Best way to FULLY DELETE a program?

forugaurav · Jul 5, 2012

How about CCleaner as compared with others?

GGJstudios · Jul 5, 2012

forugaurav said:
How about CCleaner as compared with others?

It's not any better than the others. It will not find all app-related files. As for its other functions, you don't need them. You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process.

These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt.

Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths

forugaurav · Jul 22, 2012

Thanks

GGJstudios said:
It's not any better than the others. It will not find all app-related files. As for its other functions, you don't need them. You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process.

These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt.

Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

How to remove Clean my Mac

GGJstudios said:
While this thread is a few months old, I'll add this for those who might find it in a search:

[*]Click the "aren't included" and change to "are included"

Hi... I'm trying to use your helpful directions to remove all system files related to the Clean My Mac demo I downloaded some time ago. I got as far as the directive shown above, but do not see where to click on "aren't included" in order to change to "are included." Can you help?

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
GGJstudios said:

While this thread is a few months old, I'll add this for those who might find it in a search:

[*]Click the "aren't included" and change to "are included"

Click to expand...

Hi... I'm trying to use your helpful directions to remove all system files related to the Clean My Mac demo I downloaded some time ago. I got as far as the directive shown above, but do not see where to click on "aren't included" in order to change to "are included." Can you help?

Have you completed step 6 yet?

Click the search criteria drop-down and select "Other...", then "System files"

Can this visual demo help you better?

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

I completed #6, choosing Other (which instantly takes me to a list of Attributes; from the list I chose System Files (also choosing the checkbox to the right of that line). At that point, I'm stuck. Don't know if I should then click "OK" and be shown the option of changing "aren't included" to "are included"...or if I should have already done that earlier.

simsaladimbamba said:
Have you completed step 6 yet?

Can this visual demo help you better?
YouTube: video

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
I completed #6, choosing Other (which instantly takes me to a list of Attributes; from the list I chose System Files (also choosing the checkbox to the right of that line). At that point, I'm stuck. Don't know if I should then click "OK" and be shown the option of changing "aren't included" to "are included"...or if I should have already done that earlier.

Can you make a screenshot of the Finder search window after you have completed step 6 and clicked "OK" on the search attribute drop down window and attach it to your next post?

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

simsaladimbamba said:
can you make a screenshot of the finder search window after you have completed step 6 and clicked "ok" on the search attribute drop down window and attach it to your next post?

----------

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
/Users/ritachesterton/Desktop/Screen shot 2012-09-02 at 4.26.55 PM.png

Your screenshot is still on your local HDD, thus no one can see it.

How to attach an image to your MR post.

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

simsaladimbamba said:
Your screenshot is still on your local HDD, thus no one can see it.

How's this?

----------

simsaladimbamba said:

Your screenshot is still on your local HDD, thus no one can see it.

How's this?

Click to expand...

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
How's this?
Image

The screenshot shows up, but I meant a screenshot of after you have pressed the "OK" button.

For images wider than 800 pixel, please use the TIMG tags instead of the IMG tags by just adding a T in front of the [IMG] and closing [/IMG] tag, like [img] and [/img] to prevent horizontal scrolling.
You can use the

to edit your images and add the Ts.
You could also use Preview to crop an image:

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

simsaladimbamba said:
The screenshot shows up, but I meant a screenshot of after you have pressed the "OK" button.

I didn't know if I SHOULD press the "OK" button. I thought I needed to choose "are included" before doing that. Sorry for the large screenshots. I tried to delete them from the board .... but.... they won't go away.

In any case, I'll click the "OK" button and hope that the choice for "are included" will appear.

----------

Okay... the option for choosing "are included" did appear. (your directions were a wee bit confusing because you didn't say click "OK" ;o)

NOW.....#8 says something about sorting. I already see all of the file icons for Clean My Mac, so see no reason to sort by name, kind, date, etc.

I think I'm ready to 'select all' and Delete. I will hold onto my Trash for awhile to see if all is fine.

Thank you SO much for helping me!!! Wish I never downloaded CMM at all...and realize now that Mac OS X cleans itself basically and I don't need to do anything else. -Rivergull

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
I didn't know if I SHOULD press the "OK" button. I thought I needed to choose "are included" before doing that.

