What Version of OS 10 do I have?

Click the Blue Apple on Top left of screen
Choose 'About This Mac'

We Suggest using 10.2.8 or 10.3.9 or the current version of Tiger 10.4

General Tips for OS 10 - On OS 10.0 through Leopard 10.5.2 as of March 25 08

With OS X its best to leave your Mac running 24/7.
See how to get around it below..
Why? Mac OS 10 is based on Unix which is built to run supercomputers 24/7/365, and with this Unix 'kernel' certain Maintenance programs are set to run automatically on a daily/ weekly/ monthly basis at 2-4 am your local time.

If you shut down or put to sleep your Mac every single day you must run these yourself. It's good to run these whenever

1. you have issues with your Mac
2. you install any software including OS 10 Upgrades or other software.
3 On the prescribed daily/weekly/monthly basis with an 'Auto-run' utility Macaroni for 10.3 and 10.4, or a complete and free fix like Maintenance the Solution for nagging issues, and manual run the Maintenance programs. To use Maintenance, simply close all Applications and choose all the options in the list to fix when you open Maintenance. We suggest restarting your Mac when the process has completed. AftertheMac 2008 OS X Must Have,
Or, with certain 'donationware / shareware and Free already on your Mac utilities mentioned below'.

If this does not occur problems are inevitable. Download Maintenance

To Set your Mac to run 24/7 and run the Maintenance scripts
Go to the Apple icon (top left) --> System preferences
and choose energy saver (the Light Bulb Icon) Picture here 

Set where your Mac never sleeps and the display goes to sleep in 30 minutes to 3 hours, by clicking 'details'. I usually have my screen saver turn on in 15 minutes.

This is also the highly recommended feature whenever upgrading via the through/ software update under the Apple icon.
Third party programs are available that will run these maintenance features, during the day when the Mac is idle, so if keeping your Mac on is an issue use one of these.

I still regularly repair permissions and run the 3 maintenance programs with Disk Utility on the hard drive first to Repair Permissions; then Macaroni, Dr. Kleanor or Onyx manually before installing major OS X updates via the web.

Hot Tip! - In Tiger Preferences -> Desktop/Screensaver, there are live RSS Feeds from more than 100 sources that show as your Screen Savers. - Instant Start Guide free here ABC, BBC, CNN, Motley Fool, NY Times..

Should I Sleep or Shut down my Mac?
The differences between Sleep and Shutting Down are
With Sleep your Mac 'Awakes' in seconds, rather than minutes with Shut Down
All Applications and documents stay just as they are, so you can get right back to the project.
There is no upside to Shutting Down. We restart our Mac about once per month to clear RAM jams from too many applications open, or when we update software.

Pre-OS 10 Installation Tips for OS 10.4 Tiger (also OS 10.2 Jaguar and 10.3 Panther).
This is a Step by step compilation based on 3 Macs in 3 days, and should be complete. If you follow these steps you should have no problems installing Mac OS 10 Tiger. Every step should be applicable to X.2 and X.3 - (some names are changed in other versions of OS 10).

Hot Tip! - if upgrading from OS X.1 or X.2 or X.3 to the next number up (eg OS X.3 to OS X.4) Use 'Clean install" and use the "Store old System" on the install CD. Too many problems can occur if upgrading from say OS 10.2 to OS 10.3 or 10.3 to 10.4
Hot Tip! When upgrading from OS 10.3 to Tiger the amount of personal files transferred is complete for 99% of users if you check the correct boxes when installing.

After installing check the newly created auto-generated "Previous System" folder on your hard drive if you are missing items from WebServer Folder or elsewhere.

All files are saved, and when upgrading from Panther to Tiger all bookmarks, browser passwords, addresses, mail etc all flow with ease.

Upgrading your OS X Macintosh

1. Repair Permissions with Disk Utility on your Hard Drive (See directly below)

2. If you need to update your OS and are online Select Apple Menu --> Software Update and Click Install. If you are not online you can use the download links below and burn to a CD from another Mac or PC.

3. Repair Permissions after updating.

Download Links for Mac OS X

New For Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Download Maintenance free Now!

Our Favorite for 10.3 and 10.4  Macaroni automatically fixes most issues with OS X and keeps it running great! Free 35 day trial and never a nagging message. You won't believe your Mac! only $8.99 if you like it. Don't forget to purchase after the trial period ends, as it will never tell you.

Dr Kleanor - Choose the application for OS X.2 X.3 or X.4 downoad free here

Download the OS X Maintenance Program Onyx Free!
Please choose the correct one for your OS X (eg OS X.2, X.3 or X.4)

Get the latest free edition of Stuffit Expander here

Download the Latest Airport Driver 4.2.1 Airport Driver 4.2.1 for OS X PCMCIA PowerCards

How to use Dr. Kleanor

After dragging the Dr. Kleanor 'Blue Pill' to your Applications Folder, Double Click it.

Download Links for Upgrading OS X.

If you are using Jaguar OS X.2
we recommend updating to OS X.2.8 - click here to download.
This works for OS X.2 and above. Not for G5 Systems. (For OS X.2 Server, you want the Server Download available at Apple.)

To Update OS 10.3.x Panther to OS 10.3.9 click here to download the file.

For the OS 10.4 Tiger Combo Update click here

To download the update for OS X.1.5 click here

Update OS9

To Update OS 9.0 to 9.1 or 9.2 click here

Contact us if you have unanswered questions.

To use Onyx, simply click the Automation Tab (see pic), click Execute, and voila, all maintenance and permission repair programs will automatically run.

Download Onyx Now.
Ensure Choosing the one for your OS 10 (10.2, 10.3, 10.4)
Go to the Apple Menu "About this Mac" to see your OS X version.

Cloning an OS 10.2 and 10.3 OS on to a New Hard Drive

If you would like to "Clone" your Current OS X System to another drive to boot from, or to have scheduled as regular backup storage for instant rebooting from a second drive in case the primary drive fails:

we strongly suggest Carbon Copy Cloner here

This "Clones" your current OS 10 system to a new drive. You can limit to only the Operating System itself, or any/all files.

Once you are done, restart and hold down "Option" key and choose the new drive.

This is highly recommended for Beige G3's and Powermacs running OS 10 who are not OS 10 ready in many cases. Later B and C versions of the Beige G3 may not need this, however earlier versions may not install OS 10 however if a drive with OS 10 is connected it will boot and run fine.