[chriswallace00]

Until I build a new linux box, all of my files are living on my ibook just now and in making room I've been looking around at stuff that was installed with osx that I never use, such as Garage band, which is gone.

However, in the HD/Library/Audio folder there are ~ 1gb of files, are these system files - ie noises for programs etc, events etc or are they garage band loops that I can safely bin?

Any help or suggestions on other useless files would appreciated.

Chris

[Yonzie]

I don't remember where it was, but there's ~1GB og Garageband Loops, yeah. You don't want to delete *everything* in that folder tough, only the garageband stuff.
You can also ditch iDVD, which has like 1.5GB of cruft. Or maybe that was iMovie... One of them at least.

[chriswallace00]

Ok, so I deleted the 'Apple Loops' ~ 1.2gb, but as mentioned in the post above iMovie HD is ~500mb? Will I lose codecs etc if I trash iMovie HD? I never use the program, never mind making HD movies.

I'm still fairly new to OSX, is there any table of dependencies etc or *cringes* windows-esque registry in osx that will alert me if I delete anything being used by another program. Linux usually freaks out if a library is missing and tells you to go get it, windows just says :"em, well... *blue wall*", how do I make sure I never encounter the OSX reaction?

[Yonzie]

Originally Posted by chriswallace00 Ok, so I deleted the 'Apple Loops' ~ 1.2gb, but as mentioned in the post above iMovie HD is ~500mb? Will I lose codecs etc if I trash iMovie HD? I never use the program, never mind making HD movies.

No. Codecs are in /Library/QuickTime, /Library/Components, /System/Library/QuickTime and /System/Library/Components

Originally Posted by chriswallace00 I'm still fairly new to OSX, is there any table of dependencies etc or *cringes* windows-esque registry in osx that will alert me if I delete anything being used by another program. Linux usually freaks out if a library is missing and tells you to go get it, windows just says :"em, well... *blue wall*", how do I make sure I never encounter the OSX reaction?

Not that I know of. I think that everything important is owned by "root" (similar to "Administrator" on windows) and that in order to delete stuff owned by that user you need to put in your password. I'm fairly new as well though, so...

[Maciej]

I delete vital system files all the time, I call it living on the edge... lol.

I'm sorry I don't have anything constructive to add here..

[julesstoop]

On a Mac you won't find anything in application packages - and the enclosing folders of less elegantly distributed software - that is also needed by other software outside the folder.

You can also be pretty sure that a folder like for instance Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat stays inert when Acrobat is not being used and can be removed safely when you stop using Acrobat.

[BarracksSi]

If I want to be sure that I find all the files related with an app (such as in Application Support or Preferences), I just search for that application's name. Occasionally, the developer will have written the app so that it creates folders with the developer's name instead, but those are just one more search away.

That sounds bad, as if you'd need an uninstaller to get it right. But as has been said, nearly everything is included in the application bundle or within its folder. And, related files always have a related name, so they're very easy to find.

[chriswallace00]

Excellent, I managed to skim off around 2gb of stuff that came with OSX. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.