Diminishing Disc Space

My disc space keeps fluctuating daily, even overnight when the computer is off. I installed leopard when it came out onto my 2006 Macbook Pro and deleted the "previous system" a few days ago to free up disc space. The disc space increased only for a while and then went right back down to just over 10 gb. I've read that if the disc space is under 10 gb, that its a problem. My computer has been running slow lately and I suspect its from the disc space. I have also transferred most of my documents to an external hard drive. I haven't removed any caches yet because I am unsure as to which caches can be removed and what that will do to my computer. I have never noticed this problem of disc space in the past and I had much larger files (including movies) on the computer. Can anyone help??

Run Disc Inventory X and see what's taking up the space.
10GB of free space is OK but if you want to delete the cache files it won't hurt.
If you've been using Hibernation mode then there will be a large sleepimage backup file on their that's as big as your installed RAM, you can turn safe sleep off and delete this file if you wish.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070302210328928

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Recently backing up my ipad onto my macbook, which is the backup server for all of my gadgets. This includes all my photos and tons of music. The macbook said it could not backup the ipad because there was insufficient disc space to do so. What now?

I have a macbook operating OSX10.6.7. Recently backing up my ipad which had lots of photos from a recent vacation. I use this laptop as the backup server for all of my gadgets so it has thousands of photos and tons of music. It just told me that it couldn't back up the ipad bc there wasn't enough disc space. I was afraid that this would happen eventually. What next? Newer laptop with more space? I'm not sure what files I could sacrifice to free up more space as most of these are important.

What size hard drive do you have in your MacBook? The cheapest options are, a larger internal hard drive, or an external drive. Or you could get a cheap desktop PC and network to it for storage. I've got one that lives in the hall with 3 Terabytes (That's 3000gb) of storage.

Just recently I'm showing that I've lost a very large amount of disc space for no apparent reason?

I have 750GB MacBook Pro and up until the other day I showed 250GB used and 500GB unused. I discovered this because the past two days my computer would just freeze and I couldn't do anything. So I ran the Disc Utility and it found some errors and fixed them. So I'm wondering if the 400GB of lost disc space now has something to do with the computer locking up? I've searched all the folders and added up their size and still come back to 250GB that I can see. So I'm assuming there's something hidden somewhere that's eating up over half my hard disc space? HELP!

BNK12 wrote:
So somewhere I have between 450 - 500 GB's taking up my disk space?
Yes, exactly. The total used, per the sidebar, is 735 GB, but the total at the top is 269 GB, leaving 466 GB unaccounted-for. As mentioned in the Other large files section of the Where did my Disk Space go? article, the similar free apps don't show things the logged-on user isn't permitted to see. Unfortunately, the version of WhatSize on the AppStore doesn't, either. A few of those are detailed in the green box.
First, have you Verified your internal HD, per the link in the yellow box at the top of the article? If not, do so. If that doesn't say your disk "appears to be ok," follow the instructions there to start from your Recovery HD and Repair it, then have WhatSize re-measure your drive.
If that doesn't help, do you have more than one user account (besides the 230 GB bkundinger)? If so, log on to the other(s), use WhatSize to see how large those home folders are, and add them to the 269 GB total.
If not, or if that doesn't explain the difference, you need to be able to see everything. Probably the best way to do that is with the version of WhatSize that you get directly from the vendor -- just click the link in the green box or go to http://whatsizemac.com. That version has the "As Admin" icon in the toolbar, per the sample in the green box. Click it and enter your Admin password, then have it re-measure your internal HD.
That will take a few moments, of course, but the resulting display should show everything, including the missing 466 GBs. As noted, don't delete anything you don't understand; if in doubt, post the new screenshot here.

How can I determine which programs/files are using disc space?

A question for the professionals:
What program on my MacBook Pro can I run to determine which programs and files are taking up the percentage of disc space? I am running at 72 gb, which is great, but I need to know what is using up the rest of it. Thank you in advance to any helpful solutions.
Matthew

activity monitor for RAM (its already in your utilities folder) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342. OmniDiscSweeper for hard drive http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnidisksweeper/ (needs to be downloaded)

Limit Time Machine Disc Space

I am using an external NAS for backup. I backup up a few computers to the array. The array only has one volume right now. After a lot of reading it doesn't seem like you can limit disc space with time machine. Is there a way to limit the disc space TM uses vs. consume the full drive then delete old files? I would prefer not to drop the volume and partion the discs if possible. Any other options?
Thanks for any assistance.

