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Mike Lesnett

Q: Installing OS X 10.4 on empty hard drive

Hi, I have been searching the web for a while trying to find the answer but have been unsuccessful. I have a 12 inch powerbook g4(1.5 Ghz ppc) and my original HD went bad. I bought a new 160gb seagate HD and swapped it out myself. Where do I go from here? Do I just put the 10.4 disc that came with my mac in the optical drive and then boot up? or do I boot up and then put the disc in? Do I need to format my new HD before either of those? Thanks...

12" Powerbook G4 (1.5GHz PPC), Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.25 Gb RAM

Posted on Jan 29, 2009 2:27 PM

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Q: Installing OS X 10.4 on empty hard drive

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  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Jan 29, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Mike Lesnett
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 29, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Mike Lesnett
    [Post on just this topic a few hours ago|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8899333#8899333]

    [Formatting & Partitioning a Hard Drive in OS X|http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html]

    [Journaling, Zeroing, Partitioning & OS 9 driver|http://forums.bombich.com/viewtopic.php?t=4084]

    [Kappy's extensive hard drive formatting post|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8340551&#8340551]

    Message was edited by: Limnos
  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Jan 29, 2009 2:36 PM in response to Mike Lesnett
    Level 10 (123,795 points)
    Jan 29, 2009 2:36 PM in response to Mike Lesnett
    Hi Mike,

    1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
    2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
    *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
    3. Click the Erase tab.
    4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
    5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    6. Highlight the drive, select Erase Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion hopefully you'll be able to install.
  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 29, 2009 2:50 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 9 (54,543 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 29, 2009 2:50 PM in response to BDAqua
    Note that with a brand new drive you may need to partition the drive to a compatible format before simply formatting - see the post earlier today to which I referred.