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Deleting Apps and Associated Files

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  Deleting Apps and Associated Files Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> - 2013-12-24 09:19 -0800
    Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2013-12-24 17:52 +0000
      Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> - 2013-12-24 10:18 -0800
        Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com> - 2013-12-24 12:26 -0800
        Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2013-12-24 22:04 +0000
          Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files dcohenspam@talktalk.net (Daniel Cohen) - 2013-12-25 21:13 +0000
            Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> - 2013-12-25 16:22 -0800
              Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-25 21:51 -0500
                Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> - 2013-12-26 10:39 -0800
                  Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-26 14:31 -0500
                  Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Michael Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> - 2013-12-26 12:13 -0800
                    Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> - 2013-12-26 13:39 -0800
        Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Michael Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> - 2013-12-24 19:06 -0800
          Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-25 04:53 -0500
            Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Michael Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> - 2013-12-25 11:09 -0800
              Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-25 15:05 -0500
                Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2013-12-25 15:31 -0500
                  Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-25 15:52 -0500
          Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files J Burns <burns4@nowhere.com> - 2013-12-25 07:21 -0500
    Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2013-12-24 20:11 +0000
      Re: Deleting Apps and Associated Files nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-24 15:34 -0500

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#53766 — Deleting Apps and Associated Files

I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before. Please respond to: scasse@invalid.net
replacing invalid with sonic.

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#53772

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
> answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
> upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
> like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
> don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
> associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
> it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
> more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?

Places to look for apps' associated files:
~/Library/Preferences
~/Library/Caches
~/Library/Application Support

For apps that to System tasks also look in:
/Library/Preferences
/Library/Caches
/Library/Application Support 

It's generally a waste of time seeking out and destroying these files. 
They don't do anything except take up space, and the space tends to be 
so small that you do not gain anything significant by reclaiming it.

Make sure you back up before updating your OS.

-- 
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

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#53776

In article <l9chkf$1ea$2@dont-email.me>, Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
wrote:

> Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> > I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
> > answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
> > upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
> > like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
> > don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
> > associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
> > it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
> > more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?
> 
> Places to look for apps' associated files:
> ~/Library/Preferences
> ~/Library/Caches
> ~/Library/Application Support
> 
> For apps that to System tasks also look in:
> /Library/Preferences
> /Library/Caches
> /Library/Application Support 
> 
> It's generally a waste of time seeking out and destroying these files. 
> They don't do anything except take up space, and the space tends to be 
> so small that you do not gain anything significant by reclaiming it.
> 
> Make sure you back up before updating your OS.

Thank you. Good to know about not really having to delete the
associated files. I was more concerned about compatibility issues if
those were left behind but if that's not a problem why bother?

What would be yours, or anyone's for that matter, recommendation for
making a backup (at least of my data).

Would it be best to first go to Mountain Lion and then after a period
of time jump to Mavericks, stay at Mountain Lion or, if I don't have
any issues now, just stay with 10.7.5? I'm just a "regular" user
(internet, Office, usenet, etc) and don't even bother with iCloud
so....

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before. Please respond to: scasse@invalid.net
replacing invalid with sonic.

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#53793

On 2013-12-24 18:18:16 +0000, Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> said:

> In article <l9chkf$1ea$2@dont-email.me>, Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
> wrote:
> 
>> Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
>>> I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
>>> answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
>>> upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
>>> like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
>>> don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
>>> associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
>>> it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
>>> more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?
>> 
>> Places to look for apps' associated files:
>> ~/Library/Preferences
>> ~/Library/Caches
>> ~/Library/Application Support
>> 
>> For apps that to System tasks also look in:
>> /Library/Preferences
>> /Library/Caches
>> /Library/Application Support
>> 
>> It's generally a waste of time seeking out and destroying these files.
>> They don't do anything except take up space, and the space tends to be
>> so small that you do not gain anything significant by reclaiming it.
>> 
>> Make sure you back up before updating your OS.
> 
> Thank you. Good to know about not really having to delete the
> associated files. I was more concerned about compatibility issues if
> those were left behind but if that's not a problem why bother?
> 
> What would be yours, or anyone's for that matter, recommendation for
> making a backup (at least of my data).
> 
> Would it be best to first go to Mountain Lion and then after a period
> of time jump to Mavericks, stay at Mountain Lion or, if I don't have
> any issues now, just stay with 10.7.5? I'm just a "regular" user
> (internet, Office, usenet, etc) and don't even bother with iCloud
> so....

