In another post recently someone said that they formatted their new laptop to free some space. What exactly is on the computers that wastes space? I couldn't find the post but I do recall some speak of language packs. If thats the case I may leave them on there.
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New MBP: Format or not?
- Thread starter RichL
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There a few gigs of printer drivers, and even more of GarageBand loops. Those are two I alwyas delete on a new machine.
Bascially, there are utilities you can use to remove the extra languages. Then you can manually remove printer drivers and loops and trial software.
The easiest way is to start up from your software restore disk, then format and do a custom install, carefully selecting exactly what you want. You can save quite a bit of space this way.
The easiest way is to start up from your software restore disk, then format and do a custom install, carefully selecting exactly what you want. You can save quite a bit of space this way.
Just drag the stuff you don't want to the trash.
Personally, I don't understand the need/desire to free a few gigabytes of HDD space by deleting printer drivers, etc., especially on a laptop. You might actually find yourself in a situation where they could come in handy some day.
Personally, I don't understand the need/desire to free a few gigabytes of HDD space by deleting printer drivers, etc., especially on a laptop. You might actually find yourself in a situation where they could come in handy some day.
Your both right, these steps are only worthwhile to people who have small 60GB or less HDs. In your case, Rich, it isn't worth the hassle at all.
Sorry for this ridiculous question, however would deleting some stuff before the install speed up the system or does it just give you more HD space. (Remember I am a recent switcher and windows had stuff installed that would bog the system down)
What exactly do you mean? If you delete files before you reinstall the OS it wont make any difference because you are starting fresh anyways. If you delete unnecessary files without reinstalling the OS then you create more space.
And I don't want to be a jerk but about the Windows comment...Defragmenting your hard drive does wonders. Sometimes I have only Megabytes left on my main drive and it's as fast as when I just formatted.
I think rhagen is talking about more about the trial software and applications that come preloaded.
Removing these (Office Trial, iWork Trial, games) on a Mac will save you space, but won't make your machine run any faster.
Removing these (Office Trial, iWork Trial, games) on a Mac will save you space, but won't make your machine run any faster.
Trust me I defrag my computer all the time. It was a hobby of mine to build PC's for friends of mine and some of the windows software would bog the system down. After getting rid of this software I would see a speed increase in benchmarks. I was just wondering if Mac OS installs some software thats bogs the computer down a bit. That is all
MacOS X defrags files over a certain size (>1MB?) in the background anyway, so this is just about space.
Delocalizer gets rid of extraneous language files (from memory, getting on for a Gig), and you can manually delete the trial software.
I agree with the post further up about print drivers - if you have a lappie and you're all over the place like I am, you never know when you might need one.
Garageband (which I've never used - personally no call to) is worth at least 2GB in space when that goes.
Even on a 120GB drive, 3GB is not to be sniffed at - that's room for 350-400 songs or 1000 photos.
Delocalizer gets rid of extraneous language files (from memory, getting on for a Gig), and you can manually delete the trial software.
I agree with the post further up about print drivers - if you have a lappie and you're all over the place like I am, you never know when you might need one.
Garageband (which I've never used - personally no call to) is worth at least 2GB in space when that goes.
Even on a 120GB drive, 3GB is not to be sniffed at - that's room for 350-400 songs or 1000 photos.
Defraging the HD is all a myth; best way to clean out the HD is to do a fresh install.
It may or may not be the best thing to do, but IMO a good format and clean install is good for the soul ......
ps It also gets rid of all unwanted crap ..
ps It also gets rid of all unwanted crap ..
It may or may not be the best thing to do, but IMO a good format and clean install is good for the soul ......
I'm surprised to hear you say that, Father. I thought confession was good for the soul.
what is taking up all this space?
The hard drive in my MBP died last week - Aple put in a new one and I just got it back, with all my data gone. I noticed that only 57.15 of 80 GB are available. I looked through applications and nothing is that big - doe anyone have any ideas what in the world is taking up 23 GB & if I can get rid of some of it? It seems pretty excessive.
The hard drive in my MBP died last week - Aple put in a new one and I just got it back, with all my data gone. I noticed that only 57.15 of 80 GB are available. I looked through applications and nothing is that big - doe anyone have any ideas what in the world is taking up 23 GB & if I can get rid of some of it? It seems pretty excessive.