As shown in the video I embedded, it appears after you press OK, as you only add attributes via the method shown in step 6, thus why I posted this:

simsaladimbamba said:
Can you make a screenshot of the Finder search window after you have completed step 6 and clicked "OK" on the search attribute drop down window and attach it to your next post?

Sorry for the large screenshots. I tried to delete them from the board .... but.... they won't go away.

Use the

button below the post with the large screenshots, you may have to scroll to the right via trackpad, RIGHT ARROW or scroll bar to see it, to edit your posts and remove the images (start with IMG and end with /IMG, with [] brackets surrounding that) or add a T infront of every IMG tag as shown before.

In any case, I'll click the "OK" button and hope that the choice for "are included" will appear.

As you probably already have clicked that "OK" button, you should see that selection now.
If not, we can help further.

To learn more about Mac OS X: Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios

PS: You always seem to garble up the QUOTES via deleting the [/QUOTE] tag, which is the closing tag.

See below:

This is a quote.

And the code normally looks like this and does not get automatically truncated:

[QUOTE]This is a quote.[/QUOTE]

But it looks like this in your posts:

This is a quot

Rivergull · Sep 2, 2012

I have a lot to learn about posting to forums... LOL. Hard to know where to start typing my question... before the

simsaladimbamba said:
or after. I did succeed in sending all Clean My Mac items to the Trash. I still can't seem to delete those screenshots though, as I don't understand your directions. I clicked on "Edit" button and boxes appear, asking for a 'Reason' for deleting and a 'Title'. Not sure what to enter in those boxes and there's no "Delete" button anyway. Grrrrr. Must take some lessons on posting to MacRumors.

simsaladimbamba said:

As shown in the video I embedded, it appears after you press OK, as you only add attributes via the method shown in step 6, thus why I posted this:

Use the Image button below the post with the large screenshots, you may have to scroll to the right via trackpad, RIGHT ARROW or scroll bar to see it, to edit your posts and remove the images (start with IMG and end with /IMG, with [] brackets surrounding that) or add a T infront of every IMG tag as shown before.

As you probably already have clicked that "OK" button, you should see that selection now.
If not, we can help further.

To learn more about Mac OS X: Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios

PS: You always seem to garble up the QUOTES via deleting the

Click to expand...

tag, which is the closing tag.

See below:

And the code normally looks like this and does not get automatically truncated:

But it looks like this in your posts:

This is a quot

Click to expand...

simsaladimbamba · Sep 2, 2012

Rivergull said:
I have a lot to learn about posting to forums... LOL. Hard to know where to start typing my question... before the [ Quote ] or after. I did succeed in sending all Clean My Mac items to the Trash. I still can't seem to delete those screenshots though, as I don't understand your directions. I clicked on "Edit" button and boxes appear, asking for a 'Reason' for deleting and a 'Title'. Not sure what to enter in those boxes and there's no "Delete" button anyway. Grrrrr. Must take some lessons on posting to MacRumors.

Maybe this can help:

Best watched in 720p:

umbilical · Sep 14, 2012

GGJstudios said:
While this thread is a few months old, I'll add this for those who might find it in a search:

To manually remove an application and all associated files:

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then make sure the app you want to remove is not running. If it is, quit the process before proceeding.

Launch Finder (see image below) and search your entire hard drive for the app name (hopefully unique, such as Skype)

In Finder, select View > "as List", if you haven't already done so. Do not use "as Icons" for this procedure.

You can narrow the search to specific folders or search your whole Mac, which is preferred

Searching "File Name" vs "Contents" usually provides better results.

Click the + button below the search term to add criteria

Click the search criteria drop-down and select "Other...", then "System files"

Click the "aren't included" and change to "are included"

Sort by name, kind, date, etc. to identify components of the app, such as folders, .plist files, cache files. etc.

Delete all files and folders related to the app.

Don't empty your Trash until you've determined that everything is working OK, in case you need to restore something you deleted by accident.

A reboot might be necessary to completely remove some apps.

View attachment 338830

you can update this guide for mountain lion, somethings are different and still dont understand whats the point to open active monitor

GGJstudios · Sep 14, 2012

umbilical said:
you can update this guide for mountain lion, somethings are different and still dont understand whats the point to open active monitor

Activity Monitor is used for step 1, to make sure an app or its related processes aren't running, since you can't delete an app that's currently running. What is different in ML that requires changes to the procedure?

umbilical · Sep 14, 2012

GGJstudios said:
Activity Monitor is used for step 1, to make sure an app or its related processes aren't running, since you can't delete an app that's currently running. What is different in ML that requires changes to the procedure?

thank you, I see some difference in the search field, I cant find the "on system" but let me read and make some more test... I would be nice make a video tutorial in youtube, maybe I do and send you before I publish for you check if I go it all, thanks!