I updated directly from OSX 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) to OSX 10.9 
(Mavericks) without issue.
I just had to get used to some of those SL to L, ML, & Mavericks app 
and appearance changes.

-- 
Regards,

Savageduck

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#53804

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> What would be yours, or anyone's for that matter, recommendation for
> making a backup (at least of my data).

An exteranal hard drive at the very least, and a full backup made to 
it by Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper. The latter two 
make bootable clones that you can start up from and restore in case 
anything goes wrong. I always have at least two good backups of my 
system.

-- 
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

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#53863

Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca> wrote:

> An exteranal hard drive at the very least, and a full backup made to 
> it by Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper

Better, two hard drives or one with two partitions, and use one for Time
Machine backups, and the other for SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Coner,
Because these are two different methods.

I find the Take Control series of books often useful, and there is one
about backups.
-- 
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives 
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.

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#53870

In article <1lefaiw.db2uwe1xv8w8qN%dcohenspam@talktalk.net>, Daniel
Cohen <dcohenspam@talktalk.net> wrote:

> Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca> wrote:
> 
> > An exteranal hard drive at the very least, and a full backup made to 
> > it by Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper
> 
> Better, two hard drives or one with two partitions, and use one for Time
> Machine backups, and the other for SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Coner,
> Because these are two different methods.
> 
> I find the Take Control series of books often useful, and there is one
> about backups.

Thanks everyone. So far I have CCC 3.5.4. I'm looking at getting a WD
My Passport Slim as my backup drive but I understand that there are
some issues with CCC and WD drives as far as making a bootable backup.
I have a query into CCC about using the My Passport Slim, Mavericks,
and bootability. I ran AppCleaner and my drive is cleaner than I
thought, as far as I can tell.

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before. Please respond to: scasse@invalid.net
replacing invalid with sonic.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#53872

In article <251220131622041185%otto@bogus.address.com>, Otto Pylot
<otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:

> Thanks everyone. So far I have CCC 3.5.4. I'm looking at getting a WD
> My Passport Slim as my backup drive but I understand that there are
> some issues with CCC and WD drives as far as making a bootable backup.

some hard drives use a bridge chip that isn't bootable but those days
are long gone. 

if you clone a bootable drive, it will almost always be bootable.
sometimes the clone process isn't 100% complete and it won't be
bootable, but that's not a drive issue. rerun the clone and it will be
fine.

the only issue with western digital drives is the crappy software they
come with (actually, not just western digital). do not install. do not
even think about installing. use superduper or carbon copy cloner 
instead.

> I have a query into CCC about using the My Passport Slim, Mavericks,
> and bootability. I ran AppCleaner and my drive is cleaner than I
> thought, as far as I can tell.

completely unnecessary.

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#53885

In article <251220132151345287%nospam@nospam.invalid>, nospam
<nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:

> In article <251220131622041185%otto@bogus.address.com>, Otto Pylot
> <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> 
> > Thanks everyone. So far I have CCC 3.5.4. I'm looking at getting a WD
> > My Passport Slim as my backup drive but I understand that there are
> > some issues with CCC and WD drives as far as making a bootable backup.
> 
> some hard drives use a bridge chip that isn't bootable but those days
> are long gone. 
> 
> if you clone a bootable drive, it will almost always be bootable.
> sometimes the clone process isn't 100% complete and it won't be
> bootable, but that's not a drive issue. rerun the clone and it will be
> fine.
> 
> the only issue with western digital drives is the crappy software they
> come with (actually, not just western digital). do not install. do not
> even think about installing. use superduper or carbon copy cloner 
> instead.
> 
> > I have a query into CCC about using the My Passport Slim, Mavericks,
> > and bootability. I ran AppCleaner and my drive is cleaner than I
> > thought, as far as I can tell.
> 
> completely unnecessary.

