deleting apps

alexandr

alexandr

kosmonaut
what is the best way of deleting apps in os x? in windows interface i've always used "add/delete apps" to clear apps i dont use anymore. always considered this to be an easy way to get rid of all traces of the app, nomatter where it had been located on my disk.

when i first bought my mac, i didn't care much for using the already existing folders for apps, music, photos etc, instead creating my own user folder containing all downloads, apps etc(although i guess the main parts of the apps found its way to its respective native places anyway, after innstalling). i now see this wasn't reallt the good way, and would like to clean out a fair bit of mess piling up in my own created user folder(wich of course is located under my user as i log in, meaning i stupidly enough have to go trough a extra folder only to get to "my" folder, ibook -> users -> alex -> alex -> downloads/apps/personal etc..)

so how do i clean out the apps i don't use anymore from my folder, and making sure all files go with it. can't seem to find a general uninstall function, or delete app like in windows. i know windows doesn't remove the application in its entirety, leaving files behind, but until now this is the easiest and best solution i know.

is there something about dragging the application into the trash? will this remove all files innstalled by the app, or does this go only for the applications located in app-folder?

btw - is there a way to do a new innstallation of the os x, and still keeping some files on the disk while doing it? would this be a solution if i feel my dic is getting overly "pollluted" by unused apps/old apps etc...?

sorry for posting a heep of questions in one post.

alex.
 
Just drag the app to the trash and empty. You may also have other files installed by it along with Preference files. Just do a Find for the name of the app and trash anything you find.

You can do an Archive and Install from the OS X CD and keep your files.
 
what do you mean by making an archive? make a folder, put all my keep-files in it and mark it as keep when the installation asks me??

how do i keep applications, knowing all necessary files will come safely to the "new os x" - can i just put the wanted apps into the same archive and thats it??

alex.
 
If you boot from the OS X CD to do an install, one of the install options is Archive and Install. IT will archive and preserve all your files, folders, etc.
 
so this will also automaticly keep ALL files related to a given application. i ask this because i'm not in the country i bought my mac - theese applications do exist on cd, but i don't have them with me. in other words, i got to make sure i can use theese apps(photoshop, word etc) just after innstalling the os.

alex.
 
Yes, it will keep it all for you. Read the instructions on the OS CD and it will tell you all this.
 
ok, maybe its just me, but i just tried.. and couldn'n really figure it out. i was hoping to get to a point where i could specify wich files, folders and applications i would like to keep. the rest to h... with it, it comes new with the new install of os x. it may sound funny, but this is for me the easiest way to get rid of piles of trash and such on my disk.

anyway - i never got to the point where i could choose the files on my own, it just said "keep users and network preferences"(checkbox). this was under archive and install while booting from the install cd.

maybe i wasn't specific enough in my first posts, but what i really wanna do is trash out the entire system, although being able to keep certain files on the disk while doing it, and than start fresh over again after, with new user(s), new downloads and hopefully a smoother system for myself and also for the machine itself. is this possible, i guess the problem would be keeping the files on the disk while doing it. i know backup on another disk/cd's comes easily to mind, but i just don't have theese resources at the moment.

bobw:
"archive and install" said something about putting old preferences in a folder called "old system" - is this what you've talked about above?

the instructions with the cd's didn't help me much either..

sorry for nagging about this, but as i said - i up my first try at administrating my stuff in os x, and its been annoying me for over a year now. thanks for all help!

alex.
 
There is NO absolute safe way to keep all the necessary data available if you don't have access to the original CDs (or copies of these). This is true on Mac, on PCs and on any machines.
If your system hangs and you has to re-install everything from scratch, you need the original CDs. If you back-up your data, you'll keep these. But there is not reason to back-up the applications. You better re-install the applications, this will keep your system clean. You can save your preferences if you wish.
 
ok - to put things short; what i have to do is put all the "keepers", files, folders, apps, whatever into my userdir. and retrieve this after innstalling the new system, from folder "old system". am i right?

will this erase the rest of my system, giving me a clean new os x 10.2+my keepers located in the old system folder+old network settings? is this what it will do?

alex.

alex.
 
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