Should I reinstal the MacOS

[hdsalinas]

I have been playing with my brand new MBP since last christmas.

I have installed a bunch of applications (most of them demos) But I have deleted all the ones that I did not like or did not find useful. However everyday I find remains (as in files and folders) of these deleted apps. I am not sure if in time they hill hinder the performance of my mac or how much of my valuable space they are using. I would also like to get rid of some bundle software like office 30 day trial and drivers or language options that I dont need (I just need english and spanish)

My questions are:
1) Will I gain anything from reinstalling the OS and getting rid of these trash files. (my MBP is running as fast as it always has but after I installed pocket mac it struggled a bit for a while)

2) Will I be able to select from the bundled software what gets installed and what not? (same applies for drivers and language support)

This will be the first time reinstaling the MacOS, although as every windows owner I have had to reinstalled windows like billions of times. How long will it take?

As I said before, There is nothing wrong with the current instal, just a mess of left over files. Now that I have tried a few programs I want to start clean and install only the ones that I want and keep my mac as lean as posible.

thanks for your helpful replies.

 

[PYR0M310N]

well for starters, instead of trashing apps. you want download a program called app zaper so that when you delete a program it gets rid of all the files embedded in library as well

for your language needs this is good

 

[Father Jack]

well for starters, instead of trashing apps. you want download a program called app zaper so that when you delete a program it gets rid of all the files embedded in library as well

for your language needs this is good

I have found that sometimes App Zapper leaves a few bits and pieces, but generally it does a good job.

As an ex-Windoze user my self, reformatting was essential at regular intervals.

Since moving to Mac, I still occasionally feel the urge to reformat. (perhaps twice a year)
Certainly not essential for Mac's but I don't think it does any harm.

If you do decide to re-format make sure you have all your data backed up on CD / DVD or an external drive before you start. Perhaps a flash drive will be big enough.

It should take about one and a half hours.


FJ

 

[Blubbert]

If you dont wanna pay for AppZapper, you could always use Uapp, which you can find here: http://www.eagle-of-liberty.com/uapp/index_en.php

 

[apfhex]

1) Will I gain anything from reinstalling the OS and getting rid of these trash files. (my MBP is running as fast as it always has but after I installed pocket mac it struggled a bit for a while)

2) Will I be able to select from the bundled software what gets installed and what not? (same applies for drivers and language support)

1. Probably not, but a fresh re-install does tend to "feel" faster, even if it's just your imagination. Extra preference files and whatnot do NOT slow down your Mac, and usually take up a negligible amount of space.

2. Yes. And installing MacOS X is many many many times more pleasant that installing Windows XP. It takes half the time and once the install process is started, requires no constant user input like XP does.

 

[clevin]

well for starters, instead of trashing apps. you want download a program called app zaper so that when you delete a program it gets rid of all the files embedded in library as well

for your language needs this is good

so how do non-starters uninstall the softwares?

 

[blackstone]

There's no need to buy App Zapper. Just do a spotlight search for the names of the apps you've uninstalled, and delete the preference files and library folders that turn up in the search.

As for re-formatting, it's true that the re-installation process for OS X is a lot faster than that for Windows. Nevertheless, it is utterly unnecessary unless you've seriously screwed up your system. Unlike a Windows system, an OS X system will not irreparably slow down under normal use.

If your system feels slow, use Onyx to delete caches and run the regular system maintenance utilities. You can also check to see if uninstalled apps left behind extra login items (accessible by opening up System Preferences, selecting Accounts, and selecting the Login Items tab for each account).

 

[IJ Reilly]

^^^^^^^^
What he said.

Don't go reinstalling OSX just to make yourself feel better, and that's about the only reason to do it.

 

[matthew24]

Not necessary, OSX does not become slower over time, I do have my Powerbook for 4 years now and never did a re-install.