Previous Systems? Can I delete it?

When I first got my Mac I had a couple of problems, so I had to re-install Leopard because iMovie '08 was nowhere to be found. Now fast forward almost a year later. I want to clean out my Mac, so I can gain some extra memory back. I see something that says "Previous Systems". I presume this was all the information saved from when I had first booted up back in January because it has some applications, and some my system information that is currently present in the Macintosh HD( except for some of the apps which have a cross through them and it doesn't have my more recent installations in it like Logic Pro 8 or Reason 4.0), but the date on the file says January and has not been modified or even touched since. I don't want to touch it cause I'm afraid that if I do I will mesh up my Mac. I have things like Logic Pro set-up and that would be a real downer if that was lost.

Hi SpeAker-HeAd;
Once you are satisfied that the system is running correctly and you no longer need anything from the Previous System folder then you can delete it without have any impact on the system.
Allan

Similar Messages

"Previous System" - can I delete it?

at some point last year something went wrong with my macbook. it asked if i would like it to make a back-up of everything before moving on. i said yes.
i just noticed that in my HD folder, there is a folder called "Previous System", which i assume is a complete copy of the system i had last year before whatever problem i had occurred. thing is, this folder is over 10 GB.
id like to free up this space, since i have only 80 GB to play with. can i delete the folder without losing any valuable data or screwing my system?

Hi connectiwthdamien,
This from Apple's docs:
"After installation
You might wonder "What do I do with the Previous System folder?" It may contain items that you need. To determine this, once you've finished configuring, installing, and updating your applications, you can compare the Previous System to the new System. If there are things in the Previous System folder that aren't in the new System folder, copy them over or reinstall. If you're not sure what some items are (and don't seem to need them), leave them in the Previous System folder. Once you're comfortable that you've got everything you need out of it, you can delete the Previous System folder (or leave it around if you have enough free disk space)."
Hope that helps to clarify some,
littleshoulders

Previous Systems-can you delete?

I had so many problems with Leopard on my Dual 867, that I reinstalled Tiger. Can I delete the previous system, which is leopard or will that cause major problems?

Yes, you can delete it. It's just there so you can grab stuff out of it if it wasn't properly migrated; that folder is never used by the system itself.

Previous system - can i delete?

About 3 months ago I did an archive and install.
Moved everything I needed to the new system folder.
Is it OK to delete the 'previoius system' folder?
thanks
rex

Rex,
Sure, delete away if you have everything you need from it.
Brian

2 operating systems - can i delete one

Hey.
Just a quick question: I have two operating systems on my computer. A few months back I reinstalled Leopard thinking of getting a program off it (and not thinking of downloading it off the apple website) and now I have 2 operating systems on my hard drive, both with work (documents etc) on them that i don't want deleted. I was just wondering if i could delete one without losing the work on it. I don't understand operating systems - for all i know, saved documents etc might be separate from it and won't be affected.
Thanks for your help

Could you explain this. You cannot install two operating systems on the same volume, so you need to explain what you're talking about. Do you have a Previous System Folder with an archived OS X?

IPhone Mail 'previous recipients'-can't delete

If one mistakenly tries to send a message to an e-mail address that does NOT exist, that recipient continues to show up as a future possible address when creating new e-mails. In other words, when I later create a new e-mail and start typing the person's name, in the field below where it is searching through my Contacts, it will ALSO show that previous incorrect address. On my computer, one can go into Mail>Window>'Previous Recipients', and I could delete it...however...there is no way to do that on the iPhone. Note that I have already tried to reset my iPhone by deleting the Mail account and then reactivating...and I have also tried to go to a Mac that syncs with the iPhone to go into the Mail program and delete it from 'previous Recipients', but those do not show up. Thanks. Ken

since you have a mac you can do this:
1. Quit Mail, AddressBook, and probably all other apps would be a good idea.
1. Delete the ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/mailrecents-v4.xxxxxx file
2. When deleting this file, I had to type my admin password.
3. Restart Mail
4. Go to the Previous Recipients window.
5. Select one previous recipient and delete it, or do the following to empty your list:
6. Go to Edit>Select All
7. Delete the entire list
Now when you quit Mail and then restart it, the list should stay empty.
I just searched it for you and this is what others did. I like keeping all other recipients in my phone , if I use them or not.

