iMac version 83.2 backup question and memory card upgrade possible?

hi there to anyone who can help me...
my boyfriend has an old school iMac version 83.2 power PC G3 350MHz
128MB. it is running the OX operating system 10.2.8 which i believe has
been installed wrong as he only has 6Gs of space on his computer - all
of which is used up by his applications and an extensive image/picture
collection. he has about 1G - if that left to use.

my 1st question is... how do i backup these files onto a disc? when i
pop in a blank CD-R it spits it out. id like to get the pics of the
computer so i can reformat/partition the harddrive properly. ive tried
going into the classic environment and nothing seems to work there, it
appears to start and then its gone. if the imac had a firewire outlet
id just drag all the pics over to my external harddrive, but alas, it
doesnt. any ideas on what can be done?

2nd question is... i have just upgraded my memory card in my G3 iBook.
is it possible to take my old memory card and stick it in the iMac? my
card is double the size. are they compatible? will it fit?

3rd question is... when and if i reformat his iMac, is it ok to use the
sofware discs that came with my iBook? or is this a big no no? it
appears that is possibly what someone did before on his computer and
his computer works great aside from the space issue.

thanks to all in advanced, this forum has saved my computers life more
than once! *dalyn

In <. com> dalynberryman@
gmail.com wrote:
> hi there to anyone who can help me...
> my boyfriend has an old school iMac version 83.2 power PC G3 350MHz
> 128MB. it is running the OX operating system 10.2.8 which i believe
> has been installed wrong as he only has 6Gs of space on his computer -
> all of which is used up by his applications and an extensive image/
> picture collection. he has about 1G - if that left to use.
>
> my 1st question is... how do i backup these files onto a disc? when i
> pop in a blank CD-R it spits it out.

Unless it's had a third-party upgrade it will only have a CD-ROM drive.
It can't write CDs.

> id like to get the pics of the
> computer so i can reformat/partition the harddrive properly. ive tried
> going into the classic environment and nothing seems to work there, it
> appears to start and then its gone. if the imac had a firewire outlet
> id just drag all the pics over to my external harddrive, but alas, it
> doesnt. any ideas on what can be done?

Network it with another computer that does have a way of backing up the
files. All you need is a crossover Ethernet cable to connect the two
together.

> 2nd question is... i have just upgraded my memory card in my G3 iBook.
> is it possible to take my old memory card and stick it in the iMac? my
> card is double the size. are they compatible? will it fit?

Unfortunately not. The iBooks use SO-DIMMs which are physically smaller
than the DIMMs that the slot-loading iMacs use.

> 3rd question is... when and if i reformat his iMac, is it ok to use
> the sofware discs that came with my iBook? or is this a big no no?

Most bundled Mac OS installers are tied to the model they were supplied
with and will refuse to install onto any other model, but some will work
on any. Try it and see. The installer will either run fine or it will
stop with a warning.

> it
> appears that is possibly what someone did before on his computer and
> his computer works great aside from the space issue.

This site has some tips on freeing up disk space:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html

In particular look for out for a 'Previous Systems' folder. This is left
behind if the archive and install option is used when installing the
operating system and can be fairly large.

--
Roger Johnstone, Invercargill, New Zealand
http://roger.geek.nz/
__________________________________________________ ______________________
No Silicon Heaven? Preposterous! Where would all the calculators go?

Kryten, from the Red Dwarf episode "The Last Day"