What can you delete on the macintosh hd to make it smaller?

[Shaiux]

Hi i have a old macbook just wondering how i could make it fast by deleting things not needed like other languages and optional programs etc

[simsaladimbamba]

Freeing up space in Mac OS X and OS X

You could also get a bigger HDD:

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

[Shaiux]

Yeah thats true but im to cheap any other solutions just optional files that i can delete that are not needed

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by Shaiux

Yeah thats true but im to cheap any other solutions just optional files that i can delete that are not needed

Did you take a look at the first link I provided?

And please do not delete any files or folders you do not know, especially since you do not seem to have a backup strategy.

[glenthompson]

Unless you are running out of disk space, deleting unused apps and OS options won't have any effect on how fast the MacBook runs. Maxing out your memory is the easiest and best first step. If disk transfers are a problem, a SSD can help. If the CPU is maxed out, then there's little you can do.

[Fishrrman]

"i have a old macbook just wondering how i could make it fast by deleting things not needed like other languages"

Try "Monolingual":
http://monolingual.sourceforge.net

It will reclaim a good deal of space for you. BUT BE CAREFUL! You want to check every language EXCEPT "English". Once you remove them with Monolingual, you can't get them back without a system re-installation.

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by Shaiux

Hi i have a old macbook just wondering how i could make it fast by deleting things not needed like other languages and optional programs etc

As others have said, unless your HDD is nearly full you will see no performance gains by deleting files. Balance that against the time you will spend researching and deleting. In a worst case scenario, consider the time spent restoring your system - will you ever 'speed' up the Mac to get that time back?

With that said... I have used Monolingual and you can get back a fair bit of space with it. But the advantage is space, not performance. Make sure you have a good backup before using it, or anything else that starts mucking around with system files.

Get to know how the Activity Monitor works. It will tell you all sorts of interesting things, and can help you pinpoint which 'upgrades' are actually going to be useful vs just doing things randomly hoping that it will be silver bullet that unshackles the beast of a faster system.

[old-wiz]

Plus if you start deleting stuff without knowing what you are doing it's easy to wind up with a system that will not boot.

[Shaiux]

thanks guys i'm new to mac by the way.

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by Shaiux

thanks guys i'm new to mac by the way.

Apple prefers that you not fiddle with the inner workings of the OS. And while we may not really give a fiddle about what large multinational corporations do or do not prefer...

... in this case it really is better to not muck about with the OS to make it "better", "faster", "optimized", etc simply because Apple doesn't care if their updates break these tools or not. Because many developers don't fully understand the workings of the OS (because Apple does not document their portions publicly), etc etc...

Also - the OS is constantly being upgraded, so advice that was good 2 versions ago may now lead to problems.

So - just leave it alone, and it will work really well for you. Don't upgrade the OS in the 1st week after a new version is released, because Apple does make mistakes. Usually I wait until the 2nd version of any new release - so 10.8.2, or 10.7.2, or 10.6.2.

Good Luck...

[palmharbor]

Delete music you no longer listen too.
Delete jpegs in iPhoto that you are tired of looking at
and have no real value anymore.
Delete Mp4 or .mov video files you forgot about.

[Quad5Ny]

Is this a hand me down Mac? If it is you can create a new user account and delete the old one to get rid of most of the old persons "crap".

[Idefix]

Can't help but wonder about needing more details, eg what model, how big is the HD, how much empty space, etc.

But if you're really needing space, the entire Garageband app and support files come close to 2 GB.

If you never use garageband???

[Shaiux]

Yeah i've deleted unwanted files i don't need still slow it has leopard i was wondering if i could downgrade to tiger would that make it faster? i use cleanmymac etc still slow.

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by Shaiux

Yeah i've deleted unwanted files i don't need still slow it has leopard i was wondering if i could downgrade to tiger would that make it faster? i use cleanmymac etc still slow.

Maybe do a clean install of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and stay away from CleanMyMac.

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much.

Articles explaining why Mac OS X does not need maintenance software like CCleaner, MacKeeper or CleanMyMac:

• Five Mac maintenance myths
• The myth of the dirty Mac

Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor

If you want to enhance the performance of your Mac, be sure to check these two articles, do not just use applications, that promise to do it for you.

• Performance Tips For Mac OS X
• Mac Performance Guide

To find out, what exact Mac model you use, in order to tell us, click > About This Mac > More Info > Hardware Overview:

To see a more elaborate image explaining the above steps, click here.
To see a more detailed video tutorial showing the above steps, click here (2 MB, 23s, .mp4).