Backup Disc Is Full

I was trying to update the software on my iPhone and iTunes said it was not able because my backup disc was full. How do I go about emptying/removing items from this? Thanks

I think the consensus from this board would be that you need to partition the drive; this will effectively limit the space available to Time Machine and you are therefore "controlling" or limiting the way it will work. I do not believe there is a means to limit the frequency of backups without switching Time Machine off from preferences and then manually initiating a backup.
Hope this helps.
Cliff
Brighton, UK

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  • Full backup disc

    When my time machine backup disc is full can I just erase it and start again...seems like that would be an OK move???

    You can do that. Or you can just let TM do its thing. It should delete the oldest backups to make room for the newer ones. It will also give you a prompt that it wants to do it, so you can choose not to.
    -mj

  • I have PSE-12 on Mac. Got message "scratch disc full" tried changing drive to backup disc. Now PSE-12 will not open to allow me to go back to original drive. What can I do?

    Using PSE-12 on my Mac and got the message 'scratch disc full' I have backup disc attached to computer and tried making this the number 1 disc. I now can't get PSE-12 to open so that I can get back and reverse the order of these discs. What can I do?

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  • TimeMachine reports "Backup Disc full" but TC has still 250 GB free space

    Hi
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    Rgds,
    Guy

  • What do I need to do when I receive the message ". . . your startup disc is full, you need to make some room by deleting some files"

    I hope I'm in the right place since I was sort of redirected here Recently I have been receiving the message that my startup disc is full and that I need to make room by deleting files.  At first I received the message when I left my computer unattended with my virtual machine on, using VMWare Fusion to run Windows.  Recently though, I got the message when I left my computer unattended for about 6 hours without the virtual machine running.  As an aside, I get extremely nervous when anything freezes VMWare because it is usually a nightmare to get back into Windows if I can at all without calling Tech Support. This new message however, appeared without the virtual machine active, so I was relieved that VMWare most likely was not the cause.  After reading a number of Tech Support articles and Community discussion questions and answers, I started wondering if iTunes or the SMC firmware or a combination thereof may be causing the problems.  Mind you I know nothing about the SMC stuff because as I said, I am really new to Mac and know very little about computer code or processors or any of that stuff.  But I do know that iTunes has recently been giving me some trouble, such as opening on start up and I can't figure out why and messing around with my iTunes libraries.  I also read about the SMC firmware and the computer's sleep cycle so that sort of made sense.  But I seriously need advice from someone a lot smarter than me.  So, before you ask, both iTunes and my SMC firmware are up to date. I'm running a mid-2007 iMac Intel Core 2 Duo Processor with 2.4 GHz of speed.
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    Any help would be appreciated.  Please forgive any inaccurate terms or mis-statements of terminology as I do not really know what I'm talking about as far as the pieces and parts of the operating system; I'm just trying my best to describe what I see.
    One more piece of advice that I would appreciate would be recommendations about a good file cleaner, for duplicates, messy file structure, space utilization software; it also needs to be idiot proof software.  I have a trial version of Appdelete that I never really used and I have the purchased version of Tune Up My Mac that I haven't spent much time with because I'm afraid I'll delete something I shouldn't
    Thank you for your help
    Memalyn

    Hi Memalyn
    Essentially, the bare issue is that you have a 500GB hard drive with only 10GB free. That is not sufficient to run the system properly. The two options you have are to move/remove files to another location, or to install a larger hard drive (eg 2TB). Drive space has nothing to do with SMC firmware, and usually large media files are to blame.
    My first recommendation is this: download and run the free OmniDiskSweeper. This will identify the exact size of all your folders - you can drill down into the subfolders and figure out where your largest culprits are. For example, you might find that your Pictures folder contains both an iPhoto Library and copies that you've brought in from a camera but are outside the iPhoto Library structure. Or perhaps you have a lot of purchased video content in iTunes.
    If you find files that you KNOW you do not need, you can delete them. Don't delete them just because you have a backup, since if the backup fails, you will lose all your copies.
    Don't worry about "cleaners" for now - they don't save much space and can actually cause problems. Deal with the large file situation first and see how you get on.
    Let us know what you find out, and if you manage to get your space back.
    Matt

  • Am getting message from MacPro that my start up disc is full - but I can't find it and can't figure out what to do to help situation. I've been making a number of imovies, which generates junk files. help?

