# older iMac G5 runs very slow. Need Help Plz!



## dubhe (Sep 27, 2012)

Hello :thumb:
I'm having trouble with an iMac. I'm a PC user and don't know too much about Apple. 
I was given an older iMac G5. Model PowerMac8,2. Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S165), Kernel; Darwin 8.11.0, CPU Type; PowerPC G5(3.0), 1GB DDR SDRAM

It has Firefox 3.6 which is very slow. Flash 10.1 r102 needs to be updated but Adobe only has the update for OS X 10.6 - 10.9. From the little info that I read, there is no more updates for this OS.

I don't know how to do the basic maintenance/ updates on this OS. Checked for system update but that didn't do much. It's still slow and at times, it freezes for a few seconds. 

If anyone can please help, here are my questions...
How do I make this computer run smoother/ faster?
Can the OS be updated to a newer version as they do with iPhones?
If all else fails, I would rather do a factory reset. Is there a way I can do that without any kind of recovery CDs?

Any and all help is appreciated.
Thank you :grin:


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

You have to have the DVDs to do any OS installs on this Mac. You can upgrade it to 10.5.8 if you can find the retail DVDs online, like eBay. But as for speeding it up, there really isn't much you can do. I would go to OWC and buy RAM for it. Get the max it can handle. I'd also look at a new hard drive, maybe even a SSD. But IMHO, it's not worth it on this Mac because of how old it is. You still will not be able to upgrade Flash, and it will still be slow.


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