Just got a used MBP, have a few questions :)

[ProstheticHead]

So I just picked up a used MBP the other day from a guy, wiped it, re-installed Leopard, etc. After having done this, I've got a few questions that I hoped you guys could help out with:

Freeing up some space: The computer has a 120gb harddrive (111 reality) and after installing Leopard, NeoOffice, and World of Warcraft (with expansion), I'm down to 80gb. Now, 80gb is still a decent chunk of space, however, are there any unnecessary things on the computer that wouldn't effect performance for me to get rid of? Any secrets to freeing up a bit of space?

External HD: I'm looking to eventually get an external HD because I know the slight amount of space on the computer will not suit my needs fully, so when I have the external, would it be possible to have all of my music on the external and still run it through the iTunes library? I've got around 16gb of music, so that would absorb a large chunk of space if I have to keep it in the computer itself.

Bootcamp: I have not set up bootcamp yet, but plan to get XP loaded on the computer so I can play around with a few Windows games when I get bored. Am I to assume that I will need to do a clean wipe of my hard-drive during the partition process? Or is it going to leave all of my information in tact and partition around it? (Doubtful.)

That's all I can think of at the moment... thanks ahead of time for any advice you can lend!

 

[GGJstudios]

1. You'll get lots of responses on methods of freeing up space. One free utility is Monolingual. You should check it out. Their site describes what it does... very handy. You might also search the forums to see what other apps have been recommended for freeing up space.
   
2. Yes, you can keep your music on an external HD and still use it for iTunes. Just go to iTunes preferences and tell it not to copy music that you import.
   
3. As far as installing Windows with Bootcamp, you'll be eating up more space, which is already in limited supply, but you can certainly do that, if you wish.

More apps you might find helpful. You may have already seen these.

 

[mchank]

You should reinstall but choose "Customize" when you reinstall and then deselect things you don't want. Foreign languages and printer drivers take up a lot of space. Just choose your brand of printer driver you want installed and deselect the rest; that should free up some more gigs.

 

[alphaod]

Like the other posters' said, removing useless drivers and applications will free more than 5 gigs of space.