Disk space (mysteriously) disappearing

i've been running low on hard disk space so i tried deleting big files, but no matter how much i delete my new recovered space shrinks. i even deleted 40GB of music and movies and then my space over a few days ended up ar only 500MB. i continue to delete large amounts of photos like 20GB and the same thing happened — warnign low on space only 750MB.
i delete some more — like 15GB and now i only have 10GB free.. it's a bizarre situation. feels like some virus.
so today i discovered this:
there's a 60GB difference from what the User level folder info says and the Hard Drive level info says. what's happening to my space!!!
—Caleb

A tool like OmniDiskSweeper cannot be used to compare to the numbers the Finder will give you, for a variety of reasons. You can do better by using a tool that can authenticate to "root" permissions, which allows it to look everywhere. The WhatSize app can do that:
http://whatsizemac.com/
However, even then, there are certain things that the Finder won't report, since they will be deleted automatically when necessary. So you'll never get perfect one-to-one correlation with these kinds of comparisons.
For more help with this sort of thing, see:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html

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10GB of disk space mysteriously used overnight.

Hi all,
I left my MacBook on today when I went out, and it reported 27.99GB of space free, and I came home to find I have 17.34GB of space remaining. I've not installed anything or done more than open Safari and iTunes. Given I'd just been on a data purge to free up some space, I'm not terribly happy about losing 10GBs of space. Anyone know what might have happened to use up disk space so quickly?
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Message was edited by: DaveBinM

Hi,
Download the free Grand Perspective and see whether it can help narrow down the location of the excess files.
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Disk space has disappeared

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HI,
Might be a good time to check the startup disk for errors.
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*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
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After Archive and Install 10Gb of disk space has disappeared!

I was having various minor problems which I have mentioned elsewhere and out of shear frustration I decided to stop wasting any more time and do an Archive and Install - preserving accounts etc.
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Alf Megson wrote:
Do you really want me to answer that question?
yes. I had to ask. I don't know you and I've seen way too many posts by people with similar problems who don't know that one has to empty trash to actually reclaim the missing space.
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http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8188595&#8188595
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Welcome to Apple Discussions!
See my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html

I saturated all the available iPad (3rd. generation) screen space (home screens or desktop space) with apps, and the apps that got bumped out of the last screen, mysteriously disappeared? Where are those missing quick lauch app icons?

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Christopher Doryan wrote:
Hi Hexonxonx, thanks for trying to help, but next time please read the entire discussion, in oder to better comprehend what is being asked. The reason being is that your answer added nothing to what had already been mentioned.
Like I said, I was aware it was possible to access the apps through the finder, but the question revolved around how to recover the quick launch app icons for certain vanished apps.
Wow, kind of a snotty response to someone who was taking their own time to offer help. Whether you thought it was helpful or not, didn't deserve such an unkind retort. Maybe when you realize we all just users here trying to help others like you, who have issues and we don't get anything in return for the countless hours some people here spend offering that assistance, you'll maybe be a little less quick to be critical.
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How to find out how much disk space left on hard drive OS 10.7.5?

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ArtWench wrote:
How do I find out how much space left on my internal hard drive?
Right Click on it and Get Info > Available
ArtWench wrote:
... which revealed available disk space has disappeared. How do I get it back? ...
Finder > View > Show status bar

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In the middle of burning a backup to DVD, my machine crashed (old emac, OX X 10.3.x). Afterwards, it seems like about 30gig of disk space has disappeared (the disk went from 15G of 55G used to 52G used). Disk utility found nothing wrong, Norton Utilities found and fixed "major problems" and still there's all this space missing.
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Welcome To  Discussions mfidelman!
What were you backing up, and what method were you using?
"...the disk went from 15G of 55G used to 52G used)."
Considering the small amount of free space presently available, I think it could be extremely risky, to download anything at this point.
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Try the procedure below first.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN CRON MANUAL COMMANDS
Quit all applications/programs.
Navigate to HD > Applications > Utilities.
Double click on Terminal, to open.
At the prompt, type:
sudo periodic daily
Press Return.
Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
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sudo periodic weekly
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Repeat again, with command:
sudo periodic monthly
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sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
When the tasks complete, and return to the prompt, you may quit Terminal.
Restart the Mac, and run Repair Permissions.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
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Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
ali b

1 GB Gone in 15m - Disk Space Ticking Away Before My Eyes

(I have searched the forums here and elsewhere to the best of my ability, and haven't found a discussion of rapid space loss like that here. Forgive me if I've overlooked, and thank you for pointing me in the right direction.)
My disk space is disappearing before my eyes. In the time it tooke me to right the sentence, the count went from 14.77 GB to 14.72. It's only that much because I've been moving things off the drive to create more space. Earlier it ticked all the way down to 65mb, and I couldn't start the computer anymore. I've looked at various threads about freeing space, and I'm applying those suggestions, but the problem is that the space is disappearing almost as fast as I can clear it. I used Whatsize (paid, non-appstore version), and didn't see any enormous strange folders. I did notice that, back when I was at 65mb, Disk Utility showed the disk as having 999 GB on it, while Whatsize said 984.
Any help would be very appreciated.
2.8 ghz iMac Core i7
10.8.4
Now it's at 14.19 GB!

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, or by corruption of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin. Test while in safe mode. Same problem? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Disk space (mysteriously) disappearing

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