Hi,
I am completely new to macs and have a couple of
questions.
I recently bought a 2nd hand imac G3 with os9.1 and osx on could someone let me know if I need them both or could I remove 9 and if so how?
Also I have an internal dvd writer on my pc and if I got an external housing for it would it let me boot from it incase I needed to reinstall the os?
Thanks
Spanky

The only reason to keep 9.1 is if you want to use programs that require 9.1 or older' the best was to get rid of it is to reformat your HD with a fresh install of OSX. On your DVD writer it depends on the brand. Check Manufactures web site. So Spanky It looks like you need to check on the dvd writer first. If its compatable your home free.

Uh Stumpy, doesn't your second hand iMac have a built-in removable media drive? Why can't you just use that to re-install your OS or to boot from? Is it broken?

Oh, Stumpy, don't be so down on yourself; the average is only 5.5 inches. (some people erroneously state that six inches is average, but it is not) I'm sure yours is perfectly adequate, even if it seems somewhat short to you. :P

Gay men don't jump.

Hi,
Sorry for the late reply I just got back from holiday.
The imac had os 9 and osx already installed but i only got the disk for os9 and have been looking for osx on cd but can only find it on dvd I bought a cable for £10.00 that plugs into the power and ide slots on the back of the dvd drive and into a usb slot on the mac which lets me use the dvd drive but not boot from it also lets me use a windows fat16 formatted hdd.

You don't need OS 9 especially if you are planning on
never running old software. The only way at this point to
completely get rid of it from what I understand is to
completely erase the hard drive and reinstall just OS X.
You can purchase newer OSes to install on there.
Depending on which version of iMac you have will
determine which one. If your optical drive is a tray that
pops out then you can only go up to OS X 10.3.9. You can
also tell this machine as it is missing firewire ports in the
collection of ports on the side. If you have a tray loading
imac that has firewire ports on the side then you can
install up to the latest version of the OS (OS X 10.4.4).
The later version can be purchased online, from an Apple
Store or an Apple Reseller. Here in the states that sells for
$129. If you want to purchase OS X 10.3 or earlier you
will need to call the Apple Sales number which you can
look up online and those should be less than that price.

The only other thing to be aware of is that you might need
to install more RAM in order to run the newer OSes.

As for your external drive option, I have never been able
to get any device to successfully boot over USB before. I
have done it many times over firewire but I don't know if
the Mac architecture supports that over USB. My previous
model iPod was what I installed my OS on and would boot
to run diagnostics on my computer. Now that the new
iPod with video only connects over USB I can no longer do
this. <sigh>

Good luck!