    I am getting message from MacPro that my start up disc is full - but I can't find this "start up disc" and can't figure out what to do to help situation. I've been making a number of imovies, which generates junk files and material that I should toss in the trash, but it is not clear to me  what items I can toss and which items I can't toss. Can you help? Using the imovie "help" support the system showed me under the menu item "go" where the "start up disc" should be - but that wasn't actually available on my menu!  Thanks for your help!

    Disk Utility 
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    Try to move this to the MacBook Pro forum
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    Backup, clone, use TimeMachine, use another drive for your projects and movies, replace and upgrade the internal drive even.

  • After upgrading to mountain lion i keep getting an error message saying my startup disc is full. it shouldnt be full because there is barely anything on there and i was running windows with bootcamp prior to this with no issues

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    Hi Memalyn
    Essentially, the bare issue is that you have a 500GB hard drive with only 10GB free. That is not sufficient to run the system properly. The two options you have are to move/remove files to another location, or to install a larger hard drive (eg 2TB). Drive space has nothing to do with SMC firmware, and usually large media files are to blame.
    My first recommendation is this: download and run the free OmniDiskSweeper. This will identify the exact size of all your folders - you can drill down into the subfolders and figure out where your largest culprits are. For example, you might find that your Pictures folder contains both an iPhoto Library and copies that you've brought in from a camera but are outside the iPhoto Library structure. Or perhaps you have a lot of purchased video content in iTunes.
    If you find files that you KNOW you do not need, you can delete them. Don't delete them just because you have a backup, since if the backup fails, you will lose all your copies.
    Don't worry about "cleaners" for now - they don't save much space and can actually cause problems. Deal with the large file situation first and see how you get on.
    Let us know what you find out, and if you manage to get your space back.
    Matt

  • Backup disc too small?

    I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and used a Time Machine backup to transfer all the files from my old MacBook Pro to the new one. Now, I am trying to set up Time Machine on the new laptop with the same external hard drive I was using a Time Machine backup disc with my old computer.  The backup fails and tells me the backup disc is too small.
    Now, the backup disc has 58.43 GB available out of 499.97. The data on my internal harddrive is 141 GB, with about 607 GB free.
    So, yes, 141 is more than 58. But why doesn't it just overwrite the old data? It is supposed to delete the oldest backup and replace it with the newest one, right?
    Do I need to reformat the backup disc? Do I need a backup disc that's larger than my internal HD even if I'm not using all that space?

    sarahbuck wrote:
    I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and used a Time Machine backup to transfer all the files from my old MacBook Pro to the new one.
    If you used Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant to do that, when the first backup started, you should have gotten the prompt in #B5 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.  If you selected "Reuse Backup," Time Machine shouldn't be doing a full backup.
    If you used some other method, you won't get that message, and TM wants to do a full backup.  But since it won't ever delete your last remaining backup, there isn't enough room.
    Your best bet is to erase the TM drive and start over. 
    Do I need to reformat the backup disc? Do I need a backup disc that's larger than my internal HD even if I'm not using all that space?
    The drive needs to be much larger than the amount of data it's backing-up.  Usually 2-3 times is best, but it varies greatly depending on how you use your Mac.

  • Using OS10.7, my hard disc is full. When I go to "About this Mac - Storage" almost all of the HD is occupied by "Other".  Does anyone know what "Other" is so that I can remove some of it?

    Using OS10.7, my hard disc is full.  When I go to "About this Mac - Storage", it shows that it is entirely filled with "Other".  Does anyone know what "Other" is so that I can delete some of it?

