Mac OS Classic : OS 9 updates
OS 9 updates
by jennywren1420 - 1/3/09 11:11 AMElderly iMac owner, lover of the Internet and email, in distress. No, not me; my much-older cousin Barbara. The computer in question is a 2001 (white) iMac running OS 9.0.4. Yikes! Both I (yes, moi!) and a very young, rather tech who is not altogether familiar with OS 9 have gone over it—I, with Disk Warrior and a few other disks left over from my OS 9 days—and it looks OK. So far, so good.
Thing is, her devoted children and others have never updated her OS. She has been given a new printer that will not run on anything earlier than 9.2, and there are some oddities that occur when she signs in to her new—the other guy did it—way of getting email (IE 5-ish, plus Earthlink's WebMail). Windows about illegitimate certificates and all that. I am hoping that when I update her to 9.2.2, she not only will be able to use the new printer, but some of the stuff that is giving her the vapors will go away. Or at least, that the computer will be more compatible with the up-to-date Web and her email.
I tried, on her computer, to get to the Apple Web site Downloads window(s), but though the window partly appeared, it never completely loaded. The little black-and-white ball just turned and turned.
I did a search (all 38 pages of it) and found nothing to tell me whether software downloaded from Apple to my computer (G4 Sawtooth, OS 10.4.11) and then onto a disk could be successfully installed on her computer. Does my having a different Mac model and OS running nullify that possibility? I really couldn't get Apple Downloads to load on her computer, even after several tries. Other pages at Apple and elsewhere loaded well.
I also have, from the old OS 9 days on my G4, some Zip disks from when I downloaded 9.1, 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 for my own computer. If those would work better on her computer, I could install from those, perhaps. What do you think?
I also did a Google search for updates but came up empty, as far as I went. Any other ideas? I don't think that OS 9 has the equivalent of Software Update, so that's not an option.
I've got another question on her behalf, which I may pose to you, one day, but not now. (She got into a total mare's nest with her computer and the browser and email program she used to use—apparently, after cancelling the phone line that gave her dialup.) An answer to this question (I hope it's easy to answer) would be ample reward indeed.
This poor woman is delightful, and I'd love to help her in this simple way. She also is anxious and technologically impaired in the extreme (and almost eighty, or even there), so please don't suggest that she trade in her beloved iMac or switch to OS X. She just isn't up to it, and I certainly am not up to getting her up to speed on even a change to OS X—and certainly, not to an Intel computer, terra incognita to me, too.
I don't understand why I couldn't get Apple Downloads, but there must be another way around this. Thanks, in advance, for any help or insights on effecting this update.
Best,
Jenny
As far as the browser issue goes...
by grimgraphix - 1/3/09 11:43 AM In reply to: OS 9 updates by jennywren1420I believe iCab is still supporting a browser that will run on os 9. You should be able to download it onto your machine and then load it onto hers...
http://www.icab.de/dl.php
Go down to the bottom of the page and download the appropriate sit file version/language for your friend onto a thumb drive. iCab 2.9.9 supports Mac OS 7.5 - 9.2.2 (PPC, G3, G4) and it may get rid of the certificate issue you mentioned. I had to load it onto a friend of me mums' old bondi blue imac in order to get her up onto the net - she had never been on the web until last year.
Can you be a bit more clear on what objectives you need/want to accomplish for your friend? Frankly... an OSX update would be the most appropriate thing to do if the goal is to get the computer to "be more compatible with the up-to-date Web and her email." Have you let her have a go on your mac, to see if she might be able to get up to speed on OSX ?
Thanks for advice
by jennywren1420 - 1/3/09 12:22 PM In reply to: As far as the browser issue goes... by grimgraphixFor now all I want to do is update her OS 9 to 9.2.2. That will enable her to use the new printer and might even have some other benefits. She could not handle anything beyond that. Take my word for it. She knows nothing about technology of any sort and even cut herself off from her beloved Internet (including copious email) by turning off the phone line that was enabling her to use an Earthlink dialup connection. (Nobody ever told her that she needed a phone line to have that.) She now has cable broadband, but somehow, though agencies outside my ken, she still is having a few problems, which she aggravated by trying to deal with them herself. She doesn't understand the lingo; she cannot fathom what to do beyond the familiar. Even having to switch from one email program to another and sign in each time she goes into her Inbox has her in a state of dismay.
I am hoping to speak with her ISP and get her authentication problems sorted out, so she may be able go back to her old way of doing things, but I may not be able to get to that for a while. In the meantime, installing the updates leading to and including 9.2.2 will be fine.
Thanks again for your help.
