Take Control Books

>Will Joe Kissell's Take Control of Upgrading to Leopard book assist
>the user in doing a New installation on a New computer? For example,
>is there a custom install for a new machine to do things like keep
>Garage Band off the system, not load all the drivers you don't need,
>not load all the fonts you don't need, etc. Somewhere recently I saw
>a posting that this was THE book for using the AIR machine to keep
>the OS small and leave more space available on the new-fangled HD.

The book doesn't talk about uninstalling stuff (which is what you're
asking for), so what you'd need to do instead is make a backup and
then do a new Erase & Install of Leopard (which the book explains in
detail). Once that was done, you'd want to move back from the backup
those applications that you need (and that weren't installed by the
Leopard installer, such as iPhoto).

>Second, does Matt Neubauer's Take Control book deal with these same
>issues, or some others. I note in the TOC there's something named
>"Install Intelligently." Is that all about just installing what the
>user REALLY needs?

Matt Neuburg has a 4-page section on customizing your installation in
case, but it's not the focus of the book. It's not the book you want
for installation help.

>I've looked at the Take Control website descriptions for both books,
>and frankly they seem to be similar books. Maybe someone could
>elucidate. I'd appreciate that very much.

They're really quite different. Joe talks mostly about the process of
upgrading with just a tiny bit about setting up the new features,
whereas Matt talks about how to customize all the new features with
just a tiny bit about customizing the installation.

cheers... -Adam

On Feb 26, 2008, at 4:49 AM, <tidbits-talktidbits.com> <tidbits-talktidbits.com
 > wrote:

> The book doesn't talk about uninstalling stuff (which is what you're
> asking for), so what you'd need to do instead is make a backup and
> then do a new Erase & Install of Leopard (which the book explains in
> detail). Once that was done, you'd want to move back from the backup
> those applications that you need (and that weren't installed by the
> Leopard installer, such as iPhoto).

One of the problems with with making a backup & doing Erase & Install
is that with certain applications you lose vital authentication
information that gives rise in unusabe software. I learned this the
hard way with Adobe Photoshop CS3: I had moved it to an external HD,
then did the Erase & Install in this case with Tiger, and at the end
found that Photoshop CS3 would not open because certain authentication
information could not be found. I had to use the Adobe PS Uninstaller,
then reinstall PS CS3, and go through the authentication routine but
with complications as Adobe thought I was trying to put PS CS3 on a
third machine. It took some phone calls to rectify. Lesson - do not
Erase & Install if you have applications that require activation and
authentication - there is hidden information that the application
checks.

[Joe's the expert here, and he's on vacation this week, but I would wonder if _how_ you backed up was related. For instance, if you do a full SuperDuper, Carbon Copy Cloner, or similar backup, then restore that using the Setup Assistant after installing Leopard, it might not be a problem. Or it's possible that Adobe is just being overly sensitive with their activation scheme. -Adam]