Getting older iMovie off install disk

[Sludgedragon]

When my iMac G5 died and I got my Intel iMac, it came with iMovie 8 and an iLife 09 disk which I have not yet installed. I have tried using iMovie 08 but so far I just hate it. I had no problem using previous versions of iMovie and I'd like to go back to the version the G5 came with, I think it was iMovie 5 or 6. It was much more intuitive and understandable. I still have the disks although the G5 is in pieces in my son's room, dead. I tried to install the bundled software on the Intel, but it said I "can't install this software on this computer".

There must be a way to extract the installer so I can use it. I find it hard to believe that this iMac can't use the older version, it's not that much older. So, is there a way to get it off the disk?

 

[tmtomh]

I don't know if it's still up, but when iMovie 8 came out a lot of people hated it, and Apple posted a free download of iMovie 6.

 

[Sludgedragon]

*sigh* no longer available.

I did try iMovie 3 but it won't install because I have a newer version installed already. I copied it whole off my iBook and it looks OK but when I choose to open a new project it beachballs forever until I force quit. Now I'm looking on eBay for older versions of iLife.

 

[protocol7]

Are you trying to install iMovie from the "bundled software" package? The main package usually checks the machine type which would explain the error you're getting. You might be able to bypass this by running the iMovie installer directly.

First you have to look for the installer. There are two possible locations:

Install DVD 1 -> /System/Installation/Packages

Install DVD 2 -> /Packages (this is hidden). To access it, put in Disc 2. Go to the "Go" Finder menu and choose "Go to Folder". Drag the disc into the text box so it adds in the path to the cd and then append "/Packages" (without the quotes) and hit enter.

Look for the file named iMovie.mpkg (or something similar). If you try to run it, you may get the install error.

If you do, right click on the package and choose ""Show Package Contents". Navigate through the folders until you find a folder containing .pkg installers (here on my MacBook install cd it's in /Contents/Installers). You can then run the individual installers for iMovie and it's related files and they should install fine.

 

[protocol7]

If you still want the iMovie HD 6 that Apple offered free you might be able to find it if you were to Google "iMovieHD6.dmg". It might even be in the first hit you get.

The thing is, it requires iLife 08 installed. But there are ways around that too.

 

[Mars478]

I life 09 is awesome. Use it. Just use pacifist to extract packages.

 

[Sludgedragon]

Pacifist did the trick for me. Now I have back my iMovie HD (5.0.1) and I am a happy clam. I was able to extract it from my iMac G5 disks.

Now I have to decide if I want to go ahead and install my iLife '09 that was included in the package with my current iMac. I'm guessing it won't interfere with the iMovie HD, just update the iMovie 08, which couldn't be much more uncooperative than it is now. : Actually, I am afraid of what it will do to my iTunes, which gets more and more complicated. I don't use the iTunes store and right now I don't have an iPod that does video, so I don't really need all those fancy features...