Ok. So as long as I don't install any of the software that comes with
the WD My Passport Slim, reformat the drive as a GUID and use CCC to
clone my existing HD to it, I should be able to boot my mid-2011
MacBook Air (once I select the drive at startup) from the Passport Slim
via USB if I need to?

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before. Please respond to: scasse@invalid.net
replacing invalid with sonic.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#53886

In article <261220131039571365%otto@bogus.address.com>, Otto Pylot
<otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:

> Ok. So as long as I don't install any of the software that comes with
> the WD My Passport Slim, reformat the drive as a GUID and use CCC to
> clone my existing HD to it, I should be able to boot my mid-2011
> MacBook Air (once I select the drive at startup) from the Passport Slim
> via USB if I need to?

yes.

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#53888

In article <261220131039571365%otto@bogus.address.com>,
 Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:

> In article <251220132151345287%nospam@nospam.invalid>, nospam
> <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> 
> > In article <251220131622041185%otto@bogus.address.com>, Otto Pylot
> > <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > Thanks everyone. So far I have CCC 3.5.4. I'm looking at getting a WD
> > > My Passport Slim as my backup drive but I understand that there are
> > > some issues with CCC and WD drives as far as making a bootable backup.
> > 
> > some hard drives use a bridge chip that isn't bootable but those days
> > are long gone. 
> > 
> > if you clone a bootable drive, it will almost always be bootable.
> > sometimes the clone process isn't 100% complete and it won't be
> > bootable, but that's not a drive issue. rerun the clone and it will be
> > fine.
> > 
> > the only issue with western digital drives is the crappy software they
> > come with (actually, not just western digital). do not install. do not
> > even think about installing. use superduper or carbon copy cloner 
> > instead.
> > 
> > > I have a query into CCC about using the My Passport Slim, Mavericks,
> > > and bootability. I ran AppCleaner and my drive is cleaner than I
> > > thought, as far as I can tell.
> > 
> > completely unnecessary.
> 
> Ok. So as long as I don't install any of the software that comes with
> the WD My Passport Slim, reformat the drive as a GUID and use CCC to
> clone my existing HD to it, I should be able to boot my mid-2011
> MacBook Air (once I select the drive at startup) from the Passport Slim
> via USB if I need to?

Try it and see if that works.  If not, post any problems you're seeing.

-- 
DeeDee, don't press that button!  DeeDee!  NO!  Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

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#53893

In article <vilain-FDAE45.12132526122013@news.individual.net>, Michael
Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> wrote:

> In article <261220131039571365%otto@bogus.address.com>,
>  Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> 
> > In article <251220132151345287%nospam@nospam.invalid>, nospam
> > <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> > > In article <251220131622041185%otto@bogus.address.com>, Otto Pylot
> > > <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Thanks everyone. So far I have CCC 3.5.4. I'm looking at getting a WD
> > > > My Passport Slim as my backup drive but I understand that there are
> > > > some issues with CCC and WD drives as far as making a bootable backup.
> > > 
> > > some hard drives use a bridge chip that isn't bootable but those days
> > > are long gone. 
> > > 
> > > if you clone a bootable drive, it will almost always be bootable.
> > > sometimes the clone process isn't 100% complete and it won't be
> > > bootable, but that's not a drive issue. rerun the clone and it will be
> > > fine.
> > > 
> > > the only issue with western digital drives is the crappy software they
> > > come with (actually, not just western digital). do not install. do not
> > > even think about installing. use superduper or carbon copy cloner 
> > > instead.
> > > 
> > > > I have a query into CCC about using the My Passport Slim, Mavericks,
> > > > and bootability. I ran AppCleaner and my drive is cleaner than I
> > > > thought, as far as I can tell.
> > > 
> > > completely unnecessary.
> > 
> > Ok. So as long as I don't install any of the software that comes with
> > the WD My Passport Slim, reformat the drive as a GUID and use CCC to
> > clone my existing HD to it, I should be able to boot my mid-2011
> > MacBook Air (once I select the drive at startup) from the Passport Slim
> > via USB if I need to?
> 
> Try it and see if that works.  If not, post any problems you're seeing.