Not a good choice because the Time Machine backup drive needs to have much more space than the size of the hard drive you backup. If you need storage space, then buy another drive to use.

Disc space on external hd vanishes

Hi all,
any help on the two following problems is greatly appreciated:
I have a MBP (Leopard) to which I periodically connect various external USB-harddrives for backups, photo-editing, etc. I keep having two issues that I haven't been able to resolve by searching the forum and the web:
1) Two of the hds are small pocket USB-drives (Western Digital 320 GB, Medion 160 GB) which are formatted in FAT32. To my knowledge, I should be able to read and write, as well as delete, with the disc adjusting the available space. Unfortunately, the drive will not render previously occupied disc space. I.e. when I copy a 40 GB photo-folder from my internal HD to the external 320 GB one, and afterwards delete it, the disc space is still indicated as used in the info-tab, and the available disc space is still down to 280 GB. I've come as far as to not having enough disc space for my needs, but also don't have enough space available on either hd to back everything up on one and reformat. I am, however, not convinced anyway that this would solve the problem as the discs were formatted using my own MBP the first time around as well! Also, it seems to be a systematic error, because it's happening to both drives (they're both fairly new, < than 1 year old).
2) My third external hd poses another problem, which might be easily solved: In this case, the drive is a bit older (but still works fine) and was previously used with a WIN-laptop - it is therefore still formatted in NTFS. In order to be able to also write on it using my MBP, I downloaded this program:
<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/catacombae/NTFS-3G_20 09.4.4-catacombae.dmg
It resolved the problem immediately after the install, however, a today (a day later, after having had the MBP shut down and restarted) it is not working anymore. Even after installing the software again, no success.
Any ideas or suggestions? I will be a MUCH happier person if I can get all my back-ups done very soon, so PLEASE help
Thanks a bunch!!

Hi neuroanatomist,
many thanks for the swift reply - I did as you said and was in fact able to free up the missing disc space, big YAY!
I do have a quick follow up question though, if I may:
I simply went ahead and emptied my trash whilst having the two external USB-drives connected (as you suggested). If I wanted to, however, for whatever reason not delete my MBP-trash, is there any other way to get rid of the invisible .Trashes folder (or empty it, if that's the more practical/desirable solution)? I have to admit that I wasn't even able to find/see the folder, because I do not know how to make invisible folders visible in this case...
As for the commercial software: I will give it a try if I have not figured out another way by the end of the week. So if anyone else has a suggestion as to how I could solve the problem without spending any money, I'd still be grateful for a quick shout.
Again, thank you neuroanatomist!! (EDIT: ....and JoeyR, of course :))
Message was edited by: buckykatt02

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library?

If you have a considerable photograph and/or movie collection you may want to consider off loading those to the EHD too. Here are Apple's article showing how handle iTunes & iPhoto libraries.
iTunes: library on EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to EHD
Roger

Can anyone make a recommendation on the purchase of an external hard drive for my Macbook Pro? I am currently using OS 10.6.8 because I can't upgrade until I clean out my start up disc space. I have a ton of pictures to transfer. Thanks!

Can anyone make a recommendation on the purchase of an external hard drive for my Macbook Pro? I am currently using OS 10.6.8 because I can't upgrade until I clean out my start up disc space. I have a ton of pictures to transfer.Thanks!

best options for the price, and high quality HD:
Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or $65 per TB on 2.5"
Perfect 1TB for $68
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package) $117
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
*This one is the BEST portable external HD available that money can buy:
HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive $88
http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Mobile-Portable-External-0S03559/dp/B009GE6JI8/ref=sr _1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383238934&sr=8-1&keywords=HGST+Touro+Mobile+Pro+1TB+USB+3.0+7 2 00+RPM
Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"
Hitachi is the winner in hard drive reliability survey:
Hitachi manufacturers the safest and most reliable hard drives, according to the Storelab study. Of the hundreds of Hitachi hard drives received, not a single one had failed due to manufacturing or design errors. Adding the highest average lifespans and the best relationship between failures and market share, Hitachi can be regarded as the winner.

