Is it OK to move programs off of my HD and reinstall them later?

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I'm new to mac and I'm under the impression that I can just move programs that I don't want to use right now on to a CD or an external HD until I re install them, Is this true? You can't do that on windows, so I'm hoping I can do sowith the mac, I'm running OS X tiger on a dual core G4, thanks for your help.
 
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13 inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2.7ghz, 128gb SSD
I done that with iwork and it worked fine. I needed some space so i transfered it to a DVD and transfered it back when i needed it and it worked fine.
 
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Macbook(W) 2GHz, 80GB HD, 1G RAM, Windows XP
you can do it with apps that install by drag and drop. but you run into issues with apps that that have an installer (i.e. cs3 apps) and you need the installer for those.
 
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MBP 15" C2D 2.2Ghz SR 2GB RAM 128MB VRAM 120GB HDD
hey!

how can i tell if an app needs an installer or not?
because i don't need half of the stuff that comes preloaded with os x so that would save me a lot of space!

i'm thinking of..
- address book
- aperture (it's a demo anyway)
- chess
- comic life
- iweb
- iwork (thats 2 gb!)
- mail
- omnioutliner

not that i'm running out of space, but it would be practical to get rid of that stuff. is it included on the osx cd if i need it again? (like, without having to reinstall the entire os?)
 
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iMac 5.1 | iMac 7.1 | iMac 12.1 | iMac 19.1 | iPhone 11 Pro | Watch s5
As long as the other important installed files are not touched, you should have no problem. Such as but not exclusively: preferences, hidden resource files, registration/activation files.
The app itself can be moved. It's just bits on your HDD.
 

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