stuffit

[mxpxpxpx]

Hello, I am new to macs. I was recently give a g3 with OS 9 on it, and I want to fix it up the first thing I wanted to do is get a recent browser ie 5 won't show yahoo.com, well I realized I needed stuffit, I downloaded StuffItStandard701.sit and StuffItSTD703Classic.hqx and extracted them on my pc and transfered them to my g3 but I can't get them to install. I either get an error message that says the program associated with the file cannot be found, or an icon with the letters PC on it. most of the stuffit files I find require stuffit, and seeing as the mac does not have it installed, how can I extract the install files if I don't have it? I am using an USB drive to transfer the files. Thanks for the help.

 

[twiSSt]

If memory serves me correctly, stuffit was part of the os 9 install, but it has been a really long time since I have messed with 9. Do a File > Find for Stuff-It or Aladdin it should be in Internet Extras or something like that.

Honestly - If you can upgrade to an older version of OS X, your introduction to Mac will be much better. What are the hardware specs - HD size, Processor speed, memory? I'm sure you can find 10.2 or 10.3 on eBay for a reasonable price.

Post the specs and we can direct you to the best fit.

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[jmgalvin]

First - you're unlikely to find a newer browser. As far as I remember, only IE5 and Navigator worked on 9. MS no longer makes any browser compatible with Mac and Netscape stopped all distribution. There were a few less known browsers for 9, but they're history.

The machine you inherited, should have Stuffit Expander on it. It came on most macs. As twist said, search for it on the machine.

Using OSX 10.3.9 & 10.4.11 on a G4, G5 & Intel Macbook

 

[spamjim]

Because those files have a PC in the icon, your Mac will probably not know what to do with them if you double-click to open.

Once you find StuffitExpander, drag either of those 'PC' files onto the StuffitExpander icon to re-inflate the contents.

You should have a OS9 system CD. StuffitExpander would be on that as well. You can't delete it from the system CD-ROM. IF you don't have a system CD, find one. It is important to have one on file in case other issues turn up.

 

[pentode]

You might want to at least consider trying a Linux install on the G3. You could at least get a newer browser. Performance could be an issue, but I don't really know.

http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/install

 

[mxpxpxpx]

twiSSt, ok the specs are kinda confusing to me it looks like a g3 case it has a zip drive and a dvd rom, and adb port on the back, but the processor is a PowerPC G4, 500 mhz, 1 gig ram, and 13 gig scsi HD. With these specs which version of os x should I run, Jaguar or Panther? and I did a search and stuffit is not there. Thanks for the help.

 

[twiSSt]

I would go with 10.4 if you can find it, 10.3 if not.

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[spamjim]

The current version of Firefox requires 10.4 (Tiger). 10.3 can only run Firefox 2. I'd go with Tiger even though the processor is only 500 MHz. That will give you the longest life, even if it requires more resources than previous OS's.

For clarity in this possibly frankensteined-machine, you can get system info from here:

http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=70

 

[jmgalvin]

You can tell a g3 from a 4 by color. The 3 will be blue (or beige in its earlier form). The 4 will be, most likely, dark gray, for the earlier ones - turning more silver as they get to later models. Though rare, it is possible to get a machine that a previous owner upgraded from a g3 to g4.

You can find out more info about the machine by going to Apple menu/About this mac. Then click the more info button. You'll get lots of info there. It's especially important that it have dvd as 10.4 only comes on dvd.

You have to be careful when loading a newer version of OSX on an older machine. Many require, at least, a firmware update. Apple has compatibility charts on there website, but you'll have to do some searching around.

You, most likely, will not be able to find 10.3 or 4 for sale (new) as osx is now at 5. If you find it used, you have to be careful about getting the full, non hardware specific version, as opposed to the install disk (s) that came with specific mac models.

Using OSX 10.3.9 & 10.4.11 on a G4, G5 & Intel Macbook