iMac update 10.2.8 to 10.4

[65MacNut]

I have an iMac PC G4, memory 512, 800 MHz, Bus 100, running 10.2.8. I want to upgrade directly to 10.4 and then use the Apple site to get it to 10.4.11. Is there an option to archive, so that only the os will be changed and all the other setting, users, etc. can remain unchanged? After the installation should I update any other programs or will they run as it (exhotoshop 4, etc.) I also have os 9.2.2 on this computer. If I upgrade to 10.4 will I lose it? or any of the software and files on that system? If I have to reinstall 9.2.2, is there an archive for it?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[nixgeek]

Just so you know, the only way to upgrade to 10.4.x from any previous version of Mac OS X is to use the Tiger installation disc. You can still find them sold online at We Love Macs or Other World Computing. Low End Mac actually has a Deals section where they list the best buys for Tiger and other older versions of OS X.

Once you have the 10.4 installation disc, you can perform an upgrade or an archive and install (which I assume is what you want). I recently helped my father upgrade from 10.3.9 to 10.4 using a Tiger disc he purchased. I went ahead and did the "Upgrade" option, making sure that the only thing connected to his Mac were the keyboard and mouse, as well as performing disk repairs and permission fixes prior to upgrading this way. Everything went well, and I performed some more permissions repairs after the upgrade to make sure things were fine. STill, if you choose to do "Archive and Install" the option is available to you.

As for 9.2.2, Tiger will use the "System Folder" of 9.2.2 for the Classic environment. The only thing an "Archive and Install" will do is move the current OS X "System" folder to another folder called "Previous System" (or something of that nature) and will create a new "System" folder for OS X. The "System Folder" used by OS 9 should be left alone during this process.