    First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
    Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
    Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
    ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To really see everything, you have to run it as root.
    First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
    After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
    sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
    You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
    I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

  • In attempting to install recommended software updates I get a message saying my startup disc is full.  I have an Intel-based desktop with 1GB memory.  What can I safely remove?

    In attempting to install recommended software updates I get a message that my startup disc is full.  I have an iMac (intel-based) with 1GB memory.  I suspect my iTunes library is using up much of the space (I have no movies installed and have already copied most of my photos to a DVD to free up space).  If I follow the instructions to move my iTunes library to an external HD (can I use a flash drive?) will I have enough working memory to plug it back in for use when I want to access the library?

    Welcome to Apple Discussions!
    Moving libraries off the boot disk while doable is not very viable.  It creates many new problems in backing up your data, as now you have more than one source to backup.    See my backup FAQ*:
    http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
    My suggestion is to get at least two copies of all your essential data in one manner or another, and get a larger boot hard drive to replace what you currently use to be able to consolidate your libraries.  
    As for cleaning space, see my FAQ*:
    http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html

  • Help! My mac turns grey and i cannot sign in. It said "your start up disc is full".

    My child incidently put her itumes to my macbook air. It seems it the macbook is very full. When we turn it on, it stated " your start up disc is full". We cannot delete files / programs to make more spaces because i cannot even sign in. The monitor turns grey and freeze after I click "sign in". Help me, please.... Thank you very much for your kind attention and help.

    Step 1
    The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.   
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
         a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
    b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
    c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
    Step 2
    You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.

  • My start up disc is full i have a macbook air, i back everuthing up with time capsule and  have movies all my music libraries and photos onto that too so as i have free space, but my max still says my startup disc is full with "other"

    my start up disc is full i have a macbook air, i back everuthing up with time capsule and  have movies all my music libraries and photos onto that too so as i have free space, but my max still says my startup disc is full with "other"

    First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
    According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
    If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the available space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as "Backups." The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself.
    To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
    You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
    Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
    ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
    Back up all data now.
    Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
    Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
    I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
    When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

  • IPod classic won't restore. Claims disc is full when it is empty.

    Because of my previously spoken about problem, I decided to do an iPod restore after backuping everything on the iPod onto my harddrive.
    But iTunes won't let me, claiming that the disc is full when in fact it is not.

    Hey Mieczysław Bukowski,
    Thanks for the question and detailed information. It may be best to troubleshoot the error code you are receiving. To do so, see the steps in this resource:
    iPod: Can't restore or update in iTunes with error 1415, 1417, 1418, 1428, 1429, 1430, 1436, or 1439
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1372
    Thanks,
    Matt M.

  • My startup disc was full. I need to delete files. But my laptop won't open any applications.

    I had widow popping up saying I need to delete some files as my startup disc was full. So I connected External HD and wanted to empty dome of the 40000 photos I have on iPhoto. But my laptop stated to sync automatically to Lacie, and after sometime my laptop kept crashing or switching off. I manage to log in to my desktop but I cannot run a single application except finder

    How much free space do you actually have? Go to the Apple menu and select About This Mac... More Info... and click on the Storage tab. You should see something like this...
    This will show you how much free space you have and what's taking up all the space on your hard drive. You may need to backup and trash some seldom used files, applications, etc. You have to drag them into the Trash and empty the trash to regain the space. A general rule of thumb is that you should have about 15% of your hard drive storage free.
    Good luck,
    Clinton

  • ON START UP IT TELLS ME THAT MY start up disc IS FULL - HOW DO I EITHER DELETE ITEMS - FFRAG ROM WHERE ?! - OR DE

    Hi
    On start up it tells me that my start up disc is full - how can i either find where to delete items from it - or can you defrag as you could in windows ? Help !

    For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article.
    Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
    iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
    Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature.
    According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
    If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself.
    See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
    You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
    Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
    Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
    ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
    Back up all data now.
    If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
    Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
    Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
    sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
    The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size with the largest at the top. It may take a few minutes for ODS to finish scanning your files.
    I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
    When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

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