Used to startup Classic while in OSX but now I can't. +

Question

Hi,
I have three questions in this post. Thanks for helping me with any of them!
I am unable to start up Classic while I am on 10.4.1. I can go into the Start Up disk and select the folder OS.9.1 and restart my computer and I will be in OS.9.1, but when I go to the Startup disk while on OS 9.1 to switch to 10.4.1, there isn't any window to do it from. I had to reinstall 10.4.1 to get back to it. I used to be
able to switch back and forth, but when I upgraded to Tiger I lost the capability.
Most of my apps are on Classic too, Dreamweaver 4, Illustrator 8, Flash 5, Photoshop 6, and I can't get to them either?
Are there any good and reliable cleanup packages to get the garbage out and order your hardrive? Or should I take it to a computer professional? Any recommendations there (NYC)?
Any suggestions?
(P.S. Thanks Tom)

Answer 1

Hi, painterly -
...but when I go to the Startup disk while on OS 9.1 to switch to 10.4.1, there isn't any window to do it from.
By default, OS 9's Startup Disk control panel will show only the one OS (OS 9) in its window. Just to the left of the hard drive's name in the list in Startup Disk is a small bluish reveal triangle - click it, and all valid OS's on the hard drive will be shown. You should then be able to select OSX as the boot OS for the next startup.
You can also hold down the X key while booting in order to force a boot to OSX - press it as soon as the startup chimes sound, keep it held down until you are sure it is booting to OSX. This is a one-off instruction - it will not change the startup setting in PRAM, which will remain OS 9 until it has been reset in Startup Disk.
Note - the Startup Disk control panel that comes with a "virgin" OS 9.1 install can not recognize OSX as a viable boot OS. The solutions for this are ro -
• upgrade just the Startup Disk control panel in OS 9.1. You can download that from here -
Startup Disk 9.2.1 Document and Software
• upgrade the OS 9.1 to OS 9.2.1 or later (9.2.2). You can download those updaters from these pages -
Article #120030 - Mac OS 9.2.1 - Download and Info
Article #75186 - Mac OS 9.2.2 - Download and Info
• use the X key at startup to get back into OSX from OS 9.1.
• boot to an OSX install disk and use its Startup Disk in System Preferences to select OSX on the hard drive as the boot OS.
Holding down the Option key at startup will bring up Startup Manager. This can be used to select the OS you wish to use as the boot OS on that startup, provided that the different OS's are on separate volumes (volume = an unpartitioned drive, or a partition of a partitioned drive). If they are on the same volume, Startup Manager will show but one OS, the one last used on that volume.
Article #106178 - Startup Manager: How to Select a Startup Volume
<hr>
I am unable to start up Classic while I am on 10.4.1.
You may need to update the OS 9.1 to OS 9.2.x (9.2.1 or 9.2.2) in order to get OSX 10.4.x to recognize it as Classic. OS 9.2.x provides better compatibility in the Classic mode.
Most of my apps are on Classic too, Dreamweaver 4, Illustrator 8, Flash 5, Photoshop 6, and I can't get to them either?
Until you can get OSX to recognize and use your OS 9 install as Classic, the Classic-version apps will not be able to be run while the machine is booted to OSX.
The solutions for that are to get OSX to recognize OS 9 as Classic; boot into OS 9 whenever you need to use those apps; or get OSX-versions or replacements for those apps.
<hr>
Are there any good and reliable cleanup packages to get the garbage out and order your hardrive?
Not really - at least, none that I would trust. Programs such as those behave according to the logic of the folk that wrote the program, and that logic probably does not apply to your collection of files (programs and documents).
Rebuilding the desktop file can help OS 9 run better.
Article #10182 - Rebuilding Desktop File and Icon Recovery
Beyond that, manually cleaning out the garbage (orphaned support files left behind after a program has been deleted, old documents, etc.) is the only safe way to get rid of unneeded things. Even then, be cautious - it's not difficult to accidentally throw away a needed file.
Provided you have at least 15% of the hard drive (ideally at least 5GB) left unused, fragmenting of files should not be an issue. OSX in particular defrags files on the fly as part of its normal operation.