I am a new Mac user. How do you remove programs in a Mac system? Do you just dump the unwanted program file folder into the trash bin or is there a uninstall program in the new iMac computers that can remove installed programs?

I thank you all in advance for your advise.

[wlonh]

IF you know all the items that were installed for any given application yes you may manually delete them...

many applications' installers are capable of uninstalling what they have installed.

you hold down the option key and/or select uninstall from the menu in the upper left corner of the installer

Most installers create a Instal Log in your Hard Drive. Open it to see what was placed where. If you dont have a Remove feature in the installer you can remove the files that way. Most progams can just be dumped in the trash, but over time your system folder will get full of junk that went with the stuff you trashed. There are programs out there to help you remove files that are not needed like Spring Cleaning.

[marc]

Uninstall and Log Files are excellant. Unfortunately, the Log File is generally the first thing I erase after installaton. If I've downloaded a program, the installer goes next. Fortunately, this isn't as big a deal as it is under Windows.

1. Trash the application. Keeping each application in its own folder makes this easy and gets rid of any associated files.

2. In the Preferences folder, inside the System folder, you will probably find a folder with the same name as the application. Trash this too.

3. Check the Control Panels and Extensions folders, also inside the System folder, and trash things belonging to the program you want to get rid of.

The above is essentially it. You should take iMan-ca's advice, though, and not trash the Log File. That's a bad habit I developed in the days of 20 MB hard disks. Throw it into the sam folder as the application. Good luck... marc

i am a former wintel user, and , at least in the wintel world, this causes a problem caled a "registery problem", which is quite possibly the most annoying thing next to the blue screen. Will deleting programs in the ways given above cause weird problems like this ? Is there any software which keeps track of all installed files, so i can just choose the program i want to uninstall, and its completely removed from my system ? And lets say i want to install quicktime4 over an older version....what happens to the older version ?
Thanks
Aaron

------------------
Mac Rules !!! seeya

[wlonh]

"registry problem", hilarious... no, we are not afflicted with that nonsense...

"Is there any software which keeps track of all installed files, so i can just choose the program i want to uninstall...?" Installer Observer will do the trick nicely and FREE, see www.versiontracker.com

or here is the link for the download: http://home.earthlink.net/~z41/InstallerObserver.sit

and if you install QT4 over an older one, it is replaced (overwritten, and some items are placed up in the trash, i believe. it is a NON-issue at any rate.) QT, since QT4, uses an online updating scheme, BTW. It has always worked great for me, your mileage may vary.


[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 10-17-1999).]

[marc]

Dragonlance-- the worst thing that can happen if you trash an application is that you will leave behind bits (usually extensions) which take up space. If you load something with the *same* name as something that already exists you will get a message saying that a newer (or older) file with the same name already exists. You will have to say OKAY to overwrite it.

wlonh-- yesterday I defended you to someone who said you sucked. Please don't make me regret that. Using terms like PeeCee and Windoze is childish. Making fun of new users with legitimate questions is rude and counterproductive. The best part of using Macs is that I generally meet nice people that way. I would hate for that feature to disappear. Thanks... marc

[This message has been edited by marc (edited 10-17-1999).]

[wlonh]

i really am not here to win a personality contest and could care less what anyone thinks of me personally... i am here to TRY and help...

and my use of said terms 'windoze' and 'peecee' are automatic and i do not notice it... OFTEN i hurriedly respond to posts and am sometmes incomplete in my answer but that, as i see it, is the limit to my culpability here. I DO NOT knowingly make fun of anyone (i said 'KNOWINGLY', your definition of 'making fun' and mine may NOT jive), unless it is 'give and take'.

and some of my best friends use peecee's.

remember, 'sticks and stones'... word to your mother. no disrepect, but i resent being lectured to by some one who hasn't the foggiest clue who i am, think what you want about me.

i cordially invite anyone to view this thread:
http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Forum1/HTML/000257.html


the emails i have gotten from people thanking me for their help outweigh by 10:1 the one complaint i have had, ONE complaint. ONE.
gimme a break over here, already even.


[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 10-17-1999).]