how to trash the macos 9 "systemfolder"

vox barbaravox barbara
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
folks,



actually, since a couple of hours there is no need anymore for system 9 at least on my machine. So i just wanted to get rid of it by dragging the entire "systemfolder" into trash bin.



split second later, i was pretty much astonished as a system alert occured telling me that it is seemingly impossible because "systemfolder" is still needed.



What the heck does that mean?



Well, what do you recommend to get rid of system 9?



answers pretty much appreciated

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    bobwbobw Posts: 49member
    Make sure it's the OS 9 System folder, and that Classic is turned off.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Bobw

    Make sure it's the OS 9 System folder, and that Classic is turned off.



    doesn't work for me. For christ sake it is the OS 9 System folder i am touching. And "classic" is turned off. At least it is not launched.



    OS 9 System folder still can not be trashed. It is appearently used by OS X, some connection between the two OSes, which are rooted deeply, or something like that. At least on my machine. Trashing "application folder os 9" was easy to do. no complaints by the system, but OS 9 System folder seems to be different business, ... er ... brad ...?
  • Reply 3 of 6
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    You called?



    Apple made this a little tricky. I guess they want to safeguard the OS 9 folder for that rare chance that you might still need it in the future. What are you going to do if next week you suddenly need a program for work that still only runs in Classic? You'd be in a heap of trouble!



    I can't remember the last time I used Classic. It's probably been several months. Still, I *do* keep my old System Folder on my drive for the event that I may need it in the future even though I've been strictly a Mac OS X user for three years. My Classic System Folder only takes up 140 MB. That's piddle compared to my total drive space of 200+ GB.



    So, you have to ask yourself, is it really so important to remove Classic just to get back ~140 MB of drive space?



    Incentive for removing it:



    + Frees up a tiny bit of drive space.

    + You get the satisfaction of knowing that you're really 100% OS X now.

    + One less icon on your hard drive? Maybe you don't like that orange 9.



    Reasons for keeping it:



    + It only takes up a relatively tiny amount of disk space.

    + It remains inert when not in use. It doesn't negatively impact your system at all other than in the space it takes on your drive.

    + You have the safety and security of knowing that you can still run Classic apps that you may run across in the future.



    If you still are sure you want it gone, here's how you can trick the system to let you delete it. Open the Classic System Folder, select all, drag to trash. Force-quit (relaunch) the Finder. Now you can remove the folder itself without warning.



    Hope this helps.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    You called?



    actually, your answers are very much to my likeing



    Quote:

    + Frees up a tiny bit of drive space.

    + You get the satisfaction of knowing that you're really 100% OS X now.



    well, tiny bit of drive space is huge, considered one has only 20 gig available, isn't it?

    the second part is/was more seriously. I admit i wanted to get the satisfaction of beeing 100%



    BUT: actually, there was at least one compelling point in your answer, which disturbed me pretty much indeed. what would happen, if my neighbour (she is cute) asks me again to print out a filemaker doc, which i only own as a classic app? that would be rather painful if i can not do that favor anymore.



    Brad, you are such a boy of my likeing. I will keep classic for a while at least.

    yours
  • Reply 5 of 6
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Well, there is another alternative.



    You could do what some people scrapped for space do: put the Classic System Folder on a compressed disk image. Then, it'll be smaller and, if you want, you can burn it to a CD and just load it when necessary.



    Here's the process:



    "Get Info" in the Finder on the Classic System Folder and note the size. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. Create a new image with a custom size about 10 MB larger than the size you noted before. When the new DMG mounts, drag the Classic System Folder to it. Once finished, unmount/eject the disk image.



    Now, you've got the Classic essentials on the DMG, but it's not compressed. So, go back to Disk Utility and choose Convert from the Images menu. Select the first image you created. At the following Convert dialog, choose a new name and change the image format menu to "compressed". Wait for it to go and you're done!



    You can then trash the first DMG, trash the Classic System Folder from your hard drive, and put the new DMG wherever you want it.



    The next time you want to use Classic, mount the DMG and choose its Classic System Folder from the Classic pane in System Preferences.



    Hope this helps.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    Well, there is another alternative.



    ... Hope this helps.



    it works perfectly, it is such an ease ... and it is such a pleasure to be with you



    now i go having breakfast somewhere, it is nearly about 12:00 pm, at least in my country ...



    yours
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