How come my "printers" sub folder takes up 3.7 gigs in my library folder?

[88888888]

I look inside and it's just a bunch of other folders of companies.. like HP, xerox, epson, canon lexmark... etc.. i only have an HP printer.. how come i have all those other stuff?..

Thanks

 

[miles01110]

They are pre-installed printer drivers.

 

[aristobrat]

I look inside and it's just a bunch of other folders of companies.. like HP, xerox, epson, canon lexmark... etc.. i only have an HP printer.. how come i have all those other stuff?..

So if you ever plug in an Xerox, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, etc .. it'll "just work".

The first thing a lot of people do when they get a new Mac is to use the System Restore DVDs and do a clean install of OS X, deselecting Printer Drivers and Extra Languages. Saves a few GBs of disk space.

 

[angemon89]

Delete the ones you don't need. If it were me I'd delete all of them and re-install just the driver for my printer.

 

[jaw04005]

The printer drivers and additional languages are both a big waste of space. Additionally, the chance of your printer drivers actually being current is unlikely.

Apple is changing this in Snow Leopard. You'll just download the printer driver you need when you plug in your printer.

 

[Makosuke]

Apple is changing this in Snow Leopard. You'll just download the printer driver you need when you plug in your printer.

Regular Leopard seems to already kind of be doing this; I seem to get an update package for just the model of printer I currently have hooked up (that is, I have a Canon, and I get prompted by SU after a fresh install to download a Canon driver update). Still large, so I'm looking forward to JUST the one I need, but it's an improvement over several gigs of stuff I'll never even think about touching.

On the plus side, I note that since 10.5 I haven't needed to install any custom Ricoh or Brother drivers at work so long as I include those two packages when I install. Neither is large (compared to the immense Epson one, for example), so it's nice to be able to use stock drivers on our printers.

 

[madog]

Regular Leopard seems to already kind of be doing this; I seem to get an update package for just the model of printer I currently have hooked up

They do release individual packaged updates through Software Update that will update just the Samsung, or HP printer drivers depending on what's being used. However, the system still has the nearly 4GB of printer diver's preinstalled (and is a default option) when reinstalling.

Apple is changing this in Snow Leopard. You'll just download the printer driver you need when you plug in your printer.

He is mainly referring to a Linux like install/download, where you initially select the driver you need and it will download the most recent from Apple, instead of installing it in bulk from the get-go.