I just got a second hand g3 ibook however it has been formated so has no operating system I downloaded os x 10.4 and tried loading with no success, I was told that you need an earlier version so I downloaded os 9 and tried loading that. It seems as thought nothing is working and continuesly flashes a file with a face and a question mark. Can some help I've never used a mac?

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Originally Posted by snow_bee

I just got a second hand g3 ibook however it has been formated so has no operating system i downloaded os x 10.4 and tried loading with no sucess, i was told that you need an earlier version so i downloaded os 9 and tried loading that. It seems as thought nothing is working and continuesly flashes a file with a face and a question mark. Can some help ive never used a mac?

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You cannot download OS 9 or 10.4 from Apple's site or any site. You are downloading updates only. You have to buy the basic OS. Here's the requirements for Tiger 10.4.

OS 10. 4 Tiger requirements
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html

Also, if OS X 10 has not previously been installed on the iBook, an update of the firmware may be required. See Mac OS X: Available firmware updates
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

You can buy 10.4 Tiger install DVDs at the Apple Store or most computer stores. Here's an online source. Apple Rescue http://www.applerescue.com/

Since you are new to Macs, Look at these links from Apple. Some areas relate to Tiger (10.4), but they should give you an overview regardless of which version of OS X you are using.

Switch 101
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

Mac 101
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

Quick Assist
http://www.apple.com/support/quickassist/

This Ask Me site is OK for computer questions, but you will get better answers if you post on Apple's Discussions iBook pages. http://discussions.apple.com/categor...categoryID=130

Cheers, Tom