Moving Previous systems folder

I have just upgraded my OS to Tiger on a G3 Tower that only has 12 Gig. I did an archive and install, which I now regret, but I did it. Now I am out of disk space. The "previous system" folder is 2.75 gig and I have been trying to move it to my external drive. It takes forever to "prepare to move" roughly 33,000 files. Then, when it actually starts to move them, I get a "permissions" error and a choice of skipping them. I choose to skip them and the "move" terminates. How can I move this folder to my external drive?"
Thank you.
G3 Tower Mac OS X (10.3.9) Turqoise

It is not necessary to move the entire Previous System. First delete the Apple apps and utilities from the Previous System, this will give you some space. The other Third Party apps and utilities have already been moved. Those found in the Previous System are not compatible.
The entire old System folder can be trashed. Drivers for your hardware have been upgraded or moved to a current location.
What you are most interested in are located in your Home folder. The Preferences for the Third Party applications can be moved from User/Preferences (previous) to User/Preferences (new).
Do the same for the Preferences located in Library/Preferences
Be sure to Fix Disk Permissions along the way.

Archive and reinstall - can't find previous system and want to delete

Hey everyone,
I just did an archive and reinstall with OS 10.5 and now am running out of disk space. I've been trying to find the "previous system" folder but can't locate it with finder. Any ideas?
Is it in the system folder? What can I delete without killing my computer?
Noob here, thanks a bunch!

Current system is OS 10.5
previous was the latest update - 10.5.6?
I have about 10 GB less space now that I need to recover!
I'm running this: MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz, 2GB 15", 160GB
Thanks.

Are "Previous Systems" files important or can they be deleted?

There is a file in my the hard Drive of the MacBook entitled "Previous Systems.localized" which is taking up 9.72GB of space. Is this important or can I delete it to create space on the start up disk?

Hi -
Did you recently do an 'Archive and Install'? If so, that file may be leftover from your previous system. If things are working smoothly after a week or so I'd go ahead and delete the entire prev. system.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

Can't delete Previous System File

Hi,
I did an archive and install and was left with a Previous System folder that is about 13G. I used "whatsize" app to move it to the trash where I then did a Secure empty trash. Trash can is empty, but when I run Whatsize again, the same previous system folder is still there, taking up 13G's of hard drive space. Any idea how to get rid of this file?
Thanks!

How To Fix Stubborn Trash and Why it Won't Delete
http://www.osxfaq.com/Tutorials/LearningCenter/HowTo/Trash/index.ws
Solving Trash Problems
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html
 Cheers, Tom

Can I delete 'Previous Systems' folder?

I have re-installed Max OS X twice, first time 2 years ago, the last time was yesterday. This last time I noticed at some point a message that the previous system could not be used anymore for starting up (I hope I recollect this correctly).
When I look on the HD there is a folder with '2 previous systems' folders, and both folders have 7 items, and each folder has 7 sub-folders. (Applications, Library etc.)
I assume that this takes up space on the hard drive? Does the newly installed sw need these old items? If not, would it free space if I delete these old system folders?
Thank you in advance for any information.
Milli.

Some people keep them for a little while in case there is a plugin or settings file that they had in their old system that they want to put in their new one. Once you have decided you don't need any of those you can just trash them.

Can't Delete Previous Systems Folder

I did an archive and reinstall some time ago, and got what I needed from the Previous Systems folder. So I tried to delete it (Secure Delete), and got most of it gone. What is left is a "Previous Systems" folder, with an "Previous System 1" folder inside, which shows up in the window as empty. When I try and delete it, I get a message that I can't because "html" is in use. I went in via Terminal, and found a series of directories under my "empty" Previous System 1:
usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/html, with a ton of ".html" files in the "html" folder. I got rid of all those files, then tried to get rid of "html", but it tells me that it isn't empty. I used sudo rmdir, and sudo rm -rf, and I get the same message. What gives, and what can I do about it?

