Please Help - do I need to erase everything?

Well, just got my first Mac in the excitment of installing the Leopard upgrade, I didn't choose the custom upgrade and ended up installing the language and drivers that I might not need. I read that I can save over 1GB by not installing this stuff!

Do I have to erase everything and start over? How do I do that? I put the Tiger CD in and Held down "C" but when I select "Erase and Install" it says "Format disk as: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". What does this mean? Is this what I want? I don't think there's a way to select something else..

Is the best way to do this to install Tiger and then Leopard again or can I just remove files in Leopard?

Thanks!

 

You can remove the files, but it's probably just easier to reinstall Leopard.

You don't need to install Tiger first. Just put the Leopard disk in and double click the icon that says "Install" and do a clean install. No need to hold down any buttons either.

Formating the partition as OS X Extended (Journaled) is fine. You can actually choose an option for it to be case-sensitive if you want.

 

1. What does Journaled mean?

2. To free up that extra disk space I need to pick "Erase and Install" and then pick the custom install?

3. What can I leave out of the custom install to save disk space?

Thanks and sorry about the n00b questions!

 

Every write the file system makes, it logs a journal before doing so to minimize corruption, at the expense of a slight decrease in performance and space (although this may not be a problem depending on how it's implemented).

Basically makes it so the file system is less likely to become corrupt, accidentally overwrite data, and such.

In any case, you don't have a choice in this matter. The OS X startup volume for Leopard has to be on a journaled partition.

 

You can leave out printer drivers, which will save you 3.4GB, and additional languages will save you 1.9GB. If you won't be using garage band, you can deselect the sounds & jingles as well as garageband, which will also save you some gigs. Happy trimming!

Oh yes, you would have to pick erase and install to start over for the purpose of saving space. If you have saved some documents and such and don't wanna bother backing up, then just do an archive and install, which will make a previous system folder and will make a clean install of leopard. All your settings and files and whatnot would be saved in the ps folder. And yes, after selecting the installation method, just click custom, and choose what you wish to remove.

 

Thanks! I'm doing it now