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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Can G3 iMac increase Capacity? 12G+?

tr1869 - Nov 8, 2007 - 1:21 pm

Newbie to this site: Yes, I know its an antique. but it has been good to me all these years since i pretty much only use it for emailing, and storing digital family photos. But I am running out of space, and I need to know if I can upgrade it's capacity from what it came with (12G), and what is the maximum I can gain? (without having to purchase an external HD)

I am not a techie, so please be gentle, explain if this is something i can do, or if I need to take it in to someone. I don't have a budget for new equipment, so I need to make this work if I can. Another option, MAY be to 'clean-up' the HD, I guess? But I don't know how to do that either. ANY HELP will be appreciated! : )

Specs of what I have:

Machine Model: iMac
CPU Type: PowerPC 750 (83.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 400 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 640 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.1.9f1

ATA:
Capacity: 12.68 GB
Model: Maxtor 91362U3
Revision: FA500560
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
OS9 Drivers: Yes

Macintosh HD:

Capacity: 12.68 GB
Available: 2.09 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s5
Mount Point: /

MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184:

Model: MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8184
Revision: AA27
Drive Type: CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal

ScottW - Nov 8, 2007 - 1:33 pm

Tina,

Thank you for using Macosx.com.

The largest HD you can install in your iMac is 128GB. Anything larger than that it may still recognize, but only allow you to write to 12xGB or so of it. But, not recommended to install anything larger than 128GB.

Hope that helps you out. Let me know.

Scott

tr1869 - Nov 8, 2007 - 1:48 pm

Wow - that was fast! I love this site! But i do need a little clarification please...

So, my understanding is that i could purchase a replacement Hard drive to replace my existing one that has 10 times the capacity that currently exists on my system? correcct?

Is that easy to do? or do i need a professional? I guess what i am asking is, is this something that requires that i have to save all my files and applications and operating system on an external or separate HD, and then reload onto the replacement HD? Or is this something i just add to a 'slot' and it automatically adds 'space' so that i can save more stuff.

And when you say it may only recognize 12GB, then, does going through this process actually provide me more capacity? I read something a minute ago that suggests that use of 'firewire' can help? But i am clueless, any advice?

This is what my system says:

FireWire Bus:
Speed: 400 Mb/sec Speed

I really appreciate your input.
Thanks a mil!
Tina

ScottW - Nov 8, 2007 - 2:01 pm

Tina,

Actually, I said 12xGB, but that is confusing. I mean x as an integer. So somewhere between 120GB and 128GB.

There are no extra slots, so you would need to copy everything to your new hard drive, hooking it up as an external drive. You could use a utility like SuperDuper in it's demo/free state to duplicate your drive to the external drive as a bootable backup, then just swap out the drives and in theory, you should be back where you left off, only with more space.

Replacing the HD in the iMac G3 is easy once you've done it, but can be quite frustrating and confusing the first time you do it, and unless you enjoy that type of thing, you may want to find someone else who can replicate your drive to newer drive and replace it, without you needing to purchase an external case to hook up that new drive.

But, for what you may end up paying someone to do it all, you could by two drives, one internal, and one external and do it all yourself and have a drive to run backups of your internal drive on or even more space.

The lowest cost route would be to add an external drive, because you'd just plug it in and off you go. Assuming you have a firewire port on your iMac, don't remember if it does or doesn't.

Scott

tr1869 - Nov 8, 2007 - 2:09 pm

Thanks again, so I see your point about just buying an external. I found this info on my system, does this mean i have the capability to just plug any external HD to my existing imac? And does this determine the 'maximum size" of capacity of external HD that I can use in any way?

This is what my system says:

FireWire Bus:
Speed: 400 Mb/sec Speed

ScottW - Nov 8, 2007 - 2:21 pm

Yes, that is it. It has Firewire 400, the typical external drive you will find will support Firewire 400. Typically, they are sold as Firewire/USB2.0 or USB2.0 alone, so make sure you get one with Firewire. You don't need to look for "400". High end drives may have Firewire 800, which you don't need and can't use.

Something like this would work fine:

Maxtor 250 GB One Touch 4 Plus Hard Drive

Scott

tr1869 - Nov 8, 2007 - 2:35 pm

Scott,

Is there an easy way, for me to 'clean-up' my current HD to free up some additional space? Is there some program built into these imacs that I can 'run' to help free some space?

thanks,
Tina

tr1869 - Nov 8, 2007 - 7:03 pm

i created another question window to ask this question.

ScottW - Nov 9, 2007 - 10:12 am

I have found that many people have 1-2 GB of Printer Drivers installed they don't need. For example, XEROX drivers take about 1 GB of space.

Look in: /Your-Hard-Drive/Library/Printers

Trash any and all printer drivers you don't need. You can also get info on the Printers directory to see how big it is.

Log files also can take up space, but depend on each machine.

Scott