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Beautiful IBook! Thanks all! few Questions?

netytan

netytan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 23, 2004
254
0
My IBook finally arived today after so much waiting and arguing with people from the bank, shop, currier... but thats all over now. And, its just so damn cute i havn't been able to put it down all day.

I even tuck it shopping with me and got some weird looks for speaking to it. Probably doesn't help that i gave it a name that reminds me of my girlfriend - DC (My little name for her) and Darwin da Computer ;).

Also got a bunch of people in the library come up to ask me questions about it! Not that im an expert. But it felt good :D.

Just a few Questions if I may:

1) To Uninstall something on a Mac you simply drag the program or folder to the 'Trash' on the doc?
2) Should there be a folder that looks like a copy of my user directory in the 'Applications' folder?
3) How can you create a new file on the desktop. I've seen it done but i just cant see a 'New File' tab in finder. Do you have to create a file in an App and save or move it to the desktop?
4) Is it possible to change the icon of say a folder. Just i have a bunch of sweet looking icons from some Mag' and was just thinking. How do i do that ;).

Anyway i just wanted to thank you all for you're help with this little switch over of mine; its a shame it had to be so hard but seems to be well worth it now.

Thanks again,

Mark.
 
One last Question: i just knowticed that i have 44GB of HD space left. I got the 60GB HD so that means that 16GB of space is being taken up somewhere and all i've done is install the disk that came with the IBook.

So, how big is MacOSX? Mmmm. And how can i get some of the size i payed for back. I really dont want IE (which was the reason i asked how to uninstall stuff) and im dout i'll ever play the games. But what about things like the Applications folder for MacOS9.

Where did all that space go ;). Thanks in advance,

Mark.
 
changing icon

Hi,

To change the icon for a folder, u just need to do this:

1.) "Get Info" on the icon that u like to use. A window will be launch.
2.) In that window click the icon on top left corner n "copy" it.
3.) "Get Info" on the folder that u wanna change. Another window will be launch.
4.) In this window click the folder icon on top left corner n "paste".
5.) Close both windows, n u r done!!!

Get info = Command + I
To copy = Command + C
To paste = Command + V

(Command key is the one beside space bar that have an apple icon on it.)

Remember to visit www.iconfactory.com & www.pixelgirlpresents.com for more icons. ;)
 
1) Yup. That's it.
2) I don't think so. But you might want to post a screen shot of it so we can see it. I'd hate for you to delete something important.
3) You can't create a new file on the desktop. You have to save the file to the Desktop from an Application.
4) You already have the answer for this... :)

Your 60 gig HD is more realistically 55 Gig... that's just what a 60 gig HD is. just like an 80 gig is more like 75 gig and a 120 is more around 112 gig. It's just the difference between bits, bytes, bots, and bubs.

You have to keep in mind that not only is OS X installed but so are a whole bunch of other programs. Garageband alone takes a good gig or so because of the instruments. If you have iDVD installed there is a tutorial project installed which has video and such. If you've installed from the discs that came with your machine I wouldn't worry about it. You can however go and remove things you don't have a use for.
 
your other questions..
1) To uninstall, usually thats all you have to do. Drag the application to trash. Also there is a small preference file(4-5 KB) asscociated with each application in home/library/preferences. You can delete that too. Sometimes some apps may install a component in home/library/application support. So its best to read the read-me file before installing anything.

2)There are only applications in the applications folder. Apart from that there is one folder called installers, which has the developer tools, and one folder called utilities, which has system apps.

3)To creat a new file on the desktop, click anywhere on the desktop, then ctrl+click (or right click if you have a non-apple mouse) and select new folder. Also in the finder window, if you click the small gear wheel, it would give you the option.

As you have 60 GB harddrive, you would get about 55.7 GB really, due to difference in the naming convention used by hard drive manufacturers and computer companies.
And I guess, a full install of OS X with garage band takes about 10 GB. So thats alright if you get about 45 GB left.

cheers
 
netytan said:
My IBook finally arived today after so much waiting and arguing with people from the bank, shop, currier... but thats all over now. And, its just so damn cute i havn't been able to put it down all day.

I even tuck it shopping with me and got some weird looks for speaking to it. Probably doesn't help that i gave it a name that reminds me of my girlfriend - DC (My little name for her) and Darwin da Computer ;).

Also got a bunch of people in the library come up to ask me questions about it! Not that im an expert. But it felt good :D.

Just a few Questions if I may:

1) To Uninstall something on a Mac you simply drag the program or folder to the 'Trash' on the doc?
2) Should there be a folder that looks like a copy of my user directory in the 'Applications' folder?
3) How can you create a new file on the desktop. I've seen it done but i just cant see a 'New File' tab in finder. Do you have to create a file in an App and save or move it to the desktop?
4) Is it possible to change the icon of say a folder. Just i have a bunch of sweet looking icons from some Mag' and was just thinking. How do i do that ;).