Jenny
Ahhh, the signs of old age
by mrmacfixit
- 1/3/09 11:48 AM
In reply to: OS 9 updates by jennywren1420
Even with 9.2.2, poor Barbara's web surfing experience will not be any better, although she will be able to print!.
The problem here is the browser, IE5.5(maybe), that is not capable of rendering the current websites. It never was a really good browser, on any platform, and MS ceased supporting it when OS X & Safari were introduced. (2000)
Even with 9.2.2 installed, there is no current browser that will run on it and, if you find an old version of Netscape, you will have the same problem as right now.
OS 9.1 71MB Can be found Here
and
OS 9.2.1 82MB can be found Here
Your best bet here would be to download those updates from the links given, using your computer, burn a CD of them and install them on her machine.
If you could attach the ZIP drive to her computer, you could use your existing downloads as the updates were not machine specific.
Could it be that it is time for "her devoted children" to upgrade everything she has? Although I fear that the poor dear would be in a complete Tizz in OS X.
P
Ah, yes
by jennywren1420 - 1/3/09 12:37 PM In reply to: Ahhh, the signs of old age by mrmacfixit
Thank you, Peter. You are quite correct about all of this, and maybe that is the reason that Apple Downloads refused to load. I do hope that 9.2.2 won't undo what she is currently able to do, but I can't see why it would.
No question of using Netscape, I'm afraid. Babara already is in a "tizz," as you so aptly put it, simply because she's using Earthlink's WebMail and must sign in each time. There even was a to-do about her password (which I changed for her), but now she seems to be able to get to her email all right. Her calls to Earthlink and Time Warner Cable infuriated her (and seem to have wrought even more havoc). Things are stable for the moment, so I'm just going to install the updates and leave the rest for a while. Or forever.
As for the children and doting others, they and Apple and everyone else but me (not a fuddy duddy, exactly, but understanding her distress) are pounding on her to upgrade, not only to OS X, but to a new Mac. Among other things, it makes life easier for them, and they really don't get what this lovely, ditzy, old-school lady is about. It's wonderful that she uses computers at all!
Having dealt with such issues for my mother, I can step into her shoes pretty effectively. I think that she'll be with OS 9 for the rest of her computing life or until someone takes her computing over for her.
I do appreciate that you get this, even though you naturally are on the side of progress. I understand that, too.
Best,
Jenny
End in sight, I hope
by jennywren1420 - 1/8/09 11:16 PM In reply to: Ahhh, the signs of old age by mrmacfixit
The last time I was with Barbara, I updated OS 9.0.4 to 9.2.2 and seem to have gotten her messages to load from Earthlink to her (familiar but somewhat updated) favored email program, Outlook Express (5.x, I think). Not my choice. Hers. I also finally intuited (not really a word, but who cares?) that when she said that she wanted "her Google," she meant that she wanted to see it as it appears on a google.com start page.
The only problem is that although her browser, Internet Explorer (5.06, I think, but I shall update that to a higher version of 5.1 tomorrow), loads, when I tried, repeatedly, to upload any other Web site, it loaded only a small part of the page. Time Warner is going there tomorrow, because they thought there was a chance that it had something to do with the cable modem, but I suspect not. On the off chance that it is that pesky browser, I am going to Barbara's apartment armed with a thumb drive carrying IE up to 5.1.7 (the last to be compatible with OS 9), as well as Netscape 7.01, which is what I was using at some point and which is the browser that my mother used (successfully) with OS 9. I hope that one of them will work, obviating a lot of messing around by Time Warner. I know that Peter said that it won't work well, but with my mother's computer functioning well enough with it, I see an (illusory?) infinitesimal ray of hope beyond. Surely, there must be a way to do that.
Of course, I can also try to find iCab, suggested by grimgraphix earlier in this thread. I never had heard of it to that point, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have merit. Of course, if the update of IE can be made to do its thing, that would be best: Barbara has the vapors at any hint of a change of any kind, so although it would just be that the icons in the toolbar might look a little different, if I don't have to make waves, I shan't. In her ditzy way, that woman has a will of iron and an astounding inability to comprehend either what she is being told or the necessity of try to do so. It's an education, I can tell you; I am learning very effectively, between one person and another for whom I am a helper, just how I want NOT to be. If achieving such a thing is possible, that is.
Thanks to you, Peter, and anyone else who has helped me along the way. I just hope that one way or another, I shall be liberated by the end of tomorrow and that Barbara will be blissfully back where she started with her email and her Internet searches.
