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Question

I wish I'd never upgraded. Can I return?

by Dec 25, 2013 10:25AM PST

Hi: I'll try to describe the situation as simply as possible: I have two iMacs, one at my studio that's a Classic, OS 9.2 and one at home, a desktop OS X 10.5.8. I bought the classic second hand and use a zip drive to communicate between the two. I save my work in text or html.

When I bought the Classic iMac a few years ago, a CD was included to upgrade to OS X. Yesterday I thought I would try installing it as I can't read Word on the Classic. As soon as I upgraded, I regretted the move. I really hate this new version. Now the "home" file is locked and in the name of the former owner. Worse, when I used the zip drive and clicked on files, they disappeared! I have no idea what happened to them, they're just gone. I wish I had left things as they were and now I'm wondering if it's possible to "undo" the damage. Can I uninstall and return to the original version? How would I do that? Unfortunately, the old iMac only came with the upgraded CD, not the one that was actually installed, the 9.2.

I was thinking that I could buy online a 9.5 CD, a bit of an upgrade, yet not the drastic change that I now have with OS X. Or, I could do as my friends tell me and get a new Mac Book Air. However, as a creature of habit, I enjoyed using the Classic for writing and the newer (OS X 10.5.Cool iMac at home for the Internet.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can return to the classic mode for my studio iMac?

Discussion is locked

2 Posts
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Answer
Now please don't flame anyone.
by Forum moderator Dec 25, 2013 11:34AM PST

Just like all of us, wouldn't you have a backup of the system to fall back on? Drives fail all the time.
Bob

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Answer
You should be able to get 9.2
by Forum moderator Dec 26, 2013 8:56PM PST

or thereabouts, on ebay.

However, to go back to that, the best bet is to format and install, which will DELETE all the files on the Classic machine.
Technically, your iMac was not a Classic machine until you put that ancient version of OS X onto it.

Now the good news, fire up your iMac and go to System Preferences and choose the Classic pane.
Set the machine to boot System 9.x at startup and you should be back in business.

P

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