Partially extracted .zip file taking up valuable disc space

Hello people.
I recently tried extracting a ~500mb .zip file using the standard Bomarchiver, and unfortunately for me the extracted file was turning out to be much bigger than I anticipated. As a result I started running out of disc space as the file was being extracted, and cancelling the action did not appear to work so I killed the process.
Alas I have not regained the disc space I lost initially, and it seems to still be occupied by a partially extracted file somewhere on the drive. The original .zip was on the desktop, yet there is no sign of a .part file anywhere.
Is there a specific location that partial extracts are stored? How can I regain the lost disc space?
I am running 10.4.11 on an old Wallstreet G3 Powerbook, and its limitation of an 8gb boot partition is causing me headaches!

Hello, see if you can't Trash a couple of Big 4 MB sized files, your in dangerous Territory, with the OS near or at self destruction, & Empty the Trash.
If not at least try a Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), that should at least clear up some caches.
If you can get a little breathing room...
How much free space is on the HD, where has all the space gone?
OmniDiskSweeper is likely the easiest/best, and is now free...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/
You could get & boot from a Firewire Drive, if it has FW, & not have the 8 GB limit.

I connect my ipad it shows in left side of itunes it is commencing sync then it freezes itunes and i have to disconnct it manually then a error message telling me that there is not enough disc space for ipad which is not correct any ideas folks

i connect my ipad it shows in left side of itunes it is commencing sync then it freezes itunes and i have to disconnct it manually then a error message telling me that there is not enough disc space for ipad which is not correct any ideas folks

i have reset the ipad and restored it to no avail

Low disc space

Dear All,
We work on ECC6 and our database is SQL 2005.
Now my concern is that my user/SAP drive has very low free space.
Can anyone suggest which files can I delete to increase the disc space.
Also what will happen if the disc space is gets full.
Helpful suggestions will surely be rewarded with points.
Regards,
Ashutosh
Edited by: ashutosh singh on Jun 16, 2008 10:58 AM

Dear Santosh,
I had already copied the files EPS/In to a different location and deleted its contents.Ya folder EPS/In is still there but through that I got around 100-150 KB of free space.
Now can I do the same for sapname folder(free space 150 KB)and log folders that will give me around 1.3 GB of free space.
Please suggest can I do it similiarly for any other files.
Please suggest..
NOTE: EPS/IN files are created when we apply support packages(.PAT and ATT files),but what type of files \.\sapmnt\SID\DVEBMGSXX\workcontains..Also it will give EPS/IN gives me only 130KB of free space.
Regards,
Ashutosh

[Solved] Pacman mounts partition on checking available disc space

Hi, hope this is the right subforum.
First, pacman doesn't directly mount any partition. My partition, located at /dev/sdb1, is automounted if somenone request access to /media/datengrab. Fstab-entry looks like this:
/dev/sdb1 /media/datengrab ext4 noauto,noexec,x-systemd.automount 0 2
The funny thing is, every time pacman checks the available disc space, this partition is mounted. The question is: why? Software is never installed under /media, so accessing /media is not needed. Maybe this is a bug? (Or, better question: How can pacman avoid to access /media?)
Hope someone can help or explain why pacman is accessing /media.
Thanks in advance
Last edited by D4ve (2012-10-04 15:15:53)

Because the diskspace checking behavior in 4.0.x is quite naive. I fixed this a while ago so that only the mount points being written to will be actually checked. Stay tuned for pacman 4.1.

What are the disc space and memory requirements for the apps?

What are the disc-space and memory requirements to run the apps

Hello John!
thank you for the info. However, as I have only 1Gb memory and a 32Gb
solid-state disc, I think that I will stay with Acrobate.com for a while
longer.
Regards
Brianb

When compacting, I get an alert that asks me to verify that I enough disc space and that I have write privalages to the file system. How do I do this?

Mozilla asks me if I want to compact, I click 'yes' and after a while I get this:
Alert
The folder 'inbox' could not be compacted because writing to folder failed.Verify that you have enough disc space, and that you have write privileges to the file system, then try again.
I have no idea what to do know. Please can someone help me?

Try restarting your computer in windows safe mode. Links to Instructions here http://thunderbirdtweaks.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/basic-troubleshooting-for-thunderbird.html
See if compacting will work them

Suggestions for clearing up disc space?

I'm runnning low on disc space on my MacBook Pro and it's starting to run pretty slow. Aside from the obvious deleting files, what can I do to get my MacBook running like new again?

John Hammer makes an excellent point. You can get rid of unneeded applications, for example, but the size of applications is relatively small compared to media files.
I save my "excess" files on two Seagate portable drives. One 500GB drive is about $50, on a good price. They can last a long time.
Post here if you have any questions or comments.

Diminishing Disc Space

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