Will do. Thanks everyone.

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before. Please respond to: scasse@invalid.net
replacing invalid with sonic.

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#53834

In article <241220131018166918%otto@bogus.address.com>,
 Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:

> In article <l9chkf$1ea$2@dont-email.me>, Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
> wrote:
> 
> > Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> > > I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
> > > answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
> > > upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
> > > like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
> > > don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
> > > associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
> > > it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
> > > more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?
> > 
> > Places to look for apps' associated files:
> > ~/Library/Preferences
> > ~/Library/Caches
> > ~/Library/Application Support
> > 
> > For apps that to System tasks also look in:
> > /Library/Preferences
> > /Library/Caches
> > /Library/Application Support 
> > 
> > It's generally a waste of time seeking out and destroying these files. 
> > They don't do anything except take up space, and the space tends to be 
> > so small that you do not gain anything significant by reclaiming it.
> > 
> > Make sure you back up before updating your OS.
> 
> Thank you. Good to know about not really having to delete the
> associated files. I was more concerned about compatibility issues if
> those were left behind but if that's not a problem why bother?
> 
> What would be yours, or anyone's for that matter, recommendation for
> making a backup (at least of my data).
> 
> Would it be best to first go to Mountain Lion and then after a period
> of time jump to Mavericks, stay at Mountain Lion or, if I don't have
> any issues now, just stay with 10.7.5? I'm just a "regular" user
> (internet, Office, usenet, etc) and don't even bother with iCloud
> so....

No one's mention the app clean deinstallers that are out there:

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/21453/cleanapp
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/25276/appcleaner
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23149/appdelete

I use AppDelete. It runs on 10.7 or later. CleanApp runs under 10.6 and 
still has problems.  AppCleaner is free. I'd start with that one first.

-- 
DeeDee, don't press that button!  DeeDee!  NO!  Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

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#53849

In article <vilain-9C1241.19060824122013@news.individual.net>, Michael
Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> wrote:

> No one's mention the app clean deinstallers that are out there:

and it's good thing because they don't work very well. all they do is
search for files that it thinks are related to the app. sometimes it
gets it right and sometimes it doesn't. when it doesn't, not good
things can happen. 

if an app doesn't have an uninstaller, just drag to trash. if it does,
use the provided uninstaller. 

or just ignore it. unless it's taking up huge amounts of space, there's
not a compelling reason to bother.

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#53857

In article <251220130453161693%nospam@nospam.invalid>,
 nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:

> In article <vilain-9C1241.19060824122013@news.individual.net>, Michael
> Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> wrote:
> 
> > No one's mention the app clean deinstallers that are out there:
> 
> and it's good thing because they don't work very well. all they do is
> search for files that it thinks are related to the app. sometimes it
> gets it right and sometimes it doesn't. when it doesn't, not good
> things can happen. 
> 
> if an app doesn't have an uninstaller, just drag to trash. if it does,
> use the provided uninstaller. 
> 
> or just ignore it. unless it's taking up huge amounts of space, there's
> not a compelling reason to bother.

If the OP doesn't care about all the cruft left over by applications in 
the ~/Library folder, your advise would be OK. But they specifically 
asked about cleaning out ALL the crap an application leaves behind.

