahead of what I've been using or should I bump up the spec & hope that in another ten years I will consider it money well spent or wish that I'd saved the extra £700 and just bought each new basic model as they improve, say every 3 to 4 years?

    You should bear in mind that upgrading hardware at this point will also require a major software upgrade. For example, the last version that runs on OS 10.7 or 10.8 is Photoshop CS3. None of your 10 year old software will even run. That is because power pc apps just do not run on Lion or Mountain Lion.
    So, you are looking at a substantial investment, for both hardware and software. (For what it's worth, I recently went through this process with a family member.)
    In pure dollars and cents (pounds and pennies?) terms, I think it makes sense to stick with the old for as long as you can, and make the switch only when you have to....

  • My macbook is five years old and has become slow. often displays the whirling kaleidoscope. can anyone please give me advice on what to do?

    My macbook is five years old and has become slow. often displays the whirling kaleidoscope. can anyone please give me advice on what to do?

    Quite often the HDD is the source of the problems.  Look at this comprehensive guide for possible solutions:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3521
    Ciao.

  • Siri for speech recognition with five year olds

    my reading program teaches 55 words in volume one, go to www,montessorihome,com scroll and download some free lessont o your iphone or ipad.
    How can we deploy SIRI and have the kids answer the device and we see if its correct and move on.
    thanks
    <Edited By Host>

    As Siri requires that you speak clearly and with a pronunciation as close to the standard as possible, I suspect it won't work very well for five-year-olds. Children that young have not entirely mastered all phonemes. Additionally, I don't believe that Apple has opened up the API for Siri for use in other apps, though I could be wrong about that. You would be better off posting in the Developers' Forum.

  • Hey guys. I want to connect my MacBook to my Samsung television and don't know what cable to purchase. It's a five year old machine and I presume a fairly simple solution but would appreciate it if someone could link me up to the correct cable to buy.

    Hey guys. I want to connect my MacBook to my Samsung television and don't know what cable to purchase. It's a five year old machine and I presume a fairly simple solution but would appreciate it if someone could link me up to the correct cable to buy.
    Thanks,
    Todd
    UK

    Depends on what input plug you'll be using on your TV. VGA, DVI, Composite or HDMI. You'll need a Mini-DVI adapter and a cable from that to your TV. Here's the various types of Mini-DVI adapters on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=min i-dvi&x=9&y=13
    (Composite is the red, white and yellow RCA plugs on your TV or red, white and S-Video plugs.)
    You'll also need audio cables to the TV using a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack to RCA sound plugs for VGA, DVI or Composite. You attach it from the headphone jack of your MacBook to the appropriate input plugs on your TV http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=min i-dvi&x=9&y=13#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=macbo o k+audio+cable&sprefix=macbook+audio+cable&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amacbook+audio+cable
    If you connect the MacBook using a Mini-DVI to HDMI adapter you will probably need to use external speakers or a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack to RCA sound plugs connected to a stereo system for audio if your TV doesn't have separate RCA input plugs or a 3.5mm stereo input plug for audio with the HDMI plug. The Mini-DVI to HDMI doesn't carry audio and there're no audio plugs on most TVs to work with HDMI since it's expecting audio with the HDMI.

  • I have a Pro that's about five years old.  It doesn't have a hash tag on the keyboard which is useless for Twitter.  How do I set up a shortcut.  Help is useless

    I have a Pro that's about five years old.  It doesn't have a hash tag on the keyboard which is useless for Twitter.  How do I set up a shortcut.  Help is useless
    Hold on, found it - Alt 3 - thanks to old messages. 

    hello, for the old sync system in firefox 28 and below you also had to sign up with a mail address and password originally - to connect firefox to the old account you would need to have all those three pieces (mail, password & recovery key) available to you unfortunately...

  • Firefox urges me to update my Flash Player to one with system requirements that exceed my five year old laptop's. What can I do, short of buying a new laptop?

    Hi!
    Today's Firefox update urges me to update my Flash Player to a version with system requirements that exceed my five year old laptop's (Intel Core Duo, 1.66 GHz, 667 MHz with Intel Integrated GM Accelerator 950 GM).
    I am already considering dropping back to Flash Player 9 because of the system requirement issue (and seeing blank image boxes at bhg.com). Is Firefox 6.0.2 compatible with Flash Player 9?
    What else can I do, short of buying a new laptop? Surely others have the same issue?
    k2

    For ringtones, iTunes > Preferences > General >Import Settings... button > choose Import using AAC encoder to enable Create AAC version from .m4a and mp3 files.

  • Apparently if you have a five year old iPod you can swap it with another one, is this true?

    i heard that if you have a five or more year old ipod you can swap it for a ipod nano is this true. if so how do i do it
    Farzad Jami

    Never heard of it...  A "five or more year old iPod" is like a 4th or 5th gen iPod (or iPod mini).  Not worth all that much...
    BUT if you had an ELEVEN year old iPod from 2001 that is still working, you could probably sell it on eBay and buy yourself a new iPod nano (or maybe even iPod touch). 