Whew! Again, thanks,
Jenny
Blissful conclusion
by jennywren1420 - 1/11/09 10:26 AM In reply to: End in sight, I hope by jennywren1420Dear patient readers,
The end is near (or in sight) for the saga of my cousin. She still is using versions of Explorer and Express for Mac, but I updated them to the greatest extent (along with OS9, the firmware and everything else I could in the time I had). I also stayed while Time Warner (whence her cable modem came) visited. The computer is astonishingly fast for an iMac.
Barbara is back to sending and receiving her email and is in seventh heaven about it. She can't (yet?) get into all Web pages with Explorer, but the ones I tried that she does care about can handle her old browser all right. I want to try to find the latest version of Flash that her computer can handle and hope that will allow her to see the rest, but never mind. She probably doesn't care. Now to connect her new printer, which she can use, at last, because of the OS update to 9.2.2. Apparently, her grown-up kids are too busy (for a task that takes only a few minutes?), or she just doesn't want to ask them to do it. No matter. It will get done on my next visit.
Your interest, patience and help have been invaluable—not to speak of having given me an outlet for my puzzled frustration. You have done an elderly lady and her slightly frazzled cousin a great service. I got a trip to the theater, two dinners and several lunches out of it; you get nothing but my most sincere thanks and the satisfaction that you have been immensely helpful. I hope to return the favor, as needed, to the best of my ability.
A happy 2009 to all,
Jenny
(NT) What more do we need? You're welcome. HNY2U2
by mrmacfixit - 1/11/09 12:31 PM
In reply to: Blissful conclusion by jennywren1420
Probably Needs More memory
by wrfisher - 1/11/09 2:56 PM In reply to: Blissful conclusion by jennywren1420Upgrading to the max posible memory will speed things up quite a bit. So see if it possible to add more memory - it is not that hard to install and should be very low cost.
I don't know which iMac so I can't tell you, but if you use 'about this mac' in the Apple icon menu, then go on-line to 'otherworldcomputing' and look at memory upgrades. They have an interactive search feature that will show her model specs and will show you if the memory can be upgraded or added to - plus show you if it's for sale, and even tell/show you how to install it. This is a very easy operation.
Thanks for the input
by jennywren1420 - 1/11/09 6:05 PM In reply to: Probably Needs More memory by wrfisherI'm really not likely to be doing anything more—at least, in the short term. But thanks so much. I'll keep that in mind.
Best,
Jenny
Upgrade to OS X 10.3
by isumbras - 10/4/09 9:26 AM In reply to: Thanks for the input by jennywren1420Depending on how much memory you currently have on board (ideally 512Mb or more) a move to OS X might be a good move. Your computer (I think the White iMacs were 500Mhz or 600Mhz) should be able to handle OS X 10.3 Jaguar fine. You would still be able to run all you OS 9 Apps. but would have, amongst other things, the advantage of Safari as your web browser.
See if you can pick up a second-hand copy on eBay.
Upgrading to 9.2.2
by JessGless - 9/3/09 7:53 PM In reply to: OS 9 updates by jennywren1420You should be able to upgrade to OS 9.2.2, however, you will probably need to upgrade to OS 9.2 first. The URL below is a site on Apples' Web Site to download the OS 9.2.2
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75186
You might want to go to a search engine and type in something like the following - upgrading from Mac OS 9.0 (or your version) to OS 9.2.2
You might get some Apple Technical documents that will explain the process. Take it step by step or you might mess up your system. You'll find a LOT of help on the Apple site. Just keep searching in their Knowledge Base and their Legacy Software.
It sounds like your tekkie might be more Windows oriented? The Apple site is the place for him to go - definitely.
You might think about maxing out your RAM if that hasn't been done also. That is the cheapest way to speed up operations of an old computer. Try that and the OS Upgrades (these may also be Free) and you'll think you have a new computer.
JESSE
Late posting - other replies originally not listed for me
by JessGless - 9/3/09 7:57 PM In reply to: OS 9 updates by jennywren1420Sorry, I did not see the other Replies listed when I read your request. I don't know why, but it looks like I was a bit late with the advice.
Good to see that you are up and running on a new system if not a new computer.
JESSE
hey
by Bigjake52 - 9/22/09 3:56 PM In reply to: OS 9 updates by jennywren1420I would let her look at you're Osx Mac,
But I would put her on 9.2.2
And look at Icab as well as Classiczilla ( I think thats how you spell it)
Its a fire fox port and looks like netscrsp ( netscspe) its much better then is5.5 or any ie verson for that matter,
Its people like her we see that older macs work better then most window systems, I am still using os 8 on some of my macs I have older porgrams that will not run in 9.0 or 8.1 for that matter
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