Using Back up Disk / Un-installing Applications

[Kundun]

Hi Mac Users,
I have recently purchased a MacBook due to my iBook dying..

I still have the old iBook hard drive (60GB) which i would like to use as back up drive / or additional drive as i have only 6GB remaining on my MacBook 60GB drive.

My question is.. if i was to use this drive as an additional drive, is it simply a matter of purchasing a case, and simply erasing the entire drive?? If so, how do i go about doing this? Is this the best solution? Does it need formatting or anything like that?

Also, regarding existing applications on my MacBook, if i wish to erase applications completely, is it simply a matter of just selecting the application in the APPLICATIONS folder and sending it to the TRASH CAN? Is this the best way to un-install an application? How can i be sure that all associated files have been removed?

Thanks for your help..
Kundun

 

[Giaguara]

For the hard drive, just buy a case for your 2.5" drive. They are around $ 25 or 25 euros for a simple model of the case.
And a manual for taking the iBook apart for getting the hard drive (try this for instance) - a few screwdrivers would be enough.
Once the hd is in the new case, you've got all the data you had on hte old system. If there is anyting you need or want to save, burn them or save them on somewhere else - it is probably a good idea to format that drive HFS+ (even if you want to share files with a Windows computer, that is possible with HFSExplorer, look at the faq pages for that) so that you get a fresh start in it and get rid of the unneeded system etc taking space.

You can just trash all the applications you don't like. It's probably a good idea to burn some of those to a backup disc in case you'll decide you want to use them again later, at least if those applications happen to be of the Apple provided material such as iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garageband etc. If you just delete those applications you are sorted and your system ill save space and you won't run to problems, BUT if you later decide to get those applications back, it may be a pain to go thru your original install medias to get them back one by one. Other than Apple applications, or any application that came with an installer file, just drag the application to trash, then empty and you are done. If an application came with an uninstaller (like Microsoft Office, Onyx etc) then the uninstaller will do a cleaner job removing the bits and pieces some programs have left behind in System, Library etc.

 

[Giaguara]

Perhaps should have added how to format that old drive here as well...

The easiest way to partition or format your hard drive, internal or external (as long as you are not booted from it - if you need to format your internal hard drive, then use Mac OS X install disc 1 and boot from that, then launch Disk Utility from the DVD menus) is to use Disk Utility. You can find that in [your HD]/Applications/Utilities folder.

When you are in Disk Utility -- in this case it is best if you have the old hard drive already in its new case, and you plug it to your new computer -- you should see mounted the old hard drive. After everything that you want to conserve has been backed up elsewhere, then select the hard drive and select Erase or Partition options. I added a few screenshots how the options look - Disk Utility should be quite easy to use. (In the screenshots here all formatting and erasing options are grayed out as I'm booted from the hard drive where my system is)