Adobe Photo package is not good at updating, always leaving loads of old software debris behind

[wlaidlaw]

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I have been using Photoshop since 2001. Whereas I like the software and am pretty comfortable using it, the updating process via Creative Cloud is clunky and always leaves unwanted debris behind. I have just been looking as my desktop Mac, an M1 Mac Mini, as I was installing Hasselblad Phocus on it and removing Capture One, where the version on there is years out of date and does not run properly on the Apple Processor. I found multiple versions of Photoshop (2021/22/23 and 24) and versions of Bridge going back to CC of 2019, all of these filling up precious SSD space since unlike previous versions of the Mac Mini, I cannot upgrade the storage on this one (my 2011 has a Samsung 2TB SSD in it upgraded by me). I may be able to add an addition SSD and I am currently looking at kits for this. With each RAW/3FR file from my Hasselblad X2D occupying 143MB, they are "storage greedy" and I would soon run out of space. I am currently looking at getting a better monitor for PP with the M1 Mini, probably a 27" 4K 99% Adobe RGB Iyama or BenQ. My current cheap 23" LG monitor has been disappointing with a very poor user interface and colour reproduction. It has awkwardly located buttons on the front and back of the screen, which for some functions have to be pushed simultaneously and a totally impenetrable menu system. 

Have others found their computer storage littered with Adobe "rubbish" from out of date software. Other software companies clean up after themselves when doing updates but Adobe is very poor in this respect. I wonder why. I posted a polite query on the Adobe Forum and immediately got shot down in flames by the Adobe Fanboyz, for whom nothing but gold emanates from Adobe's posterior. A number of more sensible posters agreed with me that the updating process is poor compared with for example Microsoft for their Office suite, other than the new version of Outlook which is ghastly but MS at least permits you to continue to use the legacy version. 

Wilson

[PhotoCruiser]

No i do not find the same issues, my Applications Folder show only LRC and Photoshop, no other corpses.
I dislike the Adobe CC App for accessing my account and updates as i would prefer not running not needed apps as i can update by my self, however it works as supposed.

I guess when you installed your new mac you used the migrate function as from my experience this is the worst to do as it copies a lot of unused junk to the new computer.

The best to do for a new computer is to do a clean install downloading and installing the software you need, activate it and then load the personal data.
What i suggest you is to do exactly that, reset your machine and do a clean install again and you will be surprised how much faster and mor memory you will have.
make two backups of your personal data on two external hard disks
Make sure you have all activation codes for the software you use
reset your mac to factory settings
install and personalize MacOS
download all software you need from Apple Store or manufacturers website
Install and activate all software
Then copy back the backup you made to have your personal data back
Enjoy a faster machine

Chris

 

[jaapv]

49 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

I have been using Photoshop since 2001. Whereas I like the software and am pretty comfortable using it, the updating process via Creative Cloud is clunky and always leaves unwanted debris behind. I have just been looking as my desktop Mac, an M1 Mac Mini, as I was installing Hasselblad Phocus on it and removing Capture One, where the version on there is years out of date and does not run properly on the Apple Processor. I found multiple versions of Photoshop (2021/22/23 and 24) and versions of Bridge going back to CC of 2019, all of these filling up precious SSD space since unlike previous versions of the Mac Mini, I cannot upgrade the storage on this one (my 2011 has a Samsung 2TB SSD in it upgraded by me). I may be able to add an addition SSD and I am currently looking at kits for this. With each RAW/3FR file from my Hasselblad X2D occupying 143MB, they are "storage greedy" and I would soon run out of space. I am currently looking at getting a better monitor for PP with the M1 Mini, probably a 27" 4K 99% Adobe RGB Iyama or BenQ. My current cheap 23" LG monitor has been disappointing with a very poor user interface and colour reproduction. It has awkwardly located buttons on the front and back of the screen, which for some functions have to be pushed simultaneously and a totally impenetrable menu system. 

Have others found their computer storage littered with Adobe "rubbish" from out of date software. Other software companies clean up after themselves when doing updates but Adobe is very poor in this respect. I wonder why. I posted a polite query on the Adobe Forum and immediately got shot down in flames by the Adobe Fanboyz, for whom nothing but gold emanates from Adobe's posterior. A number of more sensible posters agreed with me that the updating process is poor compared with for example Microsoft for their Office suite, other than the new version of Outlook which is ghastly but MS at least permits you to continue to use the legacy version. 

Wilson

No - CleanMyMac, which I use on a regular basis  for more than a decade now clears out system junk and software relics. The only old Adobe files I have are the old settings files that I chose to retain going back to 2021. They are neatly stored in folders and take up little space. 

I use a Mac Mini M2  Pro, 32GB, 1TB (*). with an external 8TB SSD for data storage. It makes for effortless editing. I don't see much advantage in things like M4 Studio. For monitors I use a twin setup, an Eizo CS 24"  Adobe RGB for just the image and a Samsung 24" (sRGB) one where I keep all my panels etc.

(*)My M1 Mini 16 GB, 0.5 TB started to run out of steam with AI applications. 

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

[Ning Ning]

This is not the case on my Mac either. Every now and then, however, when Adobe releases a new version of Photoshop, you are asked whether the old version should be deleted. So if you don't confirm this, it can happen that old versions are still on your hard disk alongside the latest version. However, you can simply move these to the trash and delete them. Of course, I can't say whether there are program parts in the Application Support folder or somewhere else that are no longer needed. However, I have not yet found any indications of this.

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, PhotoCruiser said:

No i do not find the same issues, my Applications Folder show only LRC and Photoshop, no other corpses.
I dislike the Adobe CC App for accessing my account and updates as i would prefer not running not needed apps as i can update by my self, however it works as supposed.