Anyway i just wanted to thank you all for you're help with this little switch over of mine; its a shame it had to be so hard but seems to be well worth it now.

Thanks again,

Mark.
Click to expand...

great enjoy your machine....

1... yeah just drag it into the trash...what i normally do and recommend you do to... when you do delete something firstly empty it from the trash.. then search in finder for word (if thats what you deleted) or whatever it may be..often there are some files that need deleting...

3. to make a new folder on the desktop.. my mates pics or whatever it may be.. just hold control and click on the desktop...
holding control and clickin is the same as right clicing on a pc..


make sure when you download stuff you drag it from the desktop to your application folder...that way you dont get an annoying drive folder on your desktop eveytime you use it...

i would recomend some iclear for your screen

and have you calibrated the battery yet...anything you need just ask
 
I would advise holding onto IE. It is true that IE for mac is just about the worst browser ever, but there are a few sites out there that require IE.
 
Most of the space is taken up by a few big things, such as XCode (if you installed that), GarageBand, and the operating system itself. Deleting little 10mb applications won't make any noticable difference to you.
 
WOW, thanks so much for the info guys! Im sure it will be very usful. Its actually a little humbeling to have to ask such simple questions, specially having been answering windows questions for years without so much a second though :eek:. Just have to learn all over again.

I like the idea of just deleting stuff to uninstall it - but i do wish there was a log file for each installation or something so i could easily see what needs removing.

Oh, if i stuff things up... which is quite likly since i like to fiddle with things like this ;). All i have to do is put the disk into the Combo drive and follow the instructions right? Or do i have to put the CD in and press some keys? Think i read that somwhere.

Thanks again, you guys are life savers!

Mark.
 
Mark, I'm going though the same thing you are. I've answer people problems pc for ages now without even thinking about it, & now it's like starting all over again. It's great as the iBook is so easy to use. I hadn't even thought about unistalling stuff, so thanks for asking that question.

I love my iBook so much, it's just a shame other people aren't so enthiastic about it as me.
 
Heheh, nice feeling though you have to agree. Especially that smell when you first open the box, whats about about :). Very surprizing!

Mark.
 
Gaining some space back

As others have pointed out, GarageBand and iDVD take up some serious space, instruments for the former, video and templates for the latter. If you are not going to use them, delete them to gain some space back. They should have come with your iBook as iLife 04, but check to see that you have the installer discs before you trash 'em. Another place you could gain some space back is by removing additional languages. By default OS X installs language packs for just about every language out there. Handy if you are bi- or tri-lingual and so on, but if you only speak one language, a tool called DeLocalizer can get you some space back as well. You won't gain as much as by removing GarageBand or iDVD but it helps...By the way, you ccan't remove American English. Not sure if its a limitation of DeLocalizer or OS X.

DeLocalizer
 
You might try a little application called WhatSize. It's free and it will tell you what the large files are and you can decide which ones you need.
 
Chaszmyr said:
I would advise holding onto IE. It is true that IE for mac is just about the worst browser ever, but there are a few sites out there that require IE.
Click to expand...

I have had my computer for about 18 months and never used it. Safari seems to go to all the sites i need it to, even to the ones that say down the bottom "for maximum performance this site requires Netscape 4+ or Internet Explorer 5+." Don't bother hanging on to it, just delete it and use the valuable disc space for something better!
 
Just a thought about the HD. First you will always loose space for stuff like the table of contents. Also, since OS X has a unix core doesn't it create other partitions for things like the swap file?
 
Congrats on you iBook I hope (know!) you'll enjoy it! Looks like most of your questions have been answered so I'll just add that for a new folder (anywhere) just hit command (Apple) shift and n (new) at the same time. To empty your trash it's command+option+shift+delete. Learn the short cuts and things will be a lot quicker!
 
I would say that only with drives 10GB and under do you get what it claims to be. 80gb= 74 really and 120= 112 really. its just a tech fact of life :confused:
 
Congrats!

I had an iBook for 2 years, just moved up to a 15" Powerbook 2 months ago when they came out. I love the power in my new book, but there is a nostalgia part of me that misses my iBook!

:)

Get rid of IE if you want, but it only takes up about 23 MB or so. Big, but in the grand scheme of things not too big. I don't ever use it anymore except for testing... Safari works fine for me.

In reference to a comment above, IE 5.x for Mac is recognized by professional web designers in the know as one of the most standards compliant browsers of its time, and still beats out IE 6 for the PC in a big way! IE 5.x for Mac and IE 6 for PC use different rendering and Javascript engines. IE 6 PC has serious issues, and people often confuse it with IE Mac. Having said all that, I have been quite happy with Safari. It has excellent CSS support. It used to have horrible Javascript support, but the most recent update seems to have fixed that.

Cheers!

James
 
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