Disk Utility Taking Forever

I am making a second partition on a 300 GB external hard drive. Initially I made the 2nd partition 50 GB. After Disk Utility went through the initial process, a notification popped up that said it wouldn't make the partition and suggested I shrink the size. I started over and made a 30 GB partition. It went through the process and has now been stuck on "verifying disk" for almost two hours. No beach Ball of horror, but the horizontal barber shop poll keeps spinning the blue and white candy cane stripes.
I also had to force quit my Finder window and it didn't relaunch. I am afraid to quit the process - as I may very well crash the drive and lose the data on the original architecture - but I have to leave my current location in about an hour and will have to unplug the drive.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. On a side note, I am creating the partition in order to creat a bootable volume and run Disk Warrior, because my MacBook Pro has been acting funky as of late.
Any suggestions would be extremely helpful. On a side note, I am making the partition in ord

1. I have found through years of experience with partitioning disks
that the process is very similar to playing football and passing the ball.
As the coach would say: "There are 3 things that can happen when you
pass the football, and two of them are bad."
2. Never partition a drive with precious data on it, unless that data is archived
somewhere else, for reasons stated above.
3. I really hope your data is still there, but it may have been gone before you
posted your question.
4. It really wasn't necessary to partition the disk as long as it is Mac OS extended file system.
Simply installing a bootable bare bones SL install on an existing drive only takes about 5GB.
It won't bother data already on the disk, unless the data directories have the same names
as the OS. Even if that is a problem, simply create a new backup directory and drag your
data in it before installing SL.

Similar Messages

Disk utility taking forever to "Erase Free Space"!

i am trying to speed up my macbook so i read on http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-speed-up-your-mac-without-spending-any-cash/ that one way to speed up a mac is to "Erase Free Space" and when i did it, it was working fine but now its been "Creating Temperary File" for like 10 minutes and all of my HD is filled up now when i had like 50 GB open before i did this! i cant take a screen shot because when i do, it says it cant save it because there isn't and space open on my HD! help!!!!

guitar4542 wrote:
i am trying to speed up my macbook so i read on http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-speed-up-your-mac-without-spending-any-cash/ that one way to speed up a mac is to "Erase Free Space"
that advice is nonsense. there is absolutely no difference in speed when writing to a space written over by zeros as erase free space does.
and when i did it, it was working fine but now its been "Creating Temperary File" for like 10 minutes and all of my HD is filled up now when i had like 50 GB open before i did this! i cant take a screen shot because when i do, it says it cant save it because there isn't and space open on my HD! help!!!!
what you see is normal. erasing free space takes all of the free space on the drive, temporarily puts it into one huge file and writes it over with zeros. that file is then deleted. while the process takes place (and it can take a very long time). you can't use the computer because you have no free space on the hard drive.

Disk Utility taking long time to open directory with disk images

Hi and thanks in advance.
I have a couple of CD and DVD disk images stored in a folder (and organized into several sub-folders) on a FAT32 volume.
The problem is that recently, Disk Utility takes forever to display the content of any of these folders when I select Open Disk Image from the File menu. The Select an Image to Attach dialog remains empty and the beach ball spins. After a very long time (10-15minutes? I've never had the patience to time it.), the contents will display, if at all. During this period of virtual inactivity, the program is unresponsive.
Since the FAT32 volume is also accessible from my Bootcamped Windows XP OS, I tried doing a disk check and a defragment but it hasn't improved my problem.
Any ideas?

HI,
Make sure your MacBookPro has sufficient free disk space to read the disk images.
Right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure you always have a minimum of 10% to 15% free disk space at all times.
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Snow Leopard Latest Version - Disk Utility TAKES FOREVER to Backup Disk

Hi,
it is pretty much as the header describes.
I have chosen, New Image from Folder... in DU.
Then I select my boot drive which I want to Backup.
It has been 45 minutes and DU has copied 13 GB increasingly. And is still going at it.
I have 500GB on that drive and this way it would take forever.
Now, if I enter the terminal and do a ditto it will copy about 10GB per minute.
Any ideas why DU is soooooooo SLOW.

