The ongoing saga of the Powerbook G4

Mijn probleem

I was given an old Powerbook G4 by a friend and after a few years of working fine the hdd eventually began to die. So I decided to replace the hard drive instead of forking out several grand to by a new Mac.

Mijn oplossing

The guide to replacing the drive was excellent. As I don't know a lot about computers and I've never attempted to do anything like this before. I had a daunting task ahead of me, but there was plenty of detail on exactly what had to be done and many helpful people willing to pitch in with advice when I got stuck. The hard drive is in now but, unfortunately, I think that is only the beginning of my problems. As the Powerbook was second hand when I received it I didn't have the original install disks, but after contacting Apple they shipped them out to me. Now my issue is trying to work out whether the optical drive needs to be replaced as well or if it's something more serious. So after a month and a bit of waiting for parts and disks to arrive, and a lot of time spent on forums I still don't have a working G4.

Mijn advies

The actual installation of the physical drive went well and there are always plenty of people out there willing to offer advice. Do your research, be prepared and have fun. Although the process is still ongoing for me I'm still enjoying it and learning every step of the way. The experience is inspiring me to spend more time trying to fix things instead of just throwing them out when they stop working.