Is it safe to delete this?

[lewis82]

My sister's MB refused to boot yesterday, so I repaired the drive. It seemed to be OK, but when I was gone, thinking it would work, it prompted her to insert disc 2.

Shortly put, it has installed 10.4.6 over her previous 10.4.11 system. The data has all gone in the "Previous systems" folder in Macintosh HD. I ran software upgrade several times (it's still downloading java, as of now, for the [third] fifth time), I managed to get all her data back (playing with the permissions), but now, there are 3 different Applications folders. One in her userspace, one in the "Previous system1" and one in the "Previous system2".

Can I safely delete these Application folders? I would guess they are copies, and not hard links, but after having accidentally started wiping a hard drive because of a hard link (no laughing please ) once, I don't want to see all her apps disappear. When I search for an app, it appears only once in Spotlight.

The same goes for the "Microsoft Office 2004 test drive". Can I delete this, as she also has the real version installed in her Applications folder?

 

[Intell]

The only in her userspace needs to stay. The ones in the previous system folders can most likely be deleted with no problem. Office 2004 Test Drive can be deleted as well.

 

[lewis82]

It worked thanks. (I just wasn't secure enough... I didn't want to mess up her computer any more...)

 

[Intell]

I think you can also get rid of the Previous System folders. After you have gotten everything you need from them. I also see that you are still using Tiger. I would suggest getting the $29 Snow Leopard Upgrade DvD and installing Snow Leopard. Yes, even though it says Leopard is required, you can still go from Tiger to Snow Leopard without any problems.

 

[lewis82]

This is my sister's MacBook. By the way she uses her computer (files scattered everywhere on the desktop, for example), I can see she doesn't care much. I'll tell her she could upgrade, though. It's true that 29$ is cheap

 

[Intell]

Its also for security reasons. Apple isn't updating 10.4 anymore and most new software isn't going to work with it.