DU isn't slow, however, you are trying to backup into a disk image which is slow. If you simply use the Restore option of DU to backup, then it will go faster. You should not do a backup into a disk image. It's unnecessarily slow especially if you opted to encrypt the image. DU's Restore option will put a bootable clone onto the backup drive.
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4.Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the backup drive.
Source means the internal startup drive.

I create a new partition in an external hard drive with disk utility. Now it says mounting disk and it's taking forever. Is that normal? Please help!

I have an external hard drive from seagate. Tonight I decided to give it a try and add a new partition to it so I could have a bootable version of mountain lion in it it just in case of emergency and no internet. After creating the partition, disk utility says "mountain disk", and its been doing it for at least 20 minutes and not moving... Any ideas? btw, now the external drive is not even showing on the left-side bar...
Thanks!

I would try reformatting the drive and creating the partition again. Make certain that you erase the drive and format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" and the partition the drive.
What you describe is not normal... try again.
Clinton

Disk Utility Restore from Sparse Image taking forever

I created a sparse image backup of my MBP C2D using SuperDuper! before sending the laptop back to Apple for repair. I wiped the drive clean before shipping. I now have the laptop back and am trying to restore the sparse image to the HD.
The sparse image file is on an HD in my G5 tower and is just over 108 GB. I booted the G5 into target disk mode and connected it to my MBP via FW800. I then booted off the Leopard install disk and launched Disk Utility to do the restore.
The sparse image mounts fine in Disk Utility and is specified as my source for the restore.
I started this restore last night before I checked out for the night and when I got up this morning, Disk Utility showed about 35-40% of the image had been restored and 14 HOURS were remaining. That seems a little excessive after it had already been running for well over 9 - 10 hours.
The sparse image mounts on the MBP just fine using target disk mode from my G5 -- so as far as can tell, my backup image itself is ok.
My question is this: is the Restore function performance of Disk Utility with sparse images really this bad or is something wrong with what I am doing? I really don't want to rebuild my laptop from scratch, but if I have to wait 34 or more hours for Disk Utility to finish a restore -- it might be quicker to rebuild it.
Any ideas out there?
Message was edited by: Randy Vose

Randy Vose wrote:
I created a sparse image backup of my MBP C2D using SuperDuper! before sending the laptop back to Apple for repair. I wiped the drive clean before shipping. I now have the laptop back and am trying to restore the sparse image to the HD.
The sparse image file is on an HD in my G5 tower and is just over 108 GB. I booted the G5 into target disk mode and connected it to my MBP via FW800. I then booted off the Leopard install disk and launched Disk Utility to do the restore.
The sparse image mounts fine in Disk Utility and is specified as my source for the restore.
I started this restore last night before I checked out for the night and when I got up this morning, Disk Utility showed about 35-40% of the image had been restored and 14 HOURS were remaining. That seems a little excessive after it had already been running for well over 9 - 10 hours.
The sparse image mounts on the MBP just fine using target disk mode from my G5 -- so as far as can tell, my backup image itself is ok.
My question is this: is the Restore function performance of Disk Utility with sparse images really this bad or is something wrong with what I am doing?
no the restore function is not this bad.
something must be wrong with your sparse image. you should have tested it before sending the computer for repairs. and why did you use a sparse image at all?! you should have made (and tested) a standard clone.

Disk utility on Leopard taking forever?

Every time I run disk utility on Leopard, it goes about 1/4 of the way then stops. It finishes 15 minutes later but every time I run it the same thing happens. It doesnt find any errors that I know of but on Tiger, it always was a fast process (1-2 minutes) repairing permissions.

I also notice that it takes a bit longer in Leopard for the Permissions to Repair.

