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? Uninstalling ?

J

Jen5678

macrumors regular
Original poster
Since I got my mac I haven't known how to uninstall programs. I thought you maybe just put them into your trash and then empty it and there you go, but I'm starting to think thats not right 😕

How do you uninstall programs? like I downloaded that trial of motion and I want to uninstall it before the 30 day mark.
 
for most programs all you have to do is drag 'em to the trash, the ones that come with installers its usally best to run the installer again and uninstall it that way

to be completely sure that you remove everything about the program you can do a quick search of you HD and delete the prefs and everything else as well if you want


are you having a certain problem??
 
Thanks...

na, no problem in particular, I'm just starting to find things that weren't deleted with the act. program.
 
PlaceofDis said:
for most programs all you have to do is drag 'em to the trash, the ones that come with installers its usally best to run the installer again and uninstall it that way

to be completely sure that you remove everything about the program you can do a quick search of you HD and delete the prefs and everything else as well if you want


are you having a certain problem??
Click to expand...

Was thinking that: are there no other place like in System Prefs. or something that you can remove apps 😕
 
Platform said:
Was thinking that: are there no other place like in System Prefs. or something that you can remove apps 😕
Click to expand...

apps are strictly removed by deleting them or running their uninstaller

much much much different than the way that Windows works indeed!!


however like i said, merely dragging the app to the trash only gets rid of the program itself, there are other files left behind, some resources and .plist files, which really dont take up any room, so its not big deal if you leave them intact, i personally do a search of my drive all at once and delete the app, prefs, etc all at once
 
Sometimes, if the program is installed with an installer, there can be an uninstall option if you run the installer again, others might have added an uninstaller to the direcory where the app itself is installed.

The easiest way to get rid of ALL traces of e.g. motion, if no uninstaller is found, including prefs, things in Application Support, etc. is to use something as simple as the Search-function (cmd-F) in Finder. Search for motion, and all the files you positivly identify as part of that install you can move to Trash, by marking them and either right/ctrl-click and choose "Move to trash" or just hit cmd-backspace...
 
PlaceofDis said:
apps are strictly removed by deleting them or running their uninstaller

much much much different than the way that Windows works indeed!!


however like i said, merely dragging the app to the trash only gets rid of the program itself, there are other files left behind, some resources and .plist files, which really dont take up any room, so its not big deal if you leave them intact, i personally do a search of my drive all at once and delete the app, prefs, etc all at once
Click to expand...

Thanks

Guess you get used to having to do things the hard way with windows and don't belive that it can be so easy on a Mac 😱

Well searching for stuff like that will be nice with Tiger 🙄
 
Just drag the app to the trash to uninstall. Unlike Windows, a program doesn't leave behind .DLLs and registry entries all over the place. You can delete its preference files but they are so small its hardly worth the effort, since if you decide to re-install, all your preferences will be with you. Sometimes the may not even have to re-enter your serial number if you keep your prefs around.
 
Lacero said:
Sometimes the may not even have to re-enter your serial number if you keep your prefs around.
Click to expand...

for those few apps that actually require a serial number, whew i was glad to leave a lot of that behind on windows too 😀
 
Lacero said:
Just drag the app to the trash to uninstall. Unlike Windows, a program doesn't leave behind .DLLs and registry entries all over the place. You can delete its preference files but they are so small its hardly worth the effort, since if you decide to re-install, all your preferences will be with you. Sometimes the may not even have to re-enter your serial number if you keep your prefs around.
Click to expand...

That is good,

On windows if you don't delete all the .DDLs your system will crash sooner or later 😱
 
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