Erase free space fails

I am trying to erase the free space on my hard drive, but part way through I get an error message. I started up my MacBook from the OS-X cd and ran Disk Utility. Selected "Erase Free Space" (7-pass) and after it ran for a few hours, but before it was finished, it quit. This message was displayed: "Disk Utility internal error - Disk Utility has lost its connection with the Disk Management Tool and cannot continue. Please quit and relaunch Disk Utility." I tried rebooting, and the same thing happened. I tried running Disk Repair and found no problems. Any suggestions?

Erasing Free Space Will Definitely Help Me and My Situation. Plus I've deleted or transferred files to an External HD, a ton of files(About 75%). And still the hard drive is reading FULL. The Erase Free Space Option just isn't working for some odd reason. So Erase Free Space Is Definitely What I'm Looking For. Any think you can think of, why it's not working properly?? And thanks for you speedy response also.

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Secure Erase Free Space

Secure Erase Free Space Failed
Secure Erase Free Space failed with the error:
Couldn't create temporary file.
Hello, I own a 15" Macbook Pro 2011 Late model but I recently replaced the hard drive with SSD and upgraded the memory to 16gb. It was working fine for about 4 months and now sometime it freezes while browsing or even opening an application. I had to restart the macbook and sometime I would get a white screen. I was able to get by the white screen by restarting constantly. I am afraid to shut this macbook down and end up with a white screen. While I got through the white screen, I was able to use the disk utility and got this message when I was cleaning up free space. My SSD has 431.82 GB free of 478.89 GB. Can anyone tell me where do I locate the temporary file or is there something else I need to fix? Please let me know. Thank you.
Vincent

I understands that.
But heres what Im talking about

Disk Utility Error - Secure Erase Free Space failure

I have encountered a problem which I can't solve: I've used the secure erase feature to wipe unused parts of the disk before without problem. Now I get the following error message each time I try to use Disk Utility to do so:
"Secure Erase Free Space failed
Secure Erase Free Space failed with the error:
Could not create temporary file"
I tried it with the hard disk on the computer, my external backup disk, and a USB thumb drive. Same error message in each case.
If anyone knows the solution I would appreciate the help. I've scoured these fora and the internet to no avail.
Thanks.

Tried booting from another hard drive and running Disk Utility Repair Disk? follow up with Disk Warrior after that.
I would just do a full volume clone, reinitialize, and restore.

Disk Utility erase free space problem

I tried to clean my hard drive by overwriting the free space using Disk Utility to make deleted files unrecoverable. But I got the message: "Your startup disk is almost full. Make room by deleting files." But my hard disk is 250GB (Capacity 232.6 GB) of which 197.4 GB is available and 35.2 GB used. I also have a 40 GB Iomega external hard drive which I use for automatic daily backup (using Chronosync). If I try to overwrite the free space on that drive with zeros, I get the message "Secure Erase Free Space failed -- Could not create temp file." There is 17.5 GB available. The Volume format is "Mac OS Extended (journaled)."

This may help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1010.html

Failed Erase Free Space NOW missing all free space

I just recently performed an Erase Free Space from the Disk Utilities application. It failed and now I am missing all my free space. Can someone please help me correct this problem.
I did post this same question in another Forum. I wanted to make sure I posted it in the correct place.
Thank you,
Shannon

I think that a file is created that is the size of the free space, and then written over several times and then deleted. There may be a very large file lurking somewhere on your hard drive. You might want to try using a free utility like Whatsize to look for a large mysterious file, and if you find one then just delete it. Good luck.

Failed erase free space

I recently ran the secure erase free space option from the disk utility using zero-out overwrite. The system locked up for about an hour, ultimately resulting in a force quit and reboot. Since the wipe process was not itself finished, the overwrite file was not deleted by the disk utility and now the disk has only approx 100 MB of free space... not enough to log-in.
I have read previous posts regarding how to delete this file from terminal but with root enabled. Since I do not make a habit of keeping the root user enabled, it seems some of my options in Terminal are very limited. And since I am not fluent in Linux, I need some assistance. Here are my efforts thus far:
a. Load Terminal from CD.
Screen is:
-bash-3.2#
Typed:
sudo rm -f /var/root/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/*
And I get:
-bash: sudo: command not found
I have also tried:
sudo ls -al /var/root/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems
And I get:
-bash: sudo: command not found
b. I attempted to enable the root user from Terminal by typing:
% sudo tsch
And I get:
-bash: fg: %: no such job
I have also substituted .../root/... for .../mwdemoss/... (my short handle) also with no results.
I could restore from Time Machine if I *NEED* to, but I have a few files which haven't been backed up yet. I give preference, therefore, to the deletion of the overwrite file. If you are able to assist, please let me know. As I said, I have almost no experience with Terminal and so if your solution involves Terminal commands, please be very explicit in the keystrokes.
Thank you kindly.

Restored data from Time Machine.

I made a dumb decision to 'Erase Free Space' on my drive. I now have no free space, I realize because it wrote 0's over all my free space. Is there a way to undo this??? Help please I can't save any documents now! Thanks in advance all, it is truly apprec

I made a dumb decision to 'Erase Free Space' on my drive. I now have no free space, I realize because it wrote 0's over all my free space. Is there a way to undo this??? Help please I can't save any documents now! Thanks in advance all, it is truly appreciated. how can find the hidden temporary files using the terminal what do i type in?

It's more likely a failed Erase Free Space, which creates a huge temporary file; that's why it looks like you have no more available drive space. You can recover from this. See these links
https://discussions.apple.com/message/10938738#10938738
http://www.macgeekery.com/tips/quickie/recovering_from_a_failed_secure_erase_fre e_space
Post back if you need any help with this.

