Cleaning out my system....

Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G4 800MHz 1GB RAM
I was cleaning out my system today because I was trying to some video conversion work, and I kept running outta space. Seems that I have about 14 GB's! of stuff. All I have is the base Apple install, which has OS9 as a part of it, and the apps that come installed with it. I have a couple of programs including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Safari, Camino, and a few other MINOR appliacations that wouldn't take up more than 100 meg a piece ( and that is being generous ). I have gone through and trashed A LOT of stuff. And I still have about 14 GB's of stuff there. What can I delete that I don't need? Or how can I find out what is taking up all this space? I have no videos on this partition, my iTunes is symlinked to another drive so there is no MP3's on here. What can I delete, or where I can I look to delete stuff? 14 GB's is a lot for basically a base OS X install.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
5,279
Reaction score
138
Points
63
Location
Tropical Island, Jealous?
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.0Ghz 16GB RAM, 4x256 Vid, 30''cinema display
I always check which folders take up the most space, find out if they are system files, if not deleted.

you may have a huge invisible folder.. :)

in osx if ur not suppose to delete it you cant.
 
G

gatorparrots

Guest
OS X can be shaved down to well below 600MB, so there is some excess fat that is capable of being trimmed. That said, this is a fairly advanced procedure and not to be performed by the faint of heart.

You can safely remove the extra languages using DeLocalizer:
Mac Backup Software | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

Then there are print drivers, desktop pictures, and other components you may be able to safely remove:
Mac Backup Software | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software
(Under the section Setup your System on the test disk Mike Bombich discusses which system components can be safely deleted.)

Be warned, this is a delicate procedure and one misstep could render your system inoperable, forcing you to reinstall the OS.
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
Thanx for the tips gatorparrots. I wanted to slim down my system also. :)
 
OP
Emrys
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G4 800MHz 1GB RAM
How's this for cleaning out my system?

I gained tons of space from delocalizer, thanks for the tip gatorparrots!
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I'm considering using DeLocalizer, especially after seing Emrys' results. Will it mess anything up by running it?
 
OP
Emrys
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G4 800MHz 1GB RAM
Seems to run ok for me... I would recommend rebooting afterwards... My machine locked up after I finished. I'm not sure it was because of delocalizer though, because I have been doing a lot of heavy encoding/decoding of video, so it might've just needed a reboot anyway. But a reboot can't hurt you. After the reboot, everything has been fine. I can't really attribute the crash to delocalizer. I also have a couple network connection going, so that might be an issue as well.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
5,279
Reaction score
138
Points
63
Location
Tropical Island, Jealous?
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.0Ghz 16GB RAM, 4x256 Vid, 30''cinema display
Hmm I have 39GB right now... I don't think i'll need it (I know I will erase my HD before I ever get down to 10gb)
 
G

gatorparrots

Guest
DeLocalizer is perfectly safe from my experience. I ran it on our 10.1.5 server machine to free up more room for swap files. It saved almost half of a gigabyte of space and didn't require a reboot. The server had over 45 days of uptime after I ran DeLocalizer, so that should speak volumes about it.
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
After seeing Emrys results. I will be running delocalizer, this evening when I get home. :)
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
5,279
Reaction score
138
Points
63
Location
Tropical Island, Jealous?
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.0Ghz 16GB RAM, 4x256 Vid, 30''cinema display
Well if its deleting that much, its probly changing something... but what?
 
G

gatorparrots

Guest
DeLocalizer will remove all non-American English localization resource files that you request. This application is geared towards American English users, as it will not remove localization resources for American English. Users that use other languages may still use DeLocalizer to remove languages that they do not use (except, of course, American English).

Localization files provide the language support for an application. All strings of text that an application uses are defined in a localization file. Mac OS X also includes non-English localization files for people who speak other languages. While this is a wonderful technique for easily bringing applications to other languages, it can use up more space than you may be willing if you plan on using no more than one language. While Mac OS 10.1 allows the option to not install localization files, some inevitably exist on your drive.
In other words, it removes all non-English .lproj from Cocoa .app bundles and other packages.
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
It gave me back about 400 mg of disk space.

Thanx for the clarification gatorparrots. :)
 
OP
Emrys
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
1,345
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Your Mac's Specs
17" iMac G4 800MHz 1GB RAM
Wonder why I got such good results. Seems everybody else is getting around 400 MB's... Maybe it's because I have the developer tools installed?
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I ran it this morning and saved 572 MB
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
5,279
Reaction score
138
Points
63
Location
Tropical Island, Jealous?
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.0Ghz 16GB RAM, 4x256 Vid, 30''cinema display
I am still timid about it... i need more info on it ;)
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
I have not had a problem since I ran it. :)
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
5,279
Reaction score
138
Points
63
Location
Tropical Island, Jealous?
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.0Ghz 16GB RAM, 4x256 Vid, 30''cinema display
mb ill think about it if i ever near low MBs
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top