In disk utility, below Macintosh HD I have 4 trojan "decryptedFile.dmg (flash player)" and my computer is super slow, does erasing Macintosh HD will also erase these files? If not how can I erase? (bear in mind computer so slow a click takes forever)

in disk utility, below Macintosh HD I have 4 trojan "decryptedFile.dmg (flash player)" and my computer is super slow, does erasing Macintosh HD will also erase these files? If not how can I erase? (bear in mind computer so slow a click takes forever)

Thank you Thomas in fact I have seen your guide before and had gone thru the steps including repair disk which didn´t work. I am erasing disk before checking hardware. I have posted a photo of the 4 decrypted files in the disk utility and also of the adobe icons in the dock and question marks. Some people say if the adobe appears in the dock is because it is the trojan flash player and they keep jumping in the dock. If this is not malware it seems to be an incredible coincidence that when I start seeing these things in my dock and the decrypted files in my disk utility is when my computer goes so slow (I am typing this in my macbook air because to write this message in my imac would be about 6 hours, I am not kidding, it is completely useless at this point it took me 2 and half days too instal mac os x after disk repair, it took me 3 days to transfer just 100 gigabites and now is taking the whole day (and it says another day more) just to erase the disk. Despite all this the icon of adobe keeps jumping in the dock so, although I am no computer and mac expert, just an user, I am inclined to think that it is malware and it is a shame that mac doesnt´recognize it or have anything here to help me get rid of this. I am not even sure if erasing the disk will work since repairing didn´t work... all advice is welcomed.

Using Disk Utility to erase SDHC card taking too long

So... I had this 32 gb memory card that neither my camera nor my computer would read (iMac running OS 10.9.5 Mavericks and the camera's a Canon Power Shot SX40HS, just in case that matters).
I decided to try erasing the card using disk utility just to see if anything would recognize it after that, since nothing else seemed to work. Now, it's says it's partitioning with an estimated time of 1 day! I suspect I did something wrong. Why is it partitioning? I just wanted it to erase the card! I don't really understand all the jargon in the disk utility, even though I've used it before. I chose the least secure erase setting so it might not be impossible to recover items.
Here's the screenshot of what it's up to- still. Am I formatting the wrong thing? I don't have anything else that's 32 gb that I know of, so I'm pretty sure it's the right item, but it's taking FOREVER! Can I stop it somehow, or would that wreck the card? I put the name as 32 GB Lexar, just to be clear what I was erasing, but maybe I've messed something up. HELP?

I'm not sure what you mean by a modern disk utility. It's what's on my machine. I have the latest version of the operating system that is available, as far as I know. I've tried to download Yosemite, but it wasn't available yet.
I just need to know how I can stop this process, as it is now showing it's up to 2 days and 14 hours! That's ridiculous.

Hi, how do I manage storage? Disk Utility says "other" is taking up most of my storage but I don't know where to find "other". Please help!

Hi, how do I manage storage? Disk Utility says “other” is taking up most of my storage but I don’t know where to find “other". Please help!

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. 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—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the 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.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. 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. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the 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. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside a photo or iTunes library will corrupt the library. Changes to such a 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 or GP 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 the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding 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 2>&-
sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective 2>&-
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 and start typing the name.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. 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. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything 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 the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Disk Utility: new disk image takes forever- computer unresponsive-HELP!

Hello,
I'm using Disk Utility to create a "new disk image from folder." The folder is on one Lacie exernal usb drive, and the target location is another Lacie usb drive (150 GB free).
The folder is 55GB. After 3+ hours, the activity window still shows "creating image" though the progress bar has changed from blue to pulsating blue/white stripes and I have the spinning beach ball of death.
Computer is unresponsive and the only way to terminate is to press the pwr button until everything shuts off.
Why is disk utility hanging like this? (or does it take more than 3 hours to create an image 55GB in size?
I've had no issues with previously creating images, though these were all 15GB or smaller.

