What can I safely delete/move from full startup disk?

I have a full startup disk running both 9.2 and 10.3.9. I have a back up external hard drive (and about to add another). What has to stay on the startup disk...this "root" thing I keep hearing about? Can the Previous Systems folder be dragged to the trash? Can the Applications Folders (OSX) and the Applications Folder and Desktop (OS9) be copied to the external hard drive. What Library Folders have to stay. Any help would be greatly appreciated by this non-geek.
Thanks!
G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 10G

robindale:
Welcome to Discussions.
If you have a FireWire external drive you can backup your entire internal HDD to the FW drive. I would suggest using Carbon Copy Cloner. First go to Preferences in CCC and check the boxes to make bootable, repair permissions and synchronization. Then Clone your entire drive. You can now use your external HDD as a startup drive.
Instead of trying to recover space on your 10 GB internal HDD by deleting items, I would suggest installing a larger HDD. They are relatively inexpensive and will be a more lasting solution to your space issues.
I recently installed a 100 GB drive and it has not only given me more storage capacity, but it has increased performance both in speed and stability. Using an internal with lots of space as the startup helps prevent crashes due to overlapping volume structures and immproves performance by allowing more room for virtual memory. The newer drives are also faster: you can choose between 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm.
When you are ready to install a new internal HDD you just clone your FW HDD back to the new drive.
Post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius
PB G3 Pismo400, 100 GB 5400 Toshiba internal, 1 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9) Beige G3 OS 8.6

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What can I safely delete/move from full startup disk?

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