I have my Snow Leopard 10.6.3 retail DVD. It is almost 7GB. I opened up the disc in pacifist, and there is a lot of stuff that is unneeded (printer drivers, Xcode, etc) I want this to fit on a 4GB thumb drive. It would be nice to also not need to update to 10.6.8 too. any ideas suggestions whatever?
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[10.6.3] strip out unneeded stuff
- Thread starter Zeke D
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Snow Leopard was marketed as being a very lean install. Just because the files are in the package, doesn't mean they all get installed. Xcode is not installed by default. I think it only installs the print drivers for printers you have.
Rosetta, too, is an optional install, as is extra foreign language support and various other things.
Rosetta, too, is an optional install, as is extra foreign language support and various other things.
Why? Snow Leopard is not going to run on a 4Gb system drive. It needs plenty of space for swap, temporary files, etc. I suspect you would realistically need a 16 or 32Gb flash drive. (They are cheap, though.)
No love for bug-fixes and security updates?
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Snow Leopard lets you customize the installation. You'll see a button that says this at a specific step in the install process. Click it.
Once you've chosen to customize the install, you can enable and disable the component you want installed. You'll also be able to see the size each component contributes to the installed result.
Uncheck the things you don't need. For example, you can disable multiple languages you don't want, printer drivers for printers you don't have, etc.
Once you've chosen to customize the install, you can enable and disable the component you want installed. You'll also be able to see the size each component contributes to the installed result.
Uncheck the things you don't need. For example, you can disable multiple languages you don't want, printer drivers for printers you don't have, etc.
Unless I am misreading, I think the OP is trying to fit the Snow Leopard install DVD on a 4GB USB key. I don't believe he wants to run the system off the USB key.
Correct, I want to install from a 4gb stick. My disc has Xcode and the like. Just wasting space as far as I'm concerned on the installer.
In my windows days we could slipstream the service packs into the installer, I want to do the same with the 10.6.8 delta.
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I don't know of any similar tools for Mac OS X.
When I look on amazon.com, there's only a few dollars price difference between a 4 GB microSD card and an 8 GB one. Considering the amount of time and effort it could potentially take to pare the Snow Leopard install down to fit a 4 GB drive, I think I'd just spend a few extra dollars.
You can also buy microSD to USB adapters at relatively low prices. I bought several a few years ago, and have simply upgraded the storage size with larger microSD cards over time. The microSD cards are often less expensive than same-sized USB flash drives, although that can vary.
Since you're using it only for doing installs, almost any microSD card and USB 2.0 adapter would be faster than installing from a DVD. Installing is usually done infrequently, so a high-speed SD card or a USB 3.0 adapter won't be of much benefit.
Your best option is to create a disk image of the installed and updated OS, with/without the options you want. Then restore that image to the machine. You'll still need a working OS to boot from, though. Either way, you'll need a bigger USB disk.
More recent OS versions have Server Tools for pushing out installations, but I don't think they are there or very good on Snow Leopard Server. You might want to check that out, though.