USB takes forever....the reason I got a Firewire Ext. Drive.
It's soooo much easier to make a clone doing the following.....
I like the free demo of SuperDuper to make clones. It's free, Tiger and Leopard ready and is easy to use. If you buy the full version you can do incremental backups.
You should use Disk Utility to do a Disk Repair, as shown in this link, booted up on your install disk, before you make a clone of it.
I then partition my external disk, in Disk Utility, with a partition that is the same size , actually a tad bigger, as my system disk. I then use SuperDuper to clone my system disk over to that partition.
With a clone on an external FireWire drive (USB drives are not bootable on PPC Macs but are on some Intel Macs) you can bootup on it to do your repairs or just run your Mac anytime you have trouble with your main drive. Be careful, there are a few external FireWire drives out there that are not bootable on PPC Macs. Check the drive's manual to be sure.
 DALE

My Mac will not start up i have tried safe reboot and verify file from disk utility to no avail am reinstalling Yosemite but couldn;t do it to recovery and its taking hours any ideas please

Followed some instructions to reboot as will not start and its taking ages any ideas please

Slow down and write clearly. What you're writing doesn't make sense. You need to write exactly what the problem is, and make understandable. Otherwise, no one will respond to you help request.
This (I May have found solution in 7 Mac start u options every os x user should know on a forum , gives recovery mode etc I had started to try to download yosemite again but that's what was taking forever! So I stopped it going to try the 7 options listed if not appointment at Genius - note to all back up your work, pictures etc I will be debased if they cannot recover them...) is slang. We don't speak slang.

HT1553 Does using Disk Utility also backup MSOffice 2008 (Mac) software already installed on my Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard? If not, how would I do that?

Hi,
I'm looking to upgrade from Snow Leapord (10.6.8) to the new Mountain Lion. Have a lot of applications and softwares that I would like to back up when installing the new OS, such as MS Office, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Any ideas on what is the best way to do that.
I'm not too tech savvy, so a simple solution would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shyam

If your not very tech savvy, I would have someone assist you in the upgrade process as your about to inflict major change on your life and computer.
There are some things to consider before you upgrade.
1: The age of your machine:
My advice has been if your Mac is less than two years old and has a dedicated graphics (not all only Intel HD 3000 or 4000 CPU graphics like the 13" has)) then you stand a very good chance of 10.8 (or 10.7) running fine on your machine.
In either case you need to check the specifications of your machine to see if it meets Apple's requirements, and unfortunately those requirements are a bit low, resulting in a slower machine when you upgrade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Mountain_Lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Lion
(note: 10.7 is no longer being sold via the AppStore, you should upgrade to 10.8, however some machines can't, you can call Apple Sales to upgrade to 10.7)
If your machine originally came with 10.5, I would say forget it. Mac's don't last forever and laptops usually have a life of about 4 years with normal use. Desktops last longer of course and can withstand more OS X upgrades if Apple allows it.
2: The age of your software.
10.7 and 10.8 will not run PPC based software of old like 10.6 does, also upgrading to 10.8/10.7 may require expensive software upgrades that can hit you unexpected. Consult this site and your other needed software and hardware drivers/software (for printers/scanners,custom keyboards/mice etc) BEFORE you upgrade the operating system.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
3: Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper "clone" (payware)
Your OS X boot partition to a new/reliable, blank powered external drive and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions on both afterwards. You can hold the option key down and boot from this clone drive to use the computer like before if your OS X upgrade fails and the machine gets bricked. You can also use Disk Utility to erase the entire internal drive and reverse clone if you find out the OS X upgrade is not to your liking.
Make sure all other drives are disconnected, like TimeMachine when cloning or upgrading OS X, thus when you reboot TimeMachine doesn't self update itself, which can lock you out from going back in time to restore from.
Note: If you have Bootcamp, you can clone that with WinClone (payware) to another drive and recreate Bootcamp later and restore it.
4: Some firmware updates can possibly "BRICK" your hardware
Firmware updates progress in a forward manner and can't be downgraded, so what sometimes occurs is a software error by programmers or a hardware glitch on your machine won't 100% cooperate with the firmware update and thus your machine will fail to function. Sometimes even a interruption in the OS X upgrade or firmware update process will cause the problem. When this occurs, a trip to a Apple Repair is in order and if your machine is out of AppleCare (3 years) or the 1 years standard warranty your looking at a very expensive logicboard replacement. At this time you usually consider the cost not worth it and rather spend the money on the newer machine, especially if it's 2-3 years old. This can come as quite a shock as you expected to pay $20 for a OS X upgrade and now have to buy a whole new machine.
You can't not upgrade the operating system for security and bug fixes, however you make sure you have AppleCare that will protect you for three years if such a hardware bricking occurs. If you don't have AppleCare you might want to reconsider taking the chance upgrading the operating system and thus the firmware.
AppleCare can be purchased within one year of the original machine purchase, it gives one 3 years of care from the date of machine purchase, not from the date of AppleCare purchase.
5: Market share of OS x versions (apx)
10.4 4.5% security updates > no
10.5 15% security updates > no
10.6 52% security updates > yes
10.7 30% security updates > yes
10.8 2 million upgraded so far, just released
6: Your decision to upgrade or not
It depends upon your computer technical ability, the age of your machine, your software investment and your budget.
Can you afford to pay for professional assistance if your upgrade doesn't go as expected? Are you in AppleCare?
Can you afford to pay for upgrades to third party software?
Can you afford the downtime while your machine is being repaired?
Can you live without the "new features" newer OS versions provide?
Does your hardware even support the newer features?
You might decide the upgrade is not worth it for your older machine and decide to ease yourself into a new machine gradually. I took this approach with my 2006 MacBook Pro, buying a Early 2011 model. I then upgrade to 10.7 on the older 2006 machine and glad I did, because it got bricked. Turned out 10.7 was a pretty awful upgrade and I was out of AppleCare, however 10.8 seems to be "normal" far as OS X upgrades go, some problems but not mass bricking of machines.

