reinstall or not?

[giganten]

Okay I have used my new mac for 1 week now.

I have some questions.

Should I reinstall my mac to save some space on the hdd, or just delete garageband, office 2004 and was it some other test programs you get on the mac?. Is it any other programs I can delete too?

Thanks for the help!

 

[dingdongbubble]

If u

If u dont need those programs then why do you have them? Remove them if you want space. I guess re installing would not help in gaining space as your Mac is new.

 

[giganten]

Okay.. should I just search on the name of the program in spotlight and delete all files with that name?
I have just mac's before but not very much so please be kind ..

 

[eyebeaz]

He has those programs on his computer because it came with them. Most people on here recommend that as soon as you get your computer you do a clean install and do not include the programs you don't need (such as garage band, etc). So if you have a source to back-up whatever files you want to save (such as music files) then I would recommend doing that and re-installing the OS without the applications/languages that are of no use to you.

And to answer your second question.. you could do that but sometimes you don't get them all.. it's easier to just re-install or use a program called AppZapper.

 

[Luigi239]

It won't hurt anything to do so. Deleting the applications you dont want will do basically the same thing in alot less time. If you ever need to re-install any of the apps, just insert your first OS X install DVD, and choose install bundled software only.

I would recommend using Appdelete for Garageband and such, as it gets rid of everything.

http://reggie.ashworth.googlepages.com/appdelete

 

[pianoman]

If you're interested in freeing up space, look into deleting printer drivers you don't use (and will presumably never use) as well as extra languages (using an application called Monolingual).

Garageband the app is only about 100MB - loops and everything probably add a bit - but deleting drivers and languages can save you gigabytes.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Most people on here recommend that as soon as you get your computer you do a clean install and do not include the programs you don't need (such as garage band, etc).

Just for the record, hardly anybody recommends this. You own a Mac -- deleting applications you don't need is completely painless.

 

[netnothing]

I would recommend using Appdelete for Garageband and such, as it gets rid of everything.

http://reggie.ashworth.googlepages.com/appdelete

Any advantages for appdelete over appzapper.....other than it's free?

-Kevin

 

[nick42069]

monolingual

I'm in the same boat...just got my first mac, MBP, last week and I also recall seeing many many posts indicating that people recommend a full os reinstall....

So thanks for the tip on the program "monolingual"....I will just simply delete things like the office 2004 testdrive, probably leave garageband as its not that big, and then run monolingual to remove all the useless language packs and printer drivers.....This seems the best route....can't imagine that reinstalling would be more efficient...

 

[Bern]

Personally I don't see the logic in installing an app that uninstalls things you don't need. When I first get my Mac I always do a clean install. It's a couple of hours of small inconvenience for a lean HDD.

Also to slim things down a bit, go to each of your iLife apps, choose "More Information" then scroll to the bottom of the pop up window, at the bottom of that window there is a section called "Languages". Delete all the ones you don't need.