Cleaning up a Powerbook HD...

N

nreyes

Registered
Due to a forthcoming "upgrade" of Stylus to Stylus RMX, I am trying to free up a few Gigabytes from my main Powerbook Harddrive before doing a full installation of this extensive software.

Most of the audio work I do is on the external drives, but I notice that over the last couple of years I have accumulated quite a bit of "junk" which I have spent a few days deleting carefully. However, from a 40GB drive, I still only have around 9GB free.

Looking deeper through the folders, I notice that there are a number of Packages for installation of updates etc. which take up quite a bit of space.

- Can these be 'deinstalled' without affecting the current version. For example, I have packages going all the way back to iTunes 3.0 when I am actually using iTunes 4.7 these days. Does this mean that there are redundant installations of the same program?

ALSO: I hardly use OS 9.2, but I still want to retain some of the functionality of that OS for emergency purposes and because I also have a previous functioning version of Pro Tools LE installed on that drive (version 5.2.3) - though I mostly use 6.4LE in OSX most of the time.

- Are there any tips on really giving the OS9 partition a thorough cleaning (since I am sure there a plenty of redundant programs on there that are taking up quite a bit of space)?

- With respect to this, what is the correct way to deinstall in OS9? Just drag to trash, or is there another method or other residual files I should look for?

Thanks for any guidance you can give me in freeing up more space overall.
Note: I have already deleted unwanted language localizations and tried to clean out the preferences manually, but I am sure there are bigger space-saving tips out there!
 
To get rid of OS 9, just drag the System Folder to the trash and any applications for it, which means you'll no longer have a Classic in OS X. You can keep OS 9 and just trash the applications for it.

The Packages, if they're in the Receipts folder, you shouldn't touch them. What I would do, is remove just older versions of the packages, but don't throw them away in case they may be needed. Burn to a CD. The Receipts keep track of software for future updates.

If you did a normal install of OS X, then you have all the languages installed, which you can remove using Monolingual. You can get that here;

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13031

Just keep the Languages you want. To keep English, there are two English Languages listed in Monolingual, make sure you keep both. If you just deleted the languages manually, use Monolingula, it will find things you missed.

Also, all the printers in your system that you don't use can be deleted. Do this after using Monolingual.
Look here for those;

HERE - System>Library>Printers>PPDs>Contents>Resources>en.lproj

HERE - Library>Printers>

HERE - Library>printers>PPDs
 
careful with monolingual though, if you choose the wrong things, it'll render your keyboard unuseable...this is experience talking here. ;)

BUT, it ended up being a good thing, because I did my weekly backup the previous night, and just did an entire, clean install. I free-d up over 15gb of space on my drive from stuff that had accumulated that I didn't need.

if you have the patience for it, I'd say backup your home folder, and reinstall the whole thing. you'd be amazed how good it feels! :)
 
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