My 2009 24" iMac, taking forever to boot...help!

I need help and some advice on my 24" (2009) iMac running OS 10.7, my computer is taking forever to boot up. I was downloading MS Word 2011 via wi fi and then it froze. I shut the computer down by pressing the power button and restarted the iMac up again, the chime came on and the Apple logo is up with the wheel turning, I thought it was booting up...Well an hour has passed and the the screen with the Apple logo and wheel is still turning! I shut down the computer again and power it up again while holding down the Option key. Two icons came up, one for he HD and the other Recovery HD...I click the Recovery and select Disk Utility. I then select the Mac HD and clicked Repair Disk. After it went through that process of repairing, I then selected Repair Disk Permission. After that was done, I selected Restart from the Apple icon on the upper left corner. Again the Apple chimed....the screen and Apple icon and wheel is still spinning...No good the same screen with Apple icon and wheel continued to spin and nothing else is happening. Hope someone can help me out. Thanks.

As a test you could try booting with the install disk that came with the iMac (disk in drive and startup holding down the 'C' key). If it boots it's likely a good sign that it's an OS rather than hardware problem and that Eric Ross's suggestion of re-installing the OS is the next step.
If you haven't got a back up (hope you have) you can re-install using the Recovery HD but it would mean re-downloading Lion (you don't have to pay again).

Time machine to airdisk taking forever...maybe a gig an hour

So I set up my Airport Extreme Airdisk as a Time Machine disk. I started the first backup and its taking forever...if I am lucky its sending a gig an hour on an 802.11n machine.
Any thoughts?

It seems that Time Machine uses Apple's disk imaging mechanism.
The version of this in Leopard uses a helper app called diskimages-helper. You can see it in the process list of Activity Monitor when running Time Machine, Disk Utility or Carbon Copy Cloner disk imaging.
This app seems to have issues with images larger than around 80GB. I have now shown that whether started by Time Machine, Disk Utility or Carbon Cloner images between 120 and 200GB run flat chat (disk limited) for the first 80GB or so and then slow down dramatically.
How much data are you trying to backup?
On the upside, once the first copy is made. incremental Time Machine backups seem to be very fast. Perhaps if you set time Time Machine with enough exclusions to get the first image down to 80GB, it may be possible to add the rest later. I have not tried this.
On the topic of should you use an airdisk: I see that it is a requirement that the backup disk/share supports ACLs. I think Airdisk might be OK for data files, but probably will not restore a full working boot disk. Have you tried that?
Bill Northcott

Disk Utility Taking Forever

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