how to uninstall apps

D

Distraido

Registered
i have been a windows user all my life and know a have a ibook and don't know how to uninstal apps on a mac can anyone help me..and another thing i have the internet explorer on the i book but it dosen't work when i clik on it it show's a question mark on it, but i can use safari why dosen't internet explorer work.
my os is mac osx panther
jus one ohter thing how do i see the carcteristics of the mac...
thx
 
Just drag the application to the trash, empty. If you want to get rid of the 1K preference files, just do a Spotlight search for them and throw them out from the search field. You are done!

Also, the larger files you install yourself, just try to run the installer again because most installers have a built in de-install.
 
If I understand the question about characteristics - Open your Applications/Utilities folder and run the System Profiler. That will display all the hardware and software/extensions in your system.
To change system settings, you would go into the System Preferences - in the Apple menu, or it may be in the Dock (grey apple with a light switch) - that will allow you to view and change most settings in your system.

satcomer, Distraido said that he has Panther - Spotlight does not exist in Panther, so press command (Apple)-F and type in the word you need to Find, and you can delete setting or .plist files that include that word.
 
You can always use this really handy application DesInstaller

It will remove the application and any library files that are installed as well.
 
About your internet explorer problem. You may have moved internet explorer, or something may have happened with the location of the original application file. I would use the above mentioned search techniques for finding "Internet Explorer.app" and relinking any aliases you might have for that program and reapply the dock icon.

One thing to remember though is that Internet Explorer for mac has been discontinued. It is not longer in development and will probably never be in development again so it may not be as safe or reliable as a browser that is in continued development such as safari or firefox (also camino, Opera, etc..)
 
i would not use Internet Explorer any more. Safari, now, is a very good browser, and very fast, and intuitive. it's good.

Generally, to find out about your mac, in the Apple menu (top left) click "about my mac".
it gives you basics and lets you find out more by launching the System Profiler (mentioned in an above post).

to understand uninstallation, you should know how an installation works in macOS, generally. unlike windows, it doesn't spread files everywhere. they are placed all in one folder, disguised as what you would understand as an .exe file. this is actually the whole application, and is actually a folder you can explore, although it is a sort-of hidden function (you can explore it from an option in the ctrl-click menu of the app).

bin this, and the program is gone, after the trash is emptied. one* preference file is placed in the library, to aid integration, but it really only needs one file to tell the computer what to do. this file (a format called .plist) is all the prefences, options and user information about the program. the program app, therefore, is effectively ROM, and can't really be corrupted. if a problem arises, it's not the application usually, it is the modifiable .plist file. delete this, and the program is restored to it's first installation. don't worry, a fresh, clean file is created when the program next runs.

this file is also deleted when the app is trashed.

*(maybe two, for other services, for example com.apple.itunes.plist and com.apple.itunesmusicstore.plist)

hope this wasn't jargon. please ask me to clarify.

welcome to macintosh
 
they are placed all in one folder
Click to expand...

Not true.

Depending on the application, it may put files in the Application Support folder, Documents folder, etc.
 
Lt Major Burns said:
generally
Click to expand...

most apps respect this. as a learning tool, it's a nice paradigm, i think. also, this is why i mentioned the .plists the other files in application support etc.

and it only seems to be shoddy MS apps that use the documents folder. Halo does as well (ah, MS)
 
A good number of apps, not MS, place folders in the Documents folder.

Appleworks, Eudora, Chronosync, Quicken, Roxio, to mention a few.

==========================================

If the software you installed uses Apple’s standard Installer application, then there’s an easy way to see where it installed its files. First, find out the name of the installer. For example, the installer might be named “WireTap Pro 1.1.1 Installer.pkg”.

Now, open the folder located at /Library/Receipts/ , and find the installer in there. Strictly speaking, these aren’t copies of the installers, but just receipts telling you where it installed its stuff. To open these, you’ll need a fantastic piece of shareware software called Pacifist. Opening it with Pacifist will tell you exactly where it installed its files.

If the installer you used does not use Apple’s standard Installer application, then it’s a bit trickier to find the files. However, almost all Mac applications are good citizens, and place their support files in strict locations.

Applications that you install by drag-and-drop are the easiest to uninstall. First, delete the app, wherever you installed it by dragging. Then, go open up ~/Library/ (where ~ is your home folder), and look for any folder with the name of the application. For example, if there’s a folder located at ~/Library/iComic/ , you can safely assume that this folder is used by the iComic application, and can safely be deleted without adverse affects to other applications.

You should also look inside the folder located at ~/Library/Application Support/ . If applications are friendlier, they’ll place many of the preference files they create in this folder. Again, look for a folder with the application’s name.

The other place you need to look is in ~/Library/Preferences/ . Usually, applications will have a preference file whose name is of the form “com.companyname.productname.plist”. Occasionally, you’ll have preference files whose names start with “org” or “net” instead of “com” — this depends on the company’s URL. For example, Mozilla comes from the Mozilla.org domain, and therefore it’s preference file will be named “org.mozilla.mozilla.plist”. Sometimes applications don’t follow this standard, though, and they sometimes even put folders inside ~/Library/Preferences/ . It’s probably just easiest to do a search for the application’s name while limiting your search to inside ~/Library/Preferences/ .

If applications are meant to be accessed by all users, you’ll find their files in /Library/ instead of ~/Library/ . The difference is that the /Library/ folder, located at the top level of your hard drive, is accessible to all users. ~/Library/ is only accessible to the current user, with each user having its separate Library folder inside the home folder.

(Just to make it clear, ~/Library/ is shorthand for a user-specific library folder. For a user named “simmy”, ~/Library/ is the same as /Users/simmy/Library/ . For a user named “sarah” on the same computer, ~/Library/ is the same as /Users/sarah/Library/ . So ~/Library/ is not in the same location for each user. /Library/ refers to the folder named “Library” at the top level of your hard drive. /Users/simmy/ refers to the folder named “simmy” inside the folder “Users” which is at the top level of your hard drive.)

Installers can also install other plugins or files in specific places so that is accessible to Mac OS X. The location of where these things are installed depends on what the plugin or file is. If it’s a contextual menu, then you should look in ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/ or /Library/Contextual Menu Items/ . If it’s a screen saver, look in ~/Library/Screen Savers/ or /Library/Screen Savers/ . If it’s a preference pane, look in ~/Library/PreferencePanes/ or /Library/PreferencePanes/ . You get the idea. Basically, you want to look in one of two places for files: first, look in the current user’s Library folder, and then look in the general Library folder.

There’s one other location of which you need to be aware. This is /System/Library/Extensions/ . Yes, this folder is located inside the “System” folder which third-party applications shouldn’t touch (and you usually shouldn’t either), but the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder is the sole exception to the rule (and this is actually the Apple-sanctioned place to put third-party system extensions). Since both Apple-created extensions AND third party-extensions go in this folder, you’ll need to be extra careful that you aren’t deleting required system resources.

Unless it’s obvious that the extension you’re deleting is not Apple-created (for example, WireTap Pro from Ambrosia software installs an extension into /System/Library/Extensions/ called “AmbrosiaAudioSupport.kext”), I’d suggest contacting the developer or looking for information on the developer’s website about the name of any extensions it installs. That way you can be absolutely sure you’re not deleting an essential system component.

In general, when deleting files you’re not sure about, it’s prudent to be safe. If you don’t know whether you can safely delete a file or folder, just move it to your desktop, and restart your computer. If everything works fine for a few days or so and you haven’t noticed any adverse side effects, then you can probably delete the file. Again, however, if you’re deleting something from /System/Library/Extensions/ , I’d suggest getting info straight from the developer about what extension it installed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top