.bin files won't open in OS 9

[DC]

Just started using Imac G3 with OS 9. Trying to upgrade 9.0 to 9.1, getting error message "the document Mac_os_9.bin could not be opened, because the application program that created it could not be found". Can't open .sit files,  Stuffit seems to be missing; tried to download and install it, got error "the document SIT90.exe (or 801.exe) could not be opened because the application.....etc.
Anyone seen these problems before, or know how to fix them?

[MacMoore]

Reinstall Mac OS 9.0.  Stuffit Expander is included OS 9 and above.

[ben schmidt]

Just started using Imac G3 with OS 9. Trying to upgrade 9.0 to 9.1, getting error message "the document Mac_os_9.bin could not be opened, because the application program that created it could not be found". Can't open .sit files,  Stuffit seems to be missing; tried to download and install it, got error "the document SIT90.exe (or 801.exe) could not be opened because the application.....etc.

In Mac OS classic, the ".bin" suffix was used to refer to files that had been compressed using the MacBINary compression algorithm. Not sure what the file "Mac_os_9.bin" is, as I don't recall Apple shipping their OS files in MacBinary aka .bin format.  (But it's been a long time since I last used a Mac running Mac OS classic.)

As far as the error with reference to file "SIT90.exe", no Mac OS classic file to my recollection ever had an ".exe" suffix, so my first thought would be that that file is not a Mac file at all, but rather a PC Windows executable (aka program) file.  In other words, you inadvertently downloaded a PC program file and attempted to run it on under Mac OS classic, with the expected result that Mac OS classic didn't recognize it as a program, and so tried to open it as a data file, but then didn't have a clue as to what mac program might be able to open it.

But getting back to the original problem, to de-compress .bin files under Mac OS classic, you can use a Mac OS classic version of StuffitExpander. But if you can't find a copy, there are a number of other Mac OS classic utilities that can also de-compress MacBinary aka .bin files. Just go here:

      http://www.versiontracker.com/mac/classic/

and search for "macbinary". I saw four hits. I'd start with one of the more recently dated utilities.

best of luck,
...b