[JSnyder]

I'm about to install 10.2; I have a 20GB HDD I want to put it on. My question is this: Will the 10.2 installtion give me the ability to reformat the HDD to Mac specs, or do I need to reformat it prior to installing 10.2? The drive in question is one pulled from a Wintel machine and is currently formatted in in FAT32 or NTFS; I don't want to go through all the trouble of switching drives in my iMac G3 if 10.2 won't let me reformat during the install procedure!
Thanks for any advice--

[griffman]

With 10.2, you might have to format it first -- at some point, Apple added the ability to access Disk Utility while the installer is running, but I don't remember if it was with 10.2 or 10.3.
But the larger question I would ask is: why 10.2? 10.3 would be a better choice, and 10.4 a much better choice. 10.2 still had a fair number of glitches, and is missing many features compared to either 10.3 or 10.4. The printing system, for example, was completely replaced in 10.3, as I recall.
You could find a copy of 10.4 on eBay or Amazon used for a very reasonable amount, I would think.
-rob.

[JSnyder]

I am installing 10.2 primarily because I HAVE the disks- I picked them up along with my iMac on eBay (it's a G3/350 Blueberry- for $26, no less!). I've got only 256RAM to play with anyway, and I don't want to throw down on a higher-rated OS that won't run well with such low memory available.
This is my first Mac, and I'm just dipping into the waters of Mac-world (I've been a Dell fanboy for ages), so you can understand my hesitation with messing about with new systems and such.
In any case, I like it so far (my machine has OS9/OSX installed) so I'm sure if I stick with it I'll eventually get a better machine along with a more up-to-date OS.

[griffman]

OK, then try booting the installer, and after a couple clicks in, check the main menu bar at the top and see if there's an option there for Disk Utility.
BTW, I think 256MB of RAM is low even for 10.2; if you can at all swing it, I recommend at least 512MB.
-rob.

[macnuke]

from Apple 10.3 requirements page

Quote:

---

1. Confirm that your hardware can run Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
Mac OS X 10.3 requires a Macintosh with a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor, built-in USB, at least 128MB of physical RAM and a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer.

---

but yeah... RRR....... Real RAM Rules.. so get all you can for any OS

[JSnyder]

Problem solved- I just formatted the HD to FAT32 on my Dell and the OS 10.2 Installer Disk gave me the option for Disk Utilities. I was up and running in no time.
I will keep the original HD on hand, though- just in case!

[macnuke]

good deal.
enjoy your "new" Mac