Getting Rid of Previous System

mac x

Okay I did the Archive and Install method for OS X.2

It's been just about a month now and I have had no problems.



What would happen if I delete the previous system folder?



The main reason for wanting to delete the folder, is so I can free up some hard disk space.



Has anybody deleted their previous folder yet?

ghost_user_name

Yes, you're supposed to delete the previous system folder when you are finished pulling everything out of it that you want to keep.



The system isn't using it for anything. It's just taking up space.

torifile

[quote]Originally posted by Defiant:

<strong>nah, you don't need batchmod anymore in 10.2





just get the information window on the file you want to change the permissions, and set them there.



Batchmod is cool, but now obsolete. sniff.</strong><hr></blockquote>



You theoretically don't need batchmod anymore, but I've never had any success having permissions copied into the contents of subfolders I don't know... personally, I just use the terminal.

torifile

Go ahead and delete it if you're sure you've got everything you need from it. It's owned by root, so you'll need a little terminal magic or something like <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12057&db=mac"; target="_blank">Batchmod</a> to get rid of it.

defiant

nah, you don't need batchmod anymore in 10.2





just get the information window on the file you want to change the permissions, and set them there.



Batchmod is cool, but now obsolete. sniff.

praxis

just log in as root and dump it: quick and easy.

defiant

[quote]Originally posted by praxis:

<strong>just log in as root and dump it: quick and easy.</strong><hr></blockquote>



I hear brad running your way ... was nice to meet you. :cool:

ghost_user_name

[quote]Originally posted by praxis:

<strong>just log in as root</strong><hr></blockquote>

*sigh* <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />



I'm not even going to bother this time...

praxis

seriously, what is the problem?

junkyard dawg

Use the terminal, it's what bada44 h4XXo4s do.

thegelding

i just did this over the weekend...if you used "install and archive" when you updated to 10.2 then you should have a separate folder with your old system in it...just drag this folder to the trash and then empty the trash...it freed up a couple of gigs for me...it sure took a long time to empty the trash....i forgot i moved the old system folder to the trash a few days before...so when i hit "empty trash" and suddenly it told me it was deleting over 1700 files i was a bit surprised till i remembered why....g



[ 10-28-2002: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>

thegelding

don't use root or terminal unless you are very familar with unix and os 10....please just drag and delete old folder....start messing with root and u could **** your whole day trying to get your computer back and running....g

praxis

it seems some of us cannot dump the previous system due to lack of privileges. i dug up brad's reasoning for not logging in as root, and while he has some valid points, especially for those who have no clue what they are doing, it does not invalidate it as an alternative. on all the 5 macs i maintenance for other people, i never tell them how to login as root for this very reason. however, if you know what you are doing, which is also to say, if you don't start messing with things you don't understand, it is just as safe as using the terminal. i have used this method for well over a year and have NEVER had any problems as a result. perhaps as i become more comfortable using the terminal this will change.

rhythm

Although I've wanted to eliminate the "Previous System" folder, attempting to drag it to the trash for disposal proved untenable because the folder was "owned by the root". Reading through this thread, I took due note of the cautions but decided to make the attempt. Thanks to Google, I was directed to a helpful Apple document, which I carefully read before following the directions and enabling 'root user'. I then logged out and logged in as 'root user', successfully dragged the "Previous System" folder to the trash, disabled 'root user', logged out as 'root user' and logged back in under my usual name. Emptying the trash took about four minutes, freeing up more than 1 GB of disk space. Thanks to your prudent cautions, I'll stay out of 'root user' in the forseeable future, but for this one narrow purpose all went well. My system is running as energetically as ever. Special thanks to everyone for their advice and cautions.<a href="http://http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106290"; target="_blank">Apple "Root User" Technical Document</a>

junkyard dawg

I do wonder what "normal" Mac users are going to do when faced with a previous system folder that won't delete. They aren't going to know anything about root, or how to use the terminal, or batchmod, or even how to change privileges (which never works for me anyways). More likely than not, they will just leave the old system folder on their HD, wasting space.



Does Apple just assume that every OS X users knows how to use the terminal or log in as root? Or do they not care? It seems like it would make more sense if the installer gave administrative users privileges for deleting previous system folders.

ghost_user_name

JYD: I've done three separate installations using the archive method described here. In each case I had ZERO problems dragging the folder to the trash. I suspect most "normal" people also don't have problems or else we'd be seeing a lot more threads like this. There must be something uniquely wrong with these users' Macs for them to have this kind of problem.



This is not at all as widespread a problem as your post seems to suggest.

serrano

[quote]Originally posted by praxis:

<strong>it seems some of us cannot dump the previous system due to lack of privileges. i dug up brad's reasoning for not logging in as root, and while he has some valid points, especially for those who have no clue what they are doing, it does not invalidate it as an alternative. on all the 5 macs i maintenance for other people, i never tell them how to login as root for this very reason. however, if you know what you are doing, which is also to say, if you don't start messing with things you don't understand, it is just as safe as using the terminal. i have used this method for well over a year and have NEVER had any problems as a result. perhaps as i become more comfortable using the terminal this will change.</strong><hr></blockquote>



Actually you don't tell them about the root user because you yourself don't seem to know anything about it. If you're afraid of the terminal, then you don't really know what you are doing WRT root.