Just to follow up on my problem, I finally had to backup my drive onto another drive, reformat the disk, and copy everything back. The unempty-able Trash was then empty. I still have one other problem that I hoped all that would fix, but I'll post it as a separate question. Just in case someone's curious, the problem (which I had before) is that sometimes upon waking from sleep, I get no response from the machine in that:
1.) The battery/power meter doesn't update.
2.) Once I try and click the cursor on anything on the screen (Locations, a window, the Airport menu bar), I get a spinning beachball that goes on for minutes. When it goes away, I try clicking again, and back it comes. Eventually, the machine "catches up" and works, but it's very inconvenient. Usually, this happens after the machine has slept over night. It could be a network issue (i.e., it's looking for the network it saw the night before), but it doesn't happen everytime. It's enough to make me wonder why I bought a Mac.

Can I delete previous system?

Hey all.... I've tried to look up the answer, but haven't completely understood posts. So:
I upgraded to Leopard (not Snow Leopard) about a year ago.
I am trying to clear up some space on my hard drive. What issues might I face if I delete the previous systems folder on my hard drive? I have everything backed up on an external. I am running some CS2 programs (soon to upgrade to CS4).
Thank you!

If you are referring to a folder called Previous System then yes you can delete it. It is a dysfunctional appendage of an Archive & Install installation. Other than that please be more specific with titles of folders.

Can I delete the "Previous System" folder ?

Hi all experts,
My system has been having problem after i installed the Adobe software but still useable. All software remains okay except to startup Adobe, it takes unusually long.
Then one unfortunate day while watching YouTube it hanged & doing a force quit won't help as the beach ball keeps on rotating endlessly. So I turn off the power. After that it cannot start-up anymore.
The salesman asked me to start up using the disc I originally have and do an "Archieved Re-installation" and select saved all the settings. He said I have to do that so that all my installed software remains.
Because my installation disc in Ver OS 10.5.4 after installation, it is still very slow. After updating it to 10.5.8, it now becomes back to original but the following problem remains:
a) starting Adobe programs remains slow, how do I overcome this problem ?
b) how come I still have Adobe under the application ? Can I move it to trash & reinstall again ?
c) can I delete the folder "Previous Systems" ? (because it eats up a lot of my HD space)
Thanks

Mac Engineer since 84 wrote:
a) I have to admit that I don't use Adobe Creative Suite 4 very much because I spend most of my time using developer tools. When you say it takes a long time to start up the applications is CS4 is it all of them? You know, they do take longer than most application to launch even in the best of circumstances. What model and speed of Mac are you using and how long does it take to launch each of the CS4 applications?
Mine is a 24" iMac with 4GB RAM, 2.8GHz & 256MB of dedicated VRAM. When I say it takes a long time, I was referring to something like 3 to 5 mins to start up each of the applications.
But the funny thing is once it started up & I quit the application and then launched it again, it will take only 15 to 30 seconds. This applies to all the applications in the CS4 Suite.
But if I shut down the whole system, it again took about 3 to 5 mins to launch the application again on the first time after shutting down the whole Mac. Again if I quit & re-launch, it only take 15 to 30 secs. This applies to all application in the CS4 Suite.
For your info, other application like Final Cut, iMovie, iPhoto ... etc remained okay & unaffected.
b) You can move the CS4 applications to the trash but you'll never find all the other installed pieces. I would just install fresh over them.
Can you please elaborate. I don't understand what you meant by "other installed pieces" and "install fresh over them". Thanks
c) The Previous System does not contain your files or preferences so you will not lose bookmarks or songs.
Thanks for the info & confirmation
d) I don't have songs with DRM from iTunes so I know nothing about the authorization mechanism. I'm sure that has been gone over ad nauseam on these forums and you'll be able to find something on a search.
Okay, I shall try to post on the iTunes section.
Thanks

Previous systems folder -- what can i delete?

i had to archive my old system and now, in my hard drive, is the "previous systems" folder with the old library and whatnot.
i have moved my personal files (desktop, itunes, word files) into my new system and i'm wondering if i can just delete the entire "previous systems" folder -- or if there are things in there that i should be sure to transfer (like any program or application files), or if deleting that folder might cause any problems.
also, should i just delete the inner "previous system 1" folder (the only folder inside "previous systems") or can i delete the whole folder, prev systems? i don't think it was there before the archive so i assume i can delete it but i wasn't positive.
help! thanks.
Mac OS X (10.4.7)

emillie
There are some things that might need moving: printer software that you added and so on. I suggest that you use the machine for a week or two and if you're content that all is working normally then you can trash it. That's what I did.
Regards
TD

Previous Systems? Can I delete it?

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