Uninstalling disabled extensions

[Forsh]

I am trying to reduce the size of my database so I am trying to kill anything I'm not using. Does uninstalling a "disabled" extension have any possibility of causing problems for my website? I understand that if I uninstall a feature that if I tried to use that in the future it wouldn't be there but I mean the current function of the website. If they're disabled I assume there is no risk to the current website functioning. Is this a safe assumption for non-core, disabled extensions?

[ranwilli]

Disabling is the prudent first step.

Inspecting the resultant site for errors is the next step.

Once you have determined there is no "breakage," you're ready to uninstall.

[AMurray]

Also a related issue - uninstalling an extension may not necessarily remove the database tables or data completely (some may remove the data, but leave the tables behind, some may remove both, or neither) so once you uninstall, go into the database (phpMyAdmin), look for the tables used by the extension to ensure they are deleted or if not execute the DROP Table command to remove them. The tables should be logically named, so you should easily identify the right ones.