User profile for user: Maronan
Maronan Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Application Data Storage (Preferences) In OS9

I'm sure most of us have learned that deleting a program doesn't always delete all of the files it's left strewn over your hard drives. Apple never built an uninstaller program, and third-party uninstall utilities never manage to find all of the preferences and caches and application support items old software leaves behind.

I've managed to be pretty good at pinning down all of the leftover bits and files, to the point where I was able to transfer a shareware program from a relative's old computer to her new one by finding its license file and copying that.

But I'm at a loss when it comes to OS9 programs. Other than :System Folder:Preferences, I'd have no idea where to look.

To make things even more complicated, this is a program that has been run in an admin account on OS 10.4 in Classic, which greatly expands the range in which it could have left garbage behind.

I've already checked /Library/Preferences, /Library/Application Support, /Library/Caches, their equivalents in my home directory, and because the program only runs in Classic, I also checked /System Folder/Preferences, all using Tinkertool to reveal hidden and invisible files.

While I discovered many interesting things (for example, Myst IV leaves invisible folders full of crap all over the desktop, and Caffeine Browser has a hidden preferences folder with thumbnails of every picture it's ever handled), I didn't find anything specifically relevant to my software.

So does anybody know where else to look?

Mac OS X (10.4.11), Also OS 9.2.2 in Classic

Posted on Feb 17, 2011 4:56 PM

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4 replies
User profile for user: Don Archibald
Don Archibald
User level: Level 10
101,725 points

Feb 17, 2011 11:53 PM in response to Maronan

Hi, Maronan -

In OS 9, most of an app's supporting files will be in the application's folder.

Some may be in the Preferences folder in System Folder. Of those, most will be identified reasonably clearly by their name, and, in some cases, by the info in the Kind column for each.

Some programs also add extensions to the Extensions folder in System Folder. Again, most of those can be indentified by their name. They can also be identified by using Extensions Manager - in the "Package" column is shown the origin of the item, i.e. what program installed it. You can sort the list by Package simply by clicking that namebutton at the top of that column. This same info is shown under the extension's name when you do a Get Info on it.

In those cases where the relationship between an item and the program with which it was installed is unclear, you can use a utility like FileBuddy (there is an OS 9 version available) to determine the Creator Code for an item, and then use that code to see if it matches the Creator Code of the app in question. FileBuddy can also be used to directly remove invisible items.

...and Caffeine Browser has a hidden preferences folder with thumbnails of every picture it's ever handled....


Such can also end up in the two databases collectively referred to in OS 9 as the Desktop File. After dumping a lot of stuff, and even as a matter of routine once in a while, it is not a bad idea to rebuild the Desktop File. Doing so clears references, including copies of files' thumbnails, to all no longer present files.
Article #HT2344 - Rebuilding Desktop File and Icon Recovery

In general, once the app's folder has been trashed and the obvious prefs files and any related extensions (if any) have been thrown away, anything left over can be ignored. It is very, very rare that one program will attempt to access any files proprietary to another program.

One unfortunate exception to that is Internet Explorer - it uses OS 9's Internet Preferences file as a place to keep its cookies. This unfortunately means that that file gets written to very often, and can get pretty big - that file is the only item in my Preferences folder whose size is measured in MB rather than KB.

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If we knew the name of the program in question, perhaps one of us who has experience with it will be able to identify any peculiarities it may have with regard to the stashing of support files.
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Application Data Storage (Preferences) In OS9

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