These pages have two purposes: To satisfy your curiosity
as to what each and every control panel/extension is and does. To
help Mac users prune our system folders of unnecessary extensions, control
panels, etc., in the interests of both RAM consumption and compatibility
issues.
The contents of these pages include descriptions of items,
RAM usage figures, incompatability notes, and a few "secret gems"
of info that may suprise you. If you don't see something listed here on
your own computer, that's good--it probably doesn't belong there anyway.
You may see some of these on your computer even though they aren't needed.
Many of us have moved files and systems from earlier Macs/PowerMacs and
haven't been very systematic about transferring stuff from our older system
folder to our new one. Also, the Apple software installers often aren't
very good about not installing things that aren't needed. This site will
help you figure out what should (and shouldn't) be there.
The info here has been gathered from the following sources: Apple Tech Notes,
the manual (imagine that...), various books, Conflict Catcher 3.0.4, Ric
Ford's MacInTouch page, and members of the Macintosh community, too numerous
to mention (you know who you are). Please send all comments, questions,
ideas, and requests (what is this for?) to Dan Frakes at
frakes@gseis.ucla.edu.
The content of these pages is broken up into sections based on
file type. The set of content links above, and at the top of each content
page, lists these types. NOTE: if you can't seem to find an item, make
sure you check the "Non-RAM," "Groups" and "Third-Pary"
sections. Many items are included there based on their file type, functionality
and developer.
If you own a PCI-based PowerMac, I have used a simple coding scheme for
those who really want to be told what to do. Other Mac users should make
sure they read the description of each item:
b+ Keep this thing
b- Get rid of this thing
b@ Keeping or disabling/trashing this thing is @ the discretion of the
user (sorry!)
b? Not enough info on this item to recommend any action; any information
would be appreciated
The best way to transfer files over from an older system to your new system folder is this: Don't! For the most problem-free installation, do a clean install of the latest system for your Mac, install System 7.5 Update 2, Install System 7.5.3 Revision 2, then re-install all of your peripheral stuff from the original disks. Then, if you don't have fresh copies, transfer over the random inits you can't live without. Finally, go through this list and remove/disable the stuff that the System installer installs that you don't need. This is the only way you're assured that you haven't taken something out that you need, nor have you put something in that you don't. p or those of you who are unfamiliar with the "clean install process," the trick is to hold down Command-Shift-K from the initial installer dialog box. You will be prompted for either a new system folder or a replacement system folder. If you want the complete, thorough, and extremely loooong instructions, refer to Apple's own Clean Install Tech Note.
Some people don't believe in doing a clean
install unless you have problems. I usually take a more proactive approach,
and believe that you avoid problems in the first place by doing a clean
install. Your mileage may vary. p bPCI Mac owners: It has been suggested
on the MacPCI list (and re-suggested over and over) that more conflicts
can be avoided by performing a low-level reformat of your hard drive before
you settle in. On an Apple drive, this can be done using the Drive Setup
program (the latest version is 1.0.5); for third-party drives, use the latest
version of the software that came with it. Finally, it is also a good
idea not to transfer over all your preferences. If at all possible,
start anew and set your preferences running off of the new system. p
bNote: With a few exceptions, I have not included software links on
these pages, for three reasons: 1) It would keep me from working on other
improvements (see "Future Plans," below); 2) There is a lot of
info on these pages already, and I don't want to make them more "cluttered";
and 3) There are a few other great sites below that already contain links
to updates and software.
Throughout these pages, I have included RAM info to help you reduce the size of your system file's RAM consumption. This info has been gathered from Conflict Catcher. The figures following each item are presented in the form of [U/R]. "U" is the RAM (in K) actually used by the item at startup on my system. "R" is the maximum amount requested by the item. At any given time, depending upon the configuration of your system, the amount used can vary. For example, Adobe Type Manager 3.9 will take up more or less memory depending upon how many fonts you have installed. So... your mileage my vary -- although for some items, you'll probably never use the full amount "requested." If an item is followed by "LB," it means that RAM info on this item isn't discernable due to the fact that it loads, and therefore has allocated memory, before memory statistics can be gathered. If an item is followed by "NA," it means that the file does not allocate memory at startup. Finally, there are actually two types of RAM for startup files to use: "system" memory and "high" memory. Since the implications of the two types of memory are the same for most people, I haven't differentiated between the two. PLEA FOR HELP: This info is a pain to compile, so your help is appreciated. If any readers can provide help with this info, please email me.
Throughout these pages, items updated in System 7.5.3/System 7.5.2 Update 2 are marked by "***"
The following are inits that people have requested info about. I am working on these now, but if you have any info on them (What do they do? What installs them? What happens if they aren't installed? What, if any, conflicts do they cause?), please let me know. Also, if the name of an item indicates part of its functionality, I usually figure that much out on my own ;-) ("The QuickTime Conferencing extension is needed to do QuickTime Conferencing"). I'm usually looking for what the item does specifically to your system.
Some other great resources/info can be found at:
Recent content updates have included additions and/or changes
to (section name in parentheses):
A possible future plan is a list of which extensions actually replace
native code with 680x0 code, and how much (that's been a "plan"
for a long time, but time has kept me from implementing it).
Over the couple of months since I moved my pages to the Ambrosia web server, I have had many, many requests and comments regarding the information on these pages. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and to be quite honest, I'm amazed at how many people I have been able to help! However, two particular types of requests made me take a step back and re-examine my methods of distibuting this info:
For now, you can get the latest updates/changes to The InformInit here.
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