  • How do I enable my new macbook pro to become my default computer to sync all my apple devices-iphone 4, touch, ipod classic, nano?  My five year old dell's hard drive has only 2GB of space available and is currently the computer I use for all these device

    I have a new macbook pro that I wish to sync all my apple devices--ipodclassic,nano,iphone4,touch-- that are currently synced with a 5 year old windows based computer with only 2GB of available hard drive space. How can I do this and maintain all of my info-contacts, songs,photos etc without losing this data< Thanks

    you can either update to lion/ios5 and use the cloud to sync or you can plug in said devices and sync them with your MBP instead of your dell via a tethered usb connection.
    also, sign into your itunes store account on your mac.

  • My five year old bought over 200 dollars of "gems" on an ipad game. No warning or mention of such a purchase possibility...no confirmation prior to accpting or billing me. Where do I turn

    My  5 year old was able to purchase 200 dollars of "gems" on an ipad game. There was no warning or confirmation. No password required. Where do I turn?

    Apple - Support - iTunes Store - Contact Us - http://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html (as Roger Wilmut already suggested)
    iTunes Store: About In-App Purchases - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4009
    iOS: Understanding Restrictions - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4213 - "You can enable Restrictions, also known as Parental Controls, on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to prevent access to specific features."
    You should also consider removing credit card information from your account so no unconsidered purchases can be made by anybody.  iTunes Store: Changing Account Information - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1918

  • TS1424 My grandson made purchases on my phone last night is there anything that I could do he is five years old

    My 5 year old grandson made purchases on my phone last night is there anything I can do. I need help please. It came up to almost 100$ I am sick

    All purchases are considered final, but you can try contacting iTunes support and explain what happened and see if they will refund or credit you : http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/ - click on Contact iTunes Store Support on the right-hand side of the page, then Purchases, Billing & Redemption
    To try and stop it happening again, then if they were in-app purchases then you should be able to turn them off on your iPhone via Settings > General > Restrictions > In-App Purchases 'off', and (possibly depending upon what version of iOS that you have on the phone) you might be able to set 'Require Password' to 'Immediately' on the Restrictions screen.

  • Pushing for more time with a 4.5 year old PowerBook G4 1.33GHZ (12-inch).

    I have a PowerBook G4 1.33GHZ (12-inch) running Mac 10.4.11 that I purchased in the summer of 2004. It's been a great laptop, and in fact still continues to be with most of the things I use it for.
    Memory: original 512 total RAM (256 built in, 256 DDR SDRAM)
    Hard Drive: original FUJITSU MHT2060AT 55.89 GB (i.e. "60")
    Battery: Full Charge Capacity (mAh) of 945; 259 cycles. Replaced in Fall 2007 in the battery replacement program.
    Battery AC Adaptor: heavily modified due to needed repairs See here for what I did.
    So, a laptop that's lasted 4.5 years is pretty good, but I'd like to push for ~2 years more if possible.
    I use the laptop for web-browsing, document editing and presentations. I do a little bit of design (GIMP) and computation (Octave), and run a MAMP set-up for wordpress development at times, but currently it's almost fast enough for my needs.
    What would be recommended for upgrade? I'm already thinking about:
    *getting a memory upgrade. (the 1GB options on this page. Anybody have experience with these? I'm a poor grad student, so cost does matter, but I don't want to get something that doesn't improve my computer too.).
    *getting a new battery soon (current one lasts 40-60 minutes).
    To justify those costs to myself, I'm wondering about the probability of a component failing. The possible components I can imagine are:
    Hard-drive
    Display
    Motherboard
    keyboard/trackpad
    Anyone know average lifespan of those components for this computer? How risky is it to push for another 2 years?

    Welcome to the Apple discussions.
    To see if additional memory would help for what you run, in applications/utilities, open up Activity Monitor and look at the system memory tab, specifically at page ins/outs. If page outs is more than 10% to 15% or so of page ins, you can use more memory. That says your system doesn't have enough physical memory for what you run, and has to free up memory by moving it to the hard drive fairly often. The values reset whenever you reboot the system.
    On memory, you want to use quality memory, especially for a 1.33Ghz system. I'd recommend Crucial (http://www.crucial.com), Kingston - not their value-ram though (http://www.kingston.com) or Samsung, which is sold through distributors. Crucial is $53 and Samsung from OWC in your link is $55. You can usually find a 5% discount or free shipping coupon for Crucial on the web. Kingston memory is running $64+.
    Hard drives are one component that can fail, typically in the 3-5 year range. If you don't have it already, SMARTreporter is a neat monitoring program that puts an icon on your menu bar, which by monitoring the SMART status, can sometimes give you early warning of an impending failure. You can get this free utillity at http://www.corecode.at/smartreporter/ . Of course, having a regular backup regimen is your best insurance against hard drive failure.
    Display, logic board, and keyboard failures do happen, but not with great frequency. I wouldn't spend time considering that, epecially since there's not much you can do as preventative maintenance.
    One thing I do is to periodically run OnyX, which you can download from http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html . Run the tasks on the cleaning and maintenance tabs will help keep your disk in good order. Again, having a recent backup is good insurance when doing anything to the hard drive.

  • 1 year old MacBook Pro wont let me do a software update. Please help :(, 1 year old MacBook Pro wont let me do a software update. Please help :(

    Hi everyone,
    I purchased my MacBokk Pro a little over a year ago brand new from an Apple store. As of a few month ago it refuses to do a software update. It says it cant connect because of a network problem, but when I run a network diagnostic it says there is no problem. Please help me

    No specific update. Just trying to check for software updates and it wont even let me check for one. I know there will be many updates to do because it hasnt let me check for updates in months

Maybe you are looking for