Removing previous system folder

I have an early 2008 iMac still using Leopard. Just did a "Clean install" ( "Archive and Install") of Leopard and am now using much more of my hard drive than previously. How do I remove the archived operating system to free up memory?

Memory = RAM. You mean storage space.

If you're sure the old OS folder is inactive, then just drag it to the trash (don't empty the trash yet).

Restart the machine. Everything working okay? Then you can empty the trash.

Removing previous system folder (continued)

Thanks chas_m, storage space it is. But where do I find the previous system folder?

chas_m, just read your essay and will take advantage of your willingness to answer dumb questions, or in this case help with problems created by sheer stupidity. Two years ago I upgraded to Snow Leopard (sic!) to run the new trackpad for iMacs. I put the boxes and SN disk on the "foot" of the iMac (i.e. about 18 inches from my nose just under the "apple" below the screen). Then I forgot about it and thus didn't file it with my other Apple software.
Much later when "verify disk" in disk utility started urging me to reinstall my operating system because the file count was out, I ignored it, but eventually the number of extra files grew and the message to reinstall got more urgent (coloured print). So I went to my Apple software file and pulled out the two disks that came with the machine in 2008 (see where this is going?!). And thus I reinstalled Leopard!
When I reimported all my stuff from Time Machine there was some confusion because part of my file material would have been created with changes introduced in later upgrades of Leopard and Snow Leopard (gradually upgraded to 10.6.8) and, I expect, the reimposed Leopard would have been surprised by some of this stuff "coming from the future". Especially since I was initially using 10.5.4.
(I didn't realize I had over-written SN with Leopard until after I wrote my first note on this thread when I finally looked down and discovered the boxes for the trackpad and SN sitting right under my nose. No wonder the trackpad won't work properly; it needs SN.)
But before I had this epiphany I redid the Leopard installation so that I could upgrade from 10.5.4 to 10.5.8 before I imported my files. I was advised to do a "Clean Install". "Switching to the Mac" also calls this "Archive and Install". That is how I ended up with a copy of the operating system somewhere called "Previous Operating Systems". Frankly everything (except the trackpad) runs pretty well, but my use of space on the hard drive has grown from about 28 GB to 125 GB.
I would like to get this hard drive space back. I have at least one unneeded operating system (thus my question, where is this folder called Previous Operating Systems?)
Secondly, dare I simply reinstall Snow Leopard, up-grade it to 10.6.8 (The disk is 10.6.3) and restore my stuff from Time Machine using a date before I got into this mess? Could it be that simple? By the way I have turned Time Machine off since I started this adventure so I have avoided copying all these troubles onto that hard drive. So once I get Snow Leopard installed I should be able just go back and restore all my old Snow Leopard created files from Time Machine. But I am getting gun shy and
would appreciate your opinion on this.
Even if it is that simple I expect I will still have a bunch of useless stuff clogging up my internal hard drive.
Thanks in advance from alt also in Victoria, BC.

In fact there may be an even simpler solution. Since nearly everything is working well as far as I can tell without opening every file I have, perhaps all I have to do is reinstall Snow Leopard and update it. Since my stuff is there and accessible using Leopard it should be the same under Snow Leopard. And my trackpad should be recognized now by SN.
The only small glitch remaining is that Mail in one account didn't transfer my old folders and so I am starting with a clean slate there. And I could just use Time Machine to bring that Mail account back. (Is there any way to do this in one move rather than doing it one folder at a time?) Or maybe just starting up TM backups again will cure this as all the old files seem to be there in "Today" on TM. The other account got all its Mail history back all right.
By the way I did Repair Permissions while back in Leopard so maybe I will have to repair more when I reintroduce Snow Leopard. It is beginning to look like OSX can cope with nearly any crazy thing that a Mac owner can do.
But I am still left with about 100 GB less space on my hard drive. What is using all this space?
And I am hesitant to keep digging myself further into a hole before I get some advice as to whether or not I am on the right track.
Anyone had the patience to read through my tale of woe above? chas_m are you still out there?

chas_m
Found the Previous System folder inside the hard drive root directory (if that is the correct term). There were two previous operating systems folders within it. Followed your advice and moved one to the garbage and tested that its removal didn't hurt anything. As a result I recovered 44 GB free space on the drive.
The one I removed was the most recent (the second time I installed Leopard). The other one is, I think, the Snow Leopard OS I foolishly replaced with Leopard. Once I reinstall SN with the disk I found (see long sad story above) I will garbage the original SN in the Previous System folder along with the Leopard OS that I will be replacing and will consequently be sent there (I expect). And that should bring my hard drive free space back to near where it once was.
Am I on the right track (see previous two posts)?