How to "defrag" G4 Mac on 10.2.8

[100949football]

Hi,

I've tried showing movie trailers on my Mac G4 running 10.2.8 with 1GB DRAM and find they freeze re-start, freeze, re-start making the trailer unwatchable.

I've been told my computer needs cleaned up "de-fragged".

How would I go about doing this - in layman's terms please as you are dealing with a computer "idiot" of around fifteen years standing on Macs!

Many thanks for anyone's help as it is most frustrating.

[Greybeard]

Hi,
You could use iDefrag but I have never had need to use it.
Have a look here
When was the last time you repaired your permissions usually the root of any issues.

[gasman1]

What sort of trailers are you trying to play, if it's hi-def stuff then it's most likely your computer processor being inadequate. My G4 powerbook struggles a bit with h264 mp4's (the apple standard), anything high def, it gives up tye ghost completely.
Other than that, try disk utilities (in applications/utilities), verify and repair permissions on your disc.

[gasman1]

Also, as I understand it, Macs don't need defragging as the file structure is different to windows, they kind of automate it.

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by 100949football

I've tried showing movie trailers on my Mac G4 running 10.2.8 with 1GB DRAM and find they freeze re-start, freeze, re-start making the trailer unwatchable.

I've been told my computer needs cleaned up "de-fragged".

How would I go about doing this - in layman's terms please as you are dealing with a computer "idiot" of around fifteen years stand

As above you're running a very old version of OS X on an old CPU with I would guess very little (less than 1Gb) RAM?

If its HD then I think you'll struggle and nothing will play smoothly. Are the trailers from the iTunes store?

If you're not already aware you can click the Apple menu top left and choose "About this Mac" then "More Info" which give you info on the setup of your G4's RAM etc

As to defragging it would be a very slow process on that Mac and you'd have to buy an app to do it.

Post the spec and we can advise further. Though I'd add that if you want to keep the Mac it would be worth upgrading your OS to Tiger, look for a copy on eBay.

[100949football]

Originally Posted by Tenex

As above you're running a very old version of OS X on an old CPU with I would guess very little (less than 1Gb) RAM?

If its HD then I think you'll struggle and nothing will play smoothly. Are the trailers from the iTunes store?

If you're not already aware you can click the Apple menu top left and choose "About this Mac" then "More Info" which give you info on the setup of your G4's RAM etc

As to defragging it would be a very slow process on that Mac and you'd have to buy an app to do it.

Post the spec and we can advise further. Though I'd add that if you want to keep the Mac it would be worth upgrading your OS to Tiger, look for a copy on eBay.

As I said you are dealing with the original Mac Dummy here so don't laugh out loud!

350 MHZ Power PC G4
1GB SDRAM
1 Hard Drive 10gb ATA
2nd Hard Drive 40GB ATA.

( I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80gb hardrive which I have not installed. )

21" Mac Monitor - conventional type.

What can I expect to pay for Tiger - is it "legal" to buy of that other site second hand - where does Tiger lie in the current Mac "league table".

Would it be better for me to ditch my G4 and go for something newer/better like an Imac?

all assistance welcomed - with open arms!

[gasman1]

And what sort of vids are you trying to play?

(control-click get info, we need file type and codecs, which are listed below)

[100949football]

Originally Posted by gasman1

And what sort of vids are you trying to play?

(control-click get info, we need file type and codecs, which are listed below)

just movie trailers from the Apple site or any others like from Cineworld

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by 100949football

As I said you are dealing with the original Mac Dummy here so don't laugh out loud!

No worries we're a good mix of abilities and experience in here

Originally Posted by 100949football

350 MHZ Power PC G4
1GB SDRAM
1 Hard Drive 10gb ATA
2nd Hard Drive 40GB ATA.

( I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80gb hardrive which I have not installed. )

21" Mac Monitor - conventional type.

What can I expect to pay for Tiger - is it "legal" to buy of that other site second hand - where does Tiger lie in the current Mac "league table".

Would it be better for me to ditch my G4 and go for something newer/better like an Imac?

all assistance welcomed - with open arms!

Tiger isn't sold any more and your spec won't support Leopard. I don't think Apple will worry about after market sales of the OS. As to price, honestly no idea. It may be an idea to post a "Wanted" ad in the classifieds here first.

Realistically your G4 may have years of life left in it but technology has moved on and its of a vintage that can't cope with the demands of modern multimedia either movie or film (thinking of RAW photo processing etc).

I'd say it is a good time to say goodbye to the G4 but whether you go for an iMac or Mac Mini is down to you. When you say 'conventional type' do you mean CRT? While CRT has its merits LCD screens are de rigeur now and have many benefits not the least of which is freeing up desk space. You should also be able to find a home for the G4 via eBay and that will reduce the cost of the new one.