I guess when you installed your new mac you used the migrate function as from my experience this is the worst to do as it copies a lot of unused junk to the new computer.

The best to do for a new computer is to do a clean install downloading and installing the software you need, activate it and then load the personal data.
What i suggest you is to do exactly that, reset your machine and do a clean install again and you will be surprised how much faster and mor memory you will have.
make two backups of your personal data on two external hard disks
Make sure you have all activation codes for the software you use
reset your mac to factory settings
install and personalize MacOS
download all software you need from Apple Store or manufacturers website
Install and activate all software
Then copy back the backup you made to have your personal data back
Enjoy a faster machine

Chris

 

In found the Migrate function quite useful.

[250swb]

I've not found a problem with Adobe updates and rubbish left behind, but I work on Windows so maybe it's a Mac thing and not Adobe.

[pedaes]

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4 hours ago, 250swb said:

so maybe it's a Mac thing

It's not a Mac thing. No issues with Mac updates and it (Adobe) manages itself. That said I don't try and do anything 'clever' - simple basic application.

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb 250swb:

I've not found a problem with Adobe updates and rubbish left behind, but I work on Windows so maybe it's a Mac thing and not Adobe.

No, it's not a Mac thing, Windows do the same when migrating, same as cell phones, i am a old school C64, MS-DOS and then Windows user and switched to Mac only 2020 and after some bad experiences i don't use Migration functions anymore and if my machine start to bog down i reset it and start over with a clean install and that works 90% wonders.
It's just how they work, they can migrate stuff what is not needed anymore, plus doing a clean install leads usually also that the user decide to not install some software he does not use anymore.

When i setup a new machine i install first all the software i use daily and then the rest when i need it, if i need it.

Chris
 

[wlaidlaw]

I don't know if it is because I use Creative Cloud to update but below would be a typical result of updating photoshop on another of my Macs, my main laptop an M2 MacBook Air. I don't do anything weird just use Adobe CC to update. I have the latest version of Clean my Mac and unless I specifically target the remains of old Adobe apps in the facility to remove apps, CMC does not clean these remnants. 

Wilson

 

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[jaapv]

Yes, but have you looked inside those folders? They might well contain only your settings and nothing else. Adobe retains those unless you instruct it to remove them, in order to aid a deinstall-reinstall.

[wlaidlaw]

2022 and 2023 were mostly settings but the 2024 folder had all sorts of files and subfolders in it. A proper update like other companies do, would forward saved settings and profiles to the current application folder and not leave this space occupying debris behind. It did not matter so much when we could upgrade the storage on our Macs but even non upgradable 512 GB on my M2 MacBook Air and M1 Mac Mini fill up quickly with 140+ MB photo files. I am contemplating buying a second hand 5K iMac with a 2 or 4TB fusion drive, as these work out cheaper than a new 5K 27" monitor. I would probably replace the fusion drive with a new 4TB SSD. Unlike Photoshop, I can have as many loads of Phocus 3 as I want. I just don't find the various external SSD's I have, very convenient. I am going to try to get my 4TB NAS working again, that used to run off my Apple Time Capsule but there is no reason it could not run off my Deco mesh nodes which all have 3 Ethernet sockets. 

Wilson

 

[jaapv]

I like external drives as I can  move them off-premise for safety. The working drive I put in a safe when not at home.

 

[marchyman]

22 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

2022 and 2023 were mostly settings but the 2024 folder had all sorts of files and subfolders in it.

Interesting.  Did you add the "extra" stuff or was it left overs from using the software?

My Mac Application folder looks like this:

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That said, I rarely actually use Photoshop so there is little chance of it generating extraneous files.  99% of the time I use LrC.  I update using the update button in the Creative Cloud app.  Photoshop was last updated 15 days ago to version 26.5.

[wlaidlaw]

I did have a few profiles, add-in apps like Topaz Gigapixel & Sharpen plus a few custom workspaces in PS, which were all automatically carried forward to the new version but also left copies behind under the older version folders. 

Wilson

[Keith (M)]

This thread prompted me to have a look at the Adobe situation on my MacBook Air M2 16Gb (Sequoia 15.4) running LR Classic etc.  A quick peruse of the Applications directory reveals:-

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From that it seems that uninstalling Bridge '23 & '24 plus PS '24 would free-up some 12.5Gb of disk space...

[marchyman]

For those that want to automatically remove older versions when updating -- it is a user option (Mac)

• Open the Creative Cloud app
• Open the preferences window
• Select the Apps tab
• Click on the Advanced options disclosure arrow for the app of choice
• Check the box

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I had the option set for Bridge and Lightroom, but not Photoshop.  Now it is set for all three.

Edited April 15 by marchyman
additional comment

[wlaidlaw]

The latest version of creative cloud (updated today) no longer seems to offer an advanced settings or tab. I have looked at the three dot settings in Photoshop update and on general updates and in the apps tab in preferences (see images below) and cannot see an advanced options tab - what am I missing? 

Wilson

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[PhotoCruiser]

Never saw this.
Did you clicked on "go to System Settings" to verify what setting has to be changed?
Chris

[wlaidlaw]

4 minutes ago, PhotoCruiser said:

Never saw this.
Did you clicked on "go to System Settings" to verify what setting has to be changed?
Chris

Where is the "go to System Settings" button/menu as I have not found anything like that in Creative Cloud? 

Wilson

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[PhotoCruiser]

I see the underlined "go to System Settings" writing on your last screenshot and guess it's a link to the System Settings.
IF not, then check in the System Settings for Lightroom if some setting is blocking CC to acess the Adobe Server.
Asi wrote, i never had this problem, so i cant help directly but guess where the problem is and thats probably that CC cant communicate with Adobe.
You may try to stop a VPN or similar safety software what may lead to this problem.
Chris