MAC computer - help (re-install the operating system/reformat) how

[heyyo]

My cousin has a mac computer and its a total mess full of errors. im not sure how mac computers work, but i have the following operating system disks
os 9 and mac os x disks, which one is better to install. the mac is about 4 years old.

im away from the mac at the moment but i wanted to get some info before hand, so i know what to do.

thanks in advance

[punky]

OSX is the best, as it is later than OS 9

I have never had to do it, (so you might want to check with Damien or Lew) but if memory serves, you can put the disk in the drive, restart the computer and it should boot to the CD. There should be a repair option would should fix it. Failing that, a re-format and reinstall.

[Derek]

Pop the disc in and it should do the rest.

If that doesn't work you might have to hold down a key (c??) when it is booting to get it working.

[Chris W]

http://www.macosx.com/content/faq.ph...stall-Osx.html

this any help??

and yep Dezzo holding C will make it boot from a CD

[heyyo]

thanks guys

Which version of OSX is on the CD? If the Mac is only 4 years old it should quite happily run the latest version (10.3, soon to be 10.4) and will perform better than under 10.1 or 10.2. Might be worth upgrading.

For reinstalling instructions, follow the forum post Monkeybreath has linked to. It's as good a guide as you'll find.

[heyyo]

the disk i have is for the first os x , borrowed from a friend. i dont have the later versions

Originally Posted by heyyo

the disk i have is for the first os x , borrowed from a friend. i dont have the later versions

Hmmm ... now we need to be careful here. The very first version of OSX was 10.0, which was not much more than a public beta (except you had to pay for it) and there is lots of functionality missing. If your disc has 10.0, I would not recommend you use it. Just install OS9 for the time being.

If you have 10.1, that's better but is still notably slower on older Macs than later releases of the OS. TBH I would seriously consider investing in a copy of 10.4, which is out very shortly and will cost about £85.