Returning G3 ibook to factory settings

My G3 ibook has finally given up the ghost and I have treated myself to a nice new Macbook!

Migration Assistant wouldnt work as it claimed there was no OS on the old Mac which I presume means the OS is shot. The hard drive still works fine as I was able to import all my music, photos, movies and a few apps via target disk mode.

I would like to sell the ibook and am hoping that returning it to factory settings will sort out the OS issue. How do I go about doing this? I think the guy in the Apple Store called it an Erase & Install?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

G3 ibook, Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Jul 12, 2007 4:25 AM

19 replies

Matty T Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 18, 2007 1:37 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Hi Ronda,

Right I think we are getting there - the Erase & Install worked with the Tiger disc so I now have 10.4 installed on the ibook but with a pretty bare OS (there is itunes but no iphoto, garageband or imovie for example).

I downloaded the Software Restore but when I ran it on the ibook it asked for a disc that I didn't have (with a No. 1 to the right of the centre of the disc).

I decided to leave this and try to install ilife 05 instead but when it asked me for a destination to install the software, I could not select the hard drive. It said below that "some volumes are unavailable until the installer has finished processing" but the spinning circle in the corner (not the beachball) just keeps on spinning so I couldn't continue!

Any ideas?

Thanks Ronda.

p.s. iphone in the U.K. - Woo Hoo!!!

Sep 18, 2007 6:49 PM in response to Matty T

Try repairing permissions on the hard drive with Disk Utility from the Utilities folder in the Applications folder on the hard drive. Then restart and try again to install iLife '05.

Matty T Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 22, 2007 9:06 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

Job done - installed iLife fine and the ibook is now on ebay! Will be sad to see it go but I am more than content with my superb Macbook!

Thanks for all your help Ronda, it has been very much appreciated.

Matt.

Sep 22, 2007 9:39 AM in response to Matty T

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Returning G3 ibook to factory settings