How To Install Mac Drive For Writing Dvd

I have an iMac G3 that does not have a DVD drive, which was gifted to me along with install media for Mac OS 10.0-10.4. When I received it, it had Mac OS 10.4 on it, but I have since wiped the hard drive and am installing my way back up to it (I'm currently on 10.3). However, I'm not sure how to install Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) since it comes on a DVD, but this iMac doesn't have a DVD drive. The original owner said something about how they put Tiger on an iPod to install it, but didn't remember the details. I could probably scrounge up an iPod if I need to, but I'd also be interested to know if there are other ways to install Tiger on a Mac without a DVD drive.

You can repurpose any hard drive to work with your Mac. Macs running OS 10.5 and higher -- Leopard to Yosemite -- include the Disk Utility program that allows users to check and repair disks and drives and to format or erase drives.

You can get an 8 GB USB thumb drive. Format as APT/HFS+. Use Disk Utility on another Mac to image/restore the contents of the USB drive to the USB drive.

Plug that drive in to the iMac and it should be bootable. It will be slow as all hell because it may only be USB1.1 depending on the age.

But it should work given enough time. Other alternatives including doing the same thing by partitioning the boot drive and using the extra partition volume. But on older Mac OS, you need to be booted off a different drive to cut up a drive, so that won't work for you. You could also use a NetBoot server on another machine and boot the installer over ethernet. But I suspect that's not something you're set up for either.

I think that USB option is it. If it's a newer model G3 iMac, maybe it has FireWire. Using a FireWire drive would be much more bearable.

If the computer won't boot from a USB device, how could I use than, a USB DVD player? I mean, isn't that a USB device?

Your computer will see and mount a USB device once the computer is booted. You can use the USB DVD drive to play movies, restore from backup etc. However, you cannot insert the install disk in the external USB DVD player, hold down the C key and boot the computer from the install disk in the external USB DVD drive to run Repair Disk in Disk Utility, or to reset an admin password if you have lost or forgotten yours, or if you decide that you wish to reinstall your OS. To sum up, your computer will be able to use an external USB DVD drive, once it is booted from the internal drive, but you cannot boot the computer from the external USB DVD drive. If the external DVD drive has a firewire interface, you can boot from an install disk for the purposes noted above. Please do post back if you have further questions. П˜‰ cornelius.

If the computer won't boot from a USB device, how could I use than, a USB DVD player? I mean, isn't that a USB device? Your computer will see and mount a USB device once the computer is booted. You can use the USB DVD drive to play movies, restore from backup etc.

However, you cannot insert the install disk in the external USB DVD player, hold down the C key and boot the computer from the install disk in the external USB DVD drive to run Repair Disk in Disk Utility, or to reset an admin password if you have lost or forgotten yours, or if you decide that you wish to reinstall your OS. To sum up, your computer will be able to use an external USB DVD drive, once it is booted from the internal drive, but you cannot boot the computer from the external USB DVD drive. If the external DVD drive has a firewire interface, you can boot from an install disk for the purposes noted above. Please do post back if you have further questions. П˜‰ cornelius. Apple Footer • This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only.

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