Ongoing loss of space on internal HD

27 inch late 2009 iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1TB internal HD running OSX 10.9.2
I've noticed a continuing rapid loss of internal HD space, in the last three months I've gone from over 300GB of free space to 230GB. I've not been adding any files of any size (video files etc).
Yesterday, my TimeMachine completed a scheduled backup at 17:44 and I put the compter to sleep at 18:14. All I was doing in the remaining 30 mins since the last backup was complete was scriptwriting (using a scriptwriting program called Movie Magic Screenwriter 6). The entire file for this script is 271 KB.
This morning, within minutes of me waking up my iMac, TimeMachine started to backup 2831 files constituting a total of 145.1MB of data.
How is this even possible??? How did so many files get generated when my iMac was asleep and is this why I've been steadily losing free space on my internal HD when I'm so careful as to not clutter it up with large files?

Timemachine has just started it's second backup of the day and is now backing up 60336 files, 3.19 GB of data!
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???
I've not created any new files at all in the last hour since the last backup...
What is going on here?

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How do I move ITunes Library to External with only 5GB of space on Internal Drive without getting Space issue message when Consolidate library option is executed?

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Steps followed:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
I get Stuck on Step 11 Consolidate Files to new external drive location with Error message: Not enough space to move files.
This makes no sense Apple. The purpose in doing this is to free up space on my internal drive?
Any help would be much appreciated as I'm stuck and can't seem to resolve or find any suggestions to resolve...

Don't use that method. It does move the whole library, it just moves the media. The whole library is best left intact.
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

IPhoto 5 - need to free up space on internal HD

Background: eMac user running Tiger (10.4.11) and iPhoto 5. Two primary accounts in the system. We are not sharing the iPhoto Library; one account's library is much larger than the other. Photo files are about 11GB on the system.
This past week I have been receiving messages that I am running out of space on my internal HD (40GB). In order to buy time until I can afford a new computer (mine is 4-1/2 years old), I've determined that I should remove some pictures from the internal HD to an external HD. Some photos are in iPhoto; some have been exported and saved to folders. Two reasons for these additional photos: First, saving pictures that have been e-mailed to us. Second, exported from iPhoto, so that I can upload them to Snapfish; I don't know if it is possible to upload directly out of the iPhoto Library
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2. If I go this route and/or save all photos to an external, realistically, what size external drive should I look to purchase?
3. Earlier research (when I was developing a back-up system - Retrospect) indicates that external HD don't last forever. Can anyone provide longevity of their's?
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Mary:
1 - yes, you can run a library from an external HD. The only thing to be wary of is dismounting the drive while you're using iPhoto. If there's an interruption while iPhoto is writing to its database file it can corrupt the file. That can be easily recovered from by making frequent backups of the Library6.iPhoto database file.
2 - IMO basically as large as you can afford. You'll always be able to use the drive when you get a new computer. If it's a good size you can use it for a Time Machine backup drive. I have a 750 GB OWC Mercury Elite Pro Aluminum drive for my Time Machine.
3 - as far a longevity if you backup on a weekly basis the drive doesn't have to be on all the time, just when you want to do a backup. I would clone your boot drive to the external with SuperDuper so you have a bootable drive in case the internal has problems and then use a backup program like Retrospect or Synk Standard to make *weekly incremental* (copying only those new or changed files) backups of your User/home folder.
4 - yes, you would need to figure out how to backup the library to another separate media.
A lot will depend on budget. Two external HDs, one about 120 GB for a working external and one big enough to backup both your boot and external on a set schedule would do the job . Again, as big as the budget will allow now as in the future when you get a new computer it's drive will be larger and you'll need a size big enough to back that up.
Moving your library, 11 GB, to an external would provide you with enough free space to give you better performance of both your system and applications.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

How to free up space on internal hard drive

How do I free up space on my internal hard disc?
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All Mac operating systems use any free space on your hard drive as virtual memory, and this virtual memory plays a part in how well your computer performs. Because of this, the more data you have on your hard drive, the less virtual memory becomes available. Therefore, in order to help increase your Mac boot time, and keep your computer running smoothly, periodically cleaning your hard drive is necessary. To clean it up you want to get rid of any old or unnecessary files. You can do this manually by removing unused applications, emptying your trash etc.,

Deleting blank spaces in internal table

Hi Gurus,
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Hi,
This is the rellevant code
LOOP AT IT_HIER INTO WFL_HIER.
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Say if I have a value apple in the work area wa, (wa - 'apple').
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Delete spaces in internal table

Hi this question is to improve my performance...
what is the performance oriented way of delete entires in internal table where any of the field is empty.
1   2   3   4    5   6   7
A B   C D    E   F G   "<< ok
A B   C        E   F G   "<< delete
A B   C        E       G   "<< delete
or
loop at itab.
if itab-f1 eq space or itab-f2 eq space.....
delete itab.
endif.
endloop.   " how to eliminate this loop...?

Try this way
delete itab where f1 eq space
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a®

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At the end of each year I like to move the current iPhoto library to an external hard drive to save space. The library get retitled Library 2007, Library 2008, etc.
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So, I moved over 4000 photos to the external hard drive, using the directions posted on this forum about using the pictures folder and the library in it, then deleting old photos. OK, so all my pictures from 2008 are on the external. I kept only 72 pictures on the internal hd (had to reimport them after the big move). This only freed about 4G of hd space, and if I do “Get info” or use Whatsize, it shows my iPhoto as using 9.7G of space. 9G of space for 72 photos??? Can’t be. If I select my old Library 2008 with 4000 plus photos it also says the size is 9.7
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Hi Terence,
I feel like the world's biggest dummy right now. Remember when I told you that yes, I had emptied the trash? Well, the trash I emptied was on the desktop. I very wrongly assumed that when I selected and deleted photos, all trash was the same. But apparently not. The trash in the iPhoto program was filled with images. When I discovered this an emptied it, I freed up a lot of hd space.
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Jane

How come free space on internal disk is decreasing when I am exporting videos to imovie library on external disk

Hi,
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Hi,
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What do you mean with your third question ?
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Brigitte

Why the difference in free space on internal drive?

I'm confused - when I look at my Storage info under the "About This Mac" item, my internal drive shows that it has "141.6 GB free out of 499.25 GB" (and why it shows 87.54 GB of Backups, I don't know).
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I'm assuming (until someone tells me otherwise) that the "About This Mac" information is the 'truest' but I, frankly, don't know.
Could someone please explain this discrepancy to me?
Ever thankful to have smarter heads than I in these forums,
Clinton

Both are correct. You have local snapshots turned on for Time Machine...hence the 90GB's of backups. These backups are deleted as you need space...hence what Finder reports. IMO, there are pros/cons to local snapshots...useful if you accidentally delete something...not so if your drive fails(obviously). Time Machine backups need to be on an external drive, not solely on your internal drive.

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Thanks!

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http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13006/
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http://www.derlien.com/
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Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
#Show hidden files. All file icons come out dimmed.
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Time Machine Taking Up Space on Internal Drive Prior to Backup?

Hello- I have a Macbook air with an SSD. Thus, I'm quite aware of HD usage.
I've noticed my internal SSD space availability fluctuates a lot. It will go from 125GB available suddenly down to 75GB. The only reasons I can think of is a TM backup. There is nothing else that could suddenly take or add so much space.
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Also: Virtual Memory will use up disk space which varies in time.
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(110189)

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Ongoing loss of space on internal HD

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