I like having my Workbench 3.1 system as clean as possible - this is a very impossible task as whenever I install a program which for some reason does not work/I do not like, I find it impossible to remove all the files as these are placed in different places in the HDD. Is there a way to uninstall programs easily, that is remove all files + rollback any alterations done to script files (such as startup sequences)?
Thanks!
Whenever I use installer scripts / programs I always make sure to have SnoopDos running:
http://aminet.net/package/util/moni/SnoopDosThat way I can know exactly what files have been copied or altered on my hard drive during an install. I'd increase the history buffer though as by default it's a tad small. Then save the prefs.
Better still, install your programs manually (docs normally tell you how), but normally a manual installation is easy.
Install scripts that use Commodore's 'Installer' normally allow you to make a log of the install. The only problem with this is that a lot of scripts either dump their log into SYS: or into RAM:, thus overwriting any existing log file, and in the case of RAM: it gets lost after a reboot! So be sure to rename or move the log file after its creation, or it will be overwritten by subsequent installs. Remember, you can always create backups of your startup-sequence and user-startup any time you like. For example, type the following into the Shell:
"copy s:startup-sequence s:startup-sequence.bak" (to create a backup)
then if you want to restore your old s-s:
"copy s:startup-sequence.bak s:startup-sequence" (to restore a backup)
I wouldn't worry about scattered/unused files on an Amiga though. It really wouldn't make any difference at all to the performance of the system. The only possible negative scenario I can think of is if there's a load of unused prefs files in ENVARC: which then (during the startup-sequence) get copied to RAM:Env thus slowing the boot down, and or filling the Ram Disk up (a concern on low memory sytems such as 2MB or less). If you're not sure what files to delete, you can use an env-handler such as this one:
http://aminet.net/package/util/sys/envhandler...which will solve that problem entirely (everyone should be using this or something similar anyway).