If this were my mother, I'd go with your advice.  But they want more.  

Yes, those utilities have the potential for cleaning out way more than 
they should. I used CleanApp to remove CandyBar which leaves all sorts 
of things throughout the system.  I scrambled through my mirror, my 
backups, and TimeMachine to get the relevant icons and system plists 
back.  Yes, it asked me if I wanted to move those file to the Trash and 
I said yes.  Never again.  It should have come with it's own uninstaller.

Let the OP decide if they want something more than just dragging stuff 
to the Trash.

-- 
DeeDee, don't press that button!  DeeDee!  NO!  Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

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#53859

In article <vilain-5DE0BE.11092325122013@news.individual.net>, Michael
Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> wrote:

> > > No one's mention the app clean deinstallers that are out there:
> > 
> > and it's good thing because they don't work very well. all they do is
> > search for files that it thinks are related to the app. sometimes it
> > gets it right and sometimes it doesn't. when it doesn't, not good
> > things can happen. 
> > 
> > if an app doesn't have an uninstaller, just drag to trash. if it does,
> > use the provided uninstaller. 
> > 
> > or just ignore it. unless it's taking up huge amounts of space, there's
> > not a compelling reason to bother.
> 
> If the OP doesn't care about all the cruft left over by applications in 
> the ~/Library folder, your advise would be OK. But they specifically 
> asked about cleaning out ALL the crap an application leaves behind.

there point is there's no need to bother. it's a complete waste of time
since those files are tiny and completely inert and do not make one bit
of difference to the system. 

some people think it might make a difference because they're used to
windows where uninstalling something often does matter, but on a mac,
it does not. 

the preference files and other stuff are almost always tiny and take up
almost no space. you would need to delete hundreds of them to save a
whopping megabyte of space, which won't matter on multi-gigabyte
drives. 

there are exceptions, such as apps like garage band which have huge
assets that take up a lot of space but most apps don't do that.

if an app has a kernel extension, removing it may be worthwhile, but
apps with kexts will come with an uninstaller which will do the right
thing, so again, there's no need for any of these cleaner apps.

if you really want to remove cruft, start with the system folder. how
many people really need all the man pages installed? 

> Yes, those utilities have the potential for cleaning out way more than 
> they should.

which means they cause more problems than they solve, especially since
there isn't a problem to begin with.

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#53860

On 13-12-25 15:05, nospam wrote:

> there point is there's no need to bother. it's a complete waste of time
> since those files are tiny and completely inert and do not make one bit
> of difference to the system. 

I am thinking in particular of Adobe which has a number of directories
that are obvious, but also under a totally different name (the name of
the company that does the serial number autnentication stuff). When
browsing the Library folder, you might be tempted to ditch it, not
knowing it is a critical part of Adobe software.

On the other hand, going through the proeferences and deleteing astuff
from apps you only trialed and deleted makes sense. It is just a matter
of good system management and knowing what apps are on your system and
what associated files come with it.

If you are the type who buys a new system every couple of years and
re-installs everything from scratch, then you need not be concerned with
cleaning up unnecessary files. But if you upgrade in-situ and/or
migration assistant, then you will find that cruft will follow you and
accumulate over the years.

Removing unnecessary stuff from those folders helps you know what is
needed in them and makes it easier to find stuff when you need to.

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#53861

In article <52bb4089$0$17070$c3e8da3$40d4fd75@news.astraweb.com>, JF
Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> > there point is there's no need to bother. it's a complete waste of time
> > since those files are tiny and completely inert and do not make one bit
> > of difference to the system. 
> 
> I am thinking in particular of Adobe which has a number of directories
> that are obvious, but also under a totally different name (the name of
> the company that does the serial number autnentication stuff). When
> browsing the Library folder, you might be tempted to ditch it, not
> knowing it is a critical part of Adobe software.

that's one reason why apple made the user library folder invisible. you
shouldn't be screwing around in there.

if you want to uninstall adobe software, use their uninstaller, which
will do it in a way that won't screw up anything.

