can i just delete the OS 9 system folder?

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I'm running 10.2.3 and don't have any use for OS 9. Can I simply delete the system folder and the 0S 9 apps folders? Are there OS X critical files contained in those directories?



Would it be better to do a fresh install of only OS X?



Jason

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    cosmocosmo Posts: 662member
    knock yourself out

    as long as you don't have any prefs etc that you need in your system folder u can delete it

    it will not hurt X, but u won't be able to use classic anymore
  • Reply 2 of 12
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    You might want to keep Mac OS 9 around. After all, some apps have Carbon updates but no Carbon installer meaning you need Mac OS 9 to install them.



    Take Starcraft for example. There is a Mac OS X app but no way to install the game without Classic since the installer only works in Classic.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    No critical files. Delete away.



    (Or you might want to burn it onto a CD, just in case. You never know.)
  • Reply 4 of 12
    As said above, it is safe to delete it. The only thing I can think of that you may need to check is to make sure any Fonts you have in the Classic Fonts Folder be moved to your user Font folder before deleting Classic.



    I do not know if it is a bug or a feature in the system or the application, but I have at least one little used Carbon word processor which does read from the Classic Fonts folder (yes I confirmed the Font, Chicago, was not in Library/Fonts, System/Library/Fonts, ~/Library/Fonts).



    This is the only difficulty I can imagine you would run into other than Classic no longer working of course.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    Great. Thanks for the good advice. I'll do some minor backing-up before I delete, but I should be good to go. I don't use Classic or OS 9 for anything.



    But what about my other question? Would it be better to do a clean install of OS X only? I could do that without too much trouble.



    Jason
  • Reply 6 of 12
    pevepeve Posts: 518member
    if you don't got a lot of stuff to install/konfigure...

    do it clean!



    once you got tons of software on your baby - it's more pain to do so.



    and beside the "safe" feeling you get - your mac gets cleaned up.



    just mho.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    doing a clean install won't really change anything in this case (other than what it would do for you anyway) ... other than a few small system files (which will get re-installed in a clean install), there is no relationship between the OS9 System Folder and the OSX System (folder).



    Just deleting the OS9 System Folder will get rid of everything .... doing a clean OSX install will not result in any fewer files on your HD as it relates to OS9.



    (It would make for a "cleaner" file structure on the drive though)
  • Reply 8 of 12
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    I just did this about a month ago, and the "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" keeps reappearing on my hard drive. I delete it (with the terminal because it's very stubborn), and it comes right back after a restart.



    Any ideas to get rid of it for good?
  • Reply 9 of 12
    [quote]Originally posted by bauman:

    <strong>I just did this about a month ago, and the "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" keeps reappearing on my hard drive. I delete it (with the terminal because it's very stubborn), and it comes right back after a restart.



    Any ideas to get rid of it for good?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I don´t think you can get rid of that, because this file is connected with your harddisk-driver and the HFS+ disk format.

    Only possibility is to reformat you harddisk using UFS, but many programs cannot be installed on UFS volumes (e.g. Mozilla)
  • Reply 10 of 12
    Why are some fonts stored in ~/Library/Fonts, and others in ~/System/Library/Fonts? Why the distinction?
  • Reply 11 of 12
    [quote]Originally posted by hjordis71:

    <strong>Why are some fonts stored in ~/Library/Fonts, and others in ~/System/Library/Fonts? Why the distinction?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That fonts that are stored in ~/System/Library/Fonts are essential for the system and can only be deleted or moved by root (which can crash your system!). The fonts in ~/Library/Fonts can be moved and deleted by all users who have the right to do so. There is a third folder at ~/User/Library/Fonts which contains the fonts that are only accessible for that one specific user.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    [quote]Originally posted by bauman:

    <strong>I just did this about a month ago, and the "Desktop (Mac OS 9)" keeps reappearing on my hard drive. I delete it (with the terminal because it's very stubborn), and it comes right back after a restart.



    Any ideas to get rid of it for good?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Actually, this alias is automatically created as long as you have anything on your OS 9 Desktop. If 9 is no longer on your machine, the way to do this is probably to get rid of the invisible file at the root of your HD called "Desktop" using TinkerTool or some other such utility. This, btw, is also how you change the icon on the Desktop (OS 9) Alias, namely to make that file visible and change it's icon. One way to make sure you've got the right file is to change the icon that way and reboot. You can also use the alias to clean everything off the desktop and then, if you delete the alias, it shouldn't reappear the next time you boot up.



    There is a technote about this someplace.
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