GGJstudios · Sep 14, 2012

umbilical said:
thank you, I see some difference in the search field, I cant find the "on system" but let me read and make some more test... I would be nice make a video tutorial in youtube, maybe I do and send you before I publish for you check if I go it all, thanks!

Check out the video posted by simsaladimbamba in post #80.

MacPC · Oct 6, 2012

GGJstudios said:
While this thread is a few months old, I'll add this for those who might find it in a search:

To manually remove an application and all associated files:

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then make sure the app you want to remove is not running. If it is, quit the process before proceeding.

Launch Finder (see image below) and search your entire hard drive for the app name (hopefully unique, such as Skype)

In Finder, select View > "as List", if you haven't already done so. Do not use "as Icons" for this procedure.

You can narrow the search to specific folders or search your whole Mac, which is preferred

In Snow Leopard and earlier, click "File Name" instead of "Contents" for better results.
In Lion and later, click the + button below the search term, then select "Name" "Contains" and enter the app name. (see image)

View attachment 357383

Click the + button below the search term to add criteria, then click the search criteria drop-down and select "Other...", then "System files"

Click the "aren't included" and change to "are included"

Sort by name, kind, date, etc. to identify components of the app, such as folders, .plist files, cache files. etc.

Delete all files and folders related to the app.

Don't empty your Trash until you've determined that everything is working OK, in case you need to restore something you deleted by accident.

A reboot might be necessary to completely remove some apps.

View attachment 338830

Click here to see a video demonstration of this procedure, created by simsaladimbamba.

YEA!!! Thanks for this tip, now the bugger is evicted from my iMac for good.

rhapflan · Oct 18, 2012

question about deleting a program

i've gotten most of the way through this process, but there's a file that when i try to put it in the trash, gives me this message:

"The alias com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plist cant be opened because the original item cant be found."

can you tell me how to get rid of this please?

thx

GGJstudios · Oct 18, 2012

rhapflan said:
i've gotten most of the way through this process, but there's a file that when i try to put it in the trash, gives me this message:

"The alias com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plist cant be opened because the original item cant be found."

It's likely already deleted. Try restarting your computer.

syllwa · Nov 16, 2012

Thank-you!

Thank-you GGJstudios, you are great, it works!!!

May I suggest to empty the trash not just by clicking "Empty Trash in secure way" on Finder menu Archive?

Have a good week-end!

aseems · Dec 4, 2012

Scary!

Is there a reliable app to do this?

I don't want to screw up

GGJstudios said:
While this thread is a few months old, I'll add this for those who might find it in a search:

To manually remove an application and all associated files:

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then make sure the app you want to remove is not running. If it is, quit the process before proceeding.

Launch Finder (see image below) and search your entire hard drive for the app name (hopefully unique, such as Skype)

In Finder, select View > "as List", if you haven't already done so. Do not use "as Icons" for this procedure.

You can narrow the search to specific folders or search your whole Mac, which is preferred

In Snow Leopard and earlier, click "File Name" instead of "Contents" for better results.
In Lion and later, click the + button below the search term, then select "Name" "Contains" and enter the app name. (see image)

View attachment 357383

Click the + button below the search term to add criteria, then click the search criteria drop-down and select "Other...", then "System files"

Click the "aren't included" and change to "are included"

Sort by name, kind, date, etc. to identify components of the app, such as folders, .plist files, cache files. etc.

Delete all files and folders related to the app.

Don't empty your Trash until you've determined that everything is working OK, in case you need to restore something you deleted by accident.

A reboot might be necessary to completely remove some apps.

View attachment 338830

Click here to see a video demonstration of this procedure, created by simsaladimbamba.

Many Thanks

simsaladimbamba · Dec 4, 2012

aseems said:
Is there a reliable app to do this?

I don't want to screw up

Many Thanks

Not really, as all the apps that promise to do so are not as thorough as the manual method.
Have a look at this visual presentation of the steps outlined in above post:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program?

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