Troubleshooting, memory, et al.

[Telemakhos]

I have owned a *recalls from memory* 400MHz G4, 10GB hard drive, that I've owned going on four years this summer.  (I'm at home now on break, but the computer is at school.)

Now, I have very much enjoyed owning a Mac (especially since this September when I upgraded to OS X finally).  

However, there is a level of familiarity that I have always had with PCs that I have never had with my computer.  

On a PC I know how to:
defrag the drive
completely uninstall a program
run adaware etc.
delete all temp files
perform general troubleshooting

These sorts of maintenance things I don't really know how to do on a Mac, and I was wondering if anyone had tips for me.  

Also, the computer is still suiting me well, and I plan to continue using it, but the 10GB hard drive I find limiting.  Are there cheap places/ways to increase hard drive space?  That is, where can I buy cheap memory, and/or how can I maximize usage of the HD space I have?

Finally, I don't want to start a lengthy debate over this, but is it worth switching to Safari from IE?  I get the same familiarity issues with this as well--I know IE front and back, but not Safari.  But I don't want that to stop me from using what could be a better program.  

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can help!

[kelly]

Telemakhos. Hello. Welcome to the Forum.

"On a PC I know how to:

defrag the drive"

Norton SystemWorks has a mac as well as PC version for this.

"completely uninstall a program"

Most of the times you just throw the parts away.

"run adaware etc."

Not needed for macs.

"delete all temp files

perform general troubleshooting"

Here's a good start.

http://www.macattorney.com/tutorial.html

And of course ask here.

I used IE for years but I like Safari a lot. It's up to you.

You should Add to or replace your Hard Drive. They're pretty cheap.

http://dealmac.com/sections/storage.html

I buy my RAM from OWC.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Director...emory&Template=

Good luck.

[giantmike]

Kelly hit everything on the head. I would just like to say that I prefer memory from Crucial.com over anywhere else.

As for the hard drive, it is an IDE in that machine, so any IDE/ATA drive you get will work (will just have to be formatted using Disk Utility).

[Telemakhos]

Thanks so much.  Some of this stuff I can look at now, and I'll try to reply again once I'm back with my computer and can actually do some things rather than just learning how now.  

In the meantime, this seems like quite the forum.  I think I might stick around...

[mooregr]

The second 3.5" IDE drive will need to be jumpered so that it is a Slave drive. Usually they are marked on the top of the drive or on the circuit board to indicate what the jumper setting will do to the drive. Usually there is a jumper that may be not doing anything or jumpered as Master.  Most of the time new drives are set to Master as the default setting. There are jumper settings for Cabel Select(CS), Slave and Master.  Most IDE setups have two busses each bus has it's own cable. Each cable has two connectors on it.  On any one cable you use either the Cable Select configuration on both drives that are connected to that particular cable or use the Master/Slave configuration by setting one drive to Master and the other drive to Slave. You can't mix one Cabel Select and one Master or Slave on the same cable. The initial drive installed is set to Master so the second drive should be set to Slave.  I have tried using Cable Select on the same model G4 Mac you are describing and setting the jumpers to Cable Select was unreliable and caused weird problems. Switching back to a Master and Slave configuration fixed all of the weird problems.  On G4s like you mention the drive bracket from the factory drive has holes in it just above the current drive for the second drive to be mounted. The IDE cable has a connector for  then new  drive. There is aslo a power connector for the drive. Get a new 3.5" IDE drive jumper it to Slave remove the factory drive bracket and all by disconnecting the power and data cables. Remove the one phillips screw holding the drive bracket (right in the center of the bracket) below the data connector. Now lif up a little and slid the driv toward to mother board. Once you get the drive bracket out mount the new drive just above the factory drive. The bracket will have to be flexed a bit to tighten the screws.  Slide the drive bracket back in, replace the screw for the bracket and connect the IDE connecctors and the power connectors. Last but not least you will need to run the disk utility to partition and format your new drive.

[Highmac]

QUOTE(Telemakhos @ Dec 25 2003, 4:03 AM)

In the meantime, this seems like quite the forum.  I think I might stick around...

It IS quite a forum. You'll be welcome - and I can't remember who first said it on here but "there's no such thing as a stupid question".

Happy Christmas

[beacher]

Welcome aboard, Telemakhos! I hope that your visit with us has gotten you some useful info, and that you might hang around to help someone else who stumbles into a question that you might have an answer for, and that you enjoy the company that you'll find here!