which garmin .system files are safe to delete?

Welcome to The Factory.

Here's the FAQ that will offer the most help:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31186

The biggest gain will come from deleting voice files for languages you do not speak.

Don't worry about the large files you've found (gamapprom, Dxxxxxx.JCV, etc.) as these will be deleted as part of the standard map update and replaced with the new map's version of each.

Absolutely do NOT delete the gmapbmap.img file!

Your nuvi 2350 will automatically offer you a map update to a SD card if the update process finds that your device has insufficient space to install the largest map your device is entitled to receive so you can for a few dollars not have to worry about making room in the nuvi for map updates.

And whatever you plan to do inside the nuvi, be sure you first make a complete backup of the nuvi's files and folders. You've already switched from MTP to MS mode, so you're good to go in making a backup of the nuvi to your computer's hard drive.

hi, actually I read that faq previously and was not very helpful for my needs. I already deleted all those misc files long ago.
I do not want to use a sd card, I do not want to install a partial map. I know for a fact that I can delete some of those .system files b/c I've done it in the past. when they are deleted garmin update will then be able to update the entire NA map. only problem is I don't remember which ones were safe and which were not.

There really is no need to delete the files because Garmin Express or Map Updater will automatically delete the files they replace. Of the files you list, I am not sure what the G2S folder and file is for. It sort of looks like an orphaned JCV file, but I am not sure why it would have the G2S name or how it would get in that folder. Maybe someone else will have a better idea about what this file is.

If you really want to manually control the update process, you could use the cloning method to do the map update to a memory stick, then manually copy the new files from the memory stick to the nuvi and delete the files they replace. Note that it can be tricky to determine which files can be deleted because some of the new files will have different names than the old versions of these files.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have a complete backup before you delete anything ... just in case you need to get something back.

The nuvi 2350 is a 4GB device while most new nuvis are 8GB devices. The current City Navigator 2017.10 map file is over 2.5GB and the Junction View file for the map is about 0.5GB. These file sizes tend to increase with each map update.

I understand the desire not to install a partial map and can sort of understand the desire not to need a SD card to hold the map but at some point, I expect your 4GB device will be forced to accept using a SD card for the full map update.

You could try doing a hard reset and deleting all trip logs but these won't gain much space. You could disable trafficTrends and myTrends and remove the files associated with these features but I doubt that would gain a lot of space and especially with trafficTrends, disabling it could affect your fastest routings, etc.

I assume your 2350 currently has the 2016.20 map and you're working towards installing the 2017.10 map. Can you tell us right now with the older map how much free space your computer reports your 2350 to have? What is your reasoning for not wanting to use a SD card?

I believe the G2S folder and files contain rules and data for myTrends and trafficTrends.

There are also the large SID files but I wouldn't tamper with those:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/41581

free space is 193Mb. used is 3.43Gb, gmapprom is 2.3Gb. the g2s folder has a 245Mb file, the JCV folder has a 162Mb file and the sid folder has a 512Mb file. I've no idea what any of those files are for though, but I am fairly confident I can delete the gmapprom, but not sure if even with that it will have enough space.

garmin express has never given me an option to delete the old maps first. the only option it ever gave was sd card and partial map update.

neither garmin express nor garmin map updater seems to delete the gmapprom before trying to install a new map update, all it would seem to do first was check to see if there was enough free space (which there never was) so consequently all these years I've just deleted the gmapprom + some other files, and the updater will install the most current map on the device.

But it has been a very long time since I've updated, so I forget which files were safe to delete. There must have been another garmin forum where I've read that info from b/c I seem to recall 2 or maybe 3 files from the .system folder were safe to delete.

As far as I know, this is the only way I managed to get the entire map on my device w/o resorting to partial update or sd card.

Both Express and MapUpdater delete map files when installing new ones, provided they are installed where they are meant to be. You don't get an option asking if you would like them to be deleted. Issues only occur if folks have moved/renamed them for some reason, as indeed many of us choose to do but then we must be prepared for a bit more fiddling next time

It's why the cloning method is so good provided you know what you're doing.

G2S files are the myTrends files.

You can safely delete all unwanted help, EULA, keyboard, text, vehicle and voice files but really the simplest thing to do if you're having to mess about like this is to bite the bullet and install a sd card.

In addition to your device's free space, Garmin Express and GarminMapUpdater know that the space occupied by your current gmapprom.img and the Dxxxxx.JCV file (plus other files now on your device) will be available for the map update because they'll be replaced by the map update's files. There is no need to remove the gmapprom.img file, etc. Removing these files do not create extra space for the next map update.

If the map updating programs are telling you there's insufficient space for a map update, it's not because of the old map's files which will be overwritten. It's simply that each map update generally is larger than the previous map, and with your device's total of 4GB (half what the newer nuvi's have), your option is to install a partial map or install the full map to a SD card.

Even if you could squeeze the full 2017.10 map into your 2350 now, with so little free space, a map update in the near future will not succeed. I suggest you accept installing the map to a SD card now and you'll be set for a very long time to come.

If you've ever manually updated a map and installed it with MapInstall for instance, a map file on your GPS will be called gmapsupp.img and these supplementary maps will need to be manually removed by you which will increase free space. But manually removing map files like gmapprom.img are expected to be seen by the updating software and they will automatically be handled.

I think that might have been the case. I seem to vaguely recall deleting a gmapsupp.img file.

Interesting. I wonder why my 3597 doesn't have the G2S folder/file.

Pulled up this info for anyone interested on what certain files do and the locations. http://goo.gl/1po7ae

I like it.

I wonder if some SID files do the same.

From Charlie's link, it looks like it is the .db files in the \.system\SQLite folder.

G2S is the myTrends folder. If you have myTrends switched off (as I do) there won't be one.

Nice Info here.