> On the other hand, going through the proeferences and deleteing astuff
> from apps you only trialed and deleted makes sense. It is just a matter
> of good system management and knowing what apps are on your system and
> what associated files come with it.
>
> If you are the type who buys a new system every couple of years and
> re-installs everything from scratch, then you need not be concerned with
> cleaning up unnecessary files. But if you upgrade in-situ and/or
> migration assistant, then you will find that cruft will follow you and
> accumulate over the years.

it has no effect other than taking up an imperceptible bit of space.

right now, my preferences folder is 42 megabytes.

it's about 1/100th of a dvd. 

it's less than 1/10000th of a 500 gig hd. 

it's not worth worrying about.

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#53850

On 12/24/13, 10:06 PM, Michael Vilain wrote:
> In article <241220131018166918%otto@bogus.address.com>,
>   Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
>
>> In article <l9chkf$1ea$2@dont-email.me>, Király <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
>>>> I know this has probably been asked before but I can't seem to find the
>>>> answer. I have a mid-2011 MacBook Air running 10.7.5. I'd like to
>>>> upgrade to the latest OS which shouldn't be difficult. However, I'd
>>>> like to clean things up a bit after the upgrade and delete apps that
>>>> don't work or ones that I don't use. I'd also like to delete their
>>>> associated files just to keep things clean and orderly. In the old days
>>>> it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a days, it's a bit
>>>> more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?
>>>
>>> Places to look for apps' associated files:
>>> ~/Library/Preferences
>>> ~/Library/Caches
>>> ~/Library/Application Support
>>>
>>> For apps that to System tasks also look in:
>>> /Library/Preferences
>>> /Library/Caches
>>> /Library/Application Support
>>>
>>> It's generally a waste of time seeking out and destroying these files.
>>> They don't do anything except take up space, and the space tends to be
>>> so small that you do not gain anything significant by reclaiming it.
>>>
>>> Make sure you back up before updating your OS.
>>
>> Thank you. Good to know about not really having to delete the
>> associated files. I was more concerned about compatibility issues if
>> those were left behind but if that's not a problem why bother?
>>
>> What would be yours, or anyone's for that matter, recommendation for
>> making a backup (at least of my data).
>>
>> Would it be best to first go to Mountain Lion and then after a period
>> of time jump to Mavericks, stay at Mountain Lion or, if I don't have
>> any issues now, just stay with 10.7.5? I'm just a "regular" user
>> (internet, Office, usenet, etc) and don't even bother with iCloud
>> so....
>
> No one's mention the app clean deinstallers that are out there:
>
> https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/21453/cleanapp
> https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/25276/appcleaner
> https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23149/appdelete
>
> I use AppDelete. It runs on 10.7 or later. CleanApp runs under 10.6 and
> still has problems.  AppCleaner is free. I'd start with that one first.
>
I use AppCleaner.

I used AppDelete when I had Tiger.  Sometimes I'd use it just to see 
what files were associated with an app.

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#53784

In message <241220130919144592%otto@bogus.address.com> 
  Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.com> wrote:
> In the old days it used to basically be just the app and prefs. Now a
> days, it's a bit more complicated. Suggestions and or guidance?

How is it more complicated? For most apps, you delete the app and you're
done. Sure, you CAN go digging through the preferences folder and delete
the 1-2K pref file, but why.

There are apps like Adobe {anything} that litter thousands of files
into dozens of locations and are nigh-impossible to remove completely,
but those are pretty much restricted to Adobe.

I guess the 'more complicated' is Mac App Store apps will have a folder
in ~/Library/Containers, but most of these are quite small and not worth
rooting out. Certainly having them there for apps that are not being
used (or are no longer installed) will not hurt anything.

-- 
'What shall we do?' said Twoflower.  'Panic?' said Rincewind hopefully.

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