I don't really think the cost of upgrading a Mac that has served faithfully but can't really hope to a much longer existence is really worthwhile.

HTH

[gasman1]

Your specs won't be able to play iTunes videos, primarily processor speed is too low. But, if not playing vids is not the end of the world, why upgrade? It should be fine for emails, light web surfing etc.

[100949football]

Originally Posted by Tenex

No worries we're a good mix of abilities and experience in here



Tiger isn't sold any more and your spec won't support Leopard. I don't think Apple will worry about after market sales of the OS. As to price, honestly no idea. It may be an idea to post a "Wanted" ad in the classifieds here first.

Realistically your G4 may have years of life left in it but technology has moved on and its of a vintage that can't cope with the demands of modern multimedia either movie or film (thinking of RAW photo processing etc).

I'd say it is a good time to say goodbye to the G4 but whether you go for an iMac or Mac Mini is down to you. When you say 'conventional type' do you mean CRT? While CRT has its merits LCD screens are de rigeur now and have many benefits not the least of which is freeing up desk space. You should also be able to find a home for the G4 via eBay and that will reduce the cost of the new one.

I don't really think the cost of upgrading a Mac that has served faithfully but can't really hope to a much longer existence is really worthwhile.

HTH

Yes by "conventional" I mean the monster CRT.

What is the difference between Imac and Mac Mini?

I want/need a DTP package as well along the lines of the now-defunct Pagemaker which was my main programme.
I still have it on a secondary disc running 9.2 but it is a real pain constantly changing hard-drives to access Pagemaker 7.

Thanks for everyone's input - it is greatly appreciated.

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by 100949football

Yes by "conventional" I mean the monster CRT.

What is the difference between Imac and Mac Mini?

I want/need a DTP package as well along the lines of the now-defunct Pagemaker which was my main programme.
I still have it on a secondary disc running 9.2 but it is a real pain constantly changing hard-drives to access Pagemaker 7.

Thanks for everyone's input - it is greatly appreciated.

Traditionally the major difference between the Mini and iMac was the graphics card in the iMac was superior, but this time around the base iMac has the same GPU as the Mini.

So generally the iMac is available in more powerful configurations and has the benefit of being an all-in-one unit. It is easier to later upgrade RAM if needed. It has an integrated iSight camera which could be used for Skype, iChat, etc and is utilised by some applications (eg. Delicious Library, Skitch etc).

The Mini is extremely small and very capable especially in the latest model. It allows you to choose a specific make and size of monitor.

As to DTP I'd suggest you take a look at Pages which is part of Apple's iWork suite. Take a look at the brief tutorials here for an idea of what it can do. I'm not familiar with PageMaker. HTH

[100949football]

Originally Posted by Tenex

Traditionally the major difference between the Mini and iMac was the graphics card in the iMac was superior, but this time around the base iMac has the same GPU as the Mini.

So generally the iMac is available in more powerful configurations and has the benefit of being an all-in-one unit. It is easier to later upgrade RAM if needed. It has an integrated iSight camera which could be used for Skype, iChat, etc and is utilised by some applications (eg. Delicious Library, Skitch etc).

The Mini is extremely small and very capable especially in the latest model. It allows you to choose a specific make and size of monitor.

As to DTP I'd suggest you take a look at Pages which is part of Apple's iWork suite. Take a look at the brief tutorials here for an idea of what it can do. I'm not familiar with PageMaker. HTH

Many thanks friend,

"Pages" looks very like Pagemaker - if anything more modern, which wouldn't surprise me as Adobe stopped Pagemaker a few years back.

Looks like an IMac would be my best bet!

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by 100949football

Many thanks friend,

"Pages" looks very like Pagemaker - if anything more modern, which wouldn't surprise me as Adobe stopped Pagemaker a few years back.

Looks like an IMac would be my best bet!

HTH, let us know how you get on and what you eventually decide. Just in case you haven't heard of it the Apple refurb store is a good way of saving on a new purchase. Search here and you'll find many happy purchasers.

[100949football]

Originally Posted by Tenex

HTH, let us know how you get on and what you eventually decide. Just in case you haven't heard of it the Apple refurb store is a good way of saving on a new purchase. Search here and you'll find many happy purchasers.

Many thanks mate, it's amazing what information can be gleaned from these very helful Forums.

With pennies tight at the moment I'm really searching in the bargain basement - I also need my G4 almost daily so to sell this one and get an Imac or MacMini would mean me being without in the interim - not something I'd like as i do use my G4 for our small business on a daily basis.

Thanks anyway.

Incidentally.......what does HTH mean?