My external hard drive accidentally switched off during Disk Utility's "erase free space" process. I restarted the external hard drive and Disk Utility, but now I get the "couldn't mount disk" error when trying to finish the erase. Please help!

My external Lacie Quadra hard drive accidentally switched off in the middle of "erase free space", and when I switched it back on Disk Utility was hanging. So I Force Quit Disk Utility and restarted it. Now when I try to erase I get
"Secure Disk Erase failed with the error: Couldn’t unmount disk."
But "erase free space" seems to work...
What can I do? I'm erasing as I'm giving the drive to someone else and I wanted to wipe it clean.
Also should I use "erase" or "erase free space" if I want to wipe the drive clean?
Please help!

Sorry I don't really understand.... there are no partitions on the drive. How do I repartition it?
And should I use "erasing free space" or "erase" for wiping clean my drive of everything? Erase seems to be faster last tiem I tried.
Thanks!

'Erase Free Space Utility' problem

Hi everyone, I wonder if you could spare your time in helping me with what I believe is a bit of a fixable dilemma but I just am not sure how to fix the problem.
I ran the 'Erase Free Space' option on my hard disk through the Disc Utility application but unfortunatly the application crashed at around 30% completion and I am left with only 6.5MBs of free disk space (previously being 72MBs free).
I have found out how to fix the problem but really do not know how to access '/var/root/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems' as explained below to obtain and remove the files 'EFTFile1.sparseimage'.
I would be very very grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.
Many thanks.
"Disk Utility accomplishes the erase feature by creating large sparse image files in a preset directory. It then deletes them with the srm tool (secure remove) and an overwrite pattern of your choice. If Disk Utility is interrupted, this sparse image is left on the disk just taking up space. Starting another free space erase session makes another file, instead of cleaning up the previous one. So, as there are no checks in Disk Utility for cleaning up this failed process, so you have to hunt it down manually.
There are a variety of ways of doing this, but I’ll cut to the chase and give you the answer. The files are created in /var/root/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems and are sequential variations of the name EFTFile1.sparseimage. Simply remove these files (as root) to reclaim your free space and then start the process again to finish the task."
Message was edited by: Chris Kerr

Chris Kerr wrote:
I ran the 'Erase Free Space' option on my hard disk through the Disc Utility application but unfortunatly the application crashed at around 30% completion and I am left with only 6.5MBs of free disk space (previously being 72MBs free).
72 MB is way too little disk space for Mac OS X to run properly. You need to delete some files in order to give Mac OS X and applications more space. If that's why you're running "Erase Free Space", then you're not doing the right thing. Erase Free Space will overwrite all the free space on your hard drive with random data: the free space will remain free, but you will not get any extra free disk space after doing this. Erase Free Space's purpose is to make deleted data unrecoverable, for example if you deleted many sensitive files without using Secure Empty Trash and want to make sure the they can't be recovered.
You should be able to use Terminal to remove the sparseimage, but you should really delete or move a lot of stuff to another hard drive first; you need at least a few GB of free space if you want Mac OS X to run normally.

I used the "erase free space " option in disk utility and now my imac says the disk is full and wont let me download songs. please help!

i used the "erase free space " option in disk utility and now my imac says the disk is full and wont let me download songs. please help!

You could try repairing permissions with disk utility, I don't think you will have the option to repair the drive but you could verify it.
This may help you delete the files that DU made but did not remove when erasing the free space.
http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/317204-no-disk-space-after -failed-disk-utility-erase-free-space.html
When you get your SL disk it will not have the iLife applications, that would have been on the second install disk that should have been with the computer. I forget which version of iLife you will need for SL but I think it is this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iLife-Single-User-Mac/dp/B003XKRZES/ref=sr_1_1?ie= UTF8&qid=1409607702&sr=8-1&keywords=apple+ilife+11
A search of the forums will confirm or deny this.
As to whether a clean install will cure your problem, i.e. partition the HDD and install I would expect it to be yes, but there are no guarantees it is an old machine.

Lost free space after an "Erase Free Space" procedure

I just ran the "Erase Free Space" application from the Dick Utility. The erase failed and now I have ZERO free space available. I am now showing that all 111g or used oposed to roughly 50% prior to the Erase Free Space. I have found a few articles trying to explain what to do but, I have been unable to locate the empty temp files that we created during the Erase Free Space, so I have been told. Can anyone help me resolve this solution and restore my free space?
Thank you,
Shannon

WhatSize should be able to find the temporary files
<http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/>
You could try the Erase Free Space from Disk Utility on the install DVD. It might delete the files when it finishes.

HT3680 Erase Free Space Issues!!

When I Try To Erase Free Space On My HD, The Process Fails Repeatedly. With Any Option I Choose, Like 7 Pass, It Takes 2 Minutes For The Entire Process. And That's Obviously Wrong. I've Tried Almost Everything. And My Disk Is Reading FULL. It's Limiting Me Big Time. And Also Hindering Me From Upgrading To Mountain Lion. Anyone Out There, That Can Help Me With This Problem ASAP, Please??

Erasing Free Space Will Definitely Help Me and My Situation. Plus I've deleted or transferred files to an External HD, a ton of files(About 75%). And still the hard drive is reading FULL. The Erase Free Space Option just isn't working for some odd reason. So Erase Free Space Is Definitely What I'm Looking For. Any think you can think of, why it's not working properly?? And thanks for you speedy response also.

No Hard Disk Detected after Erasing Free Space

Hi ,
First I will explain the problem, I will be grateful for your help to solve it as immediately as possible. Thanks in advance !
I have a MacBook Black since 2007, with system specification, 160 GB Hard Disk, 1GB RAM, 2.16 GHz Intel Processor. I had a OS X 10.4.11 Tiger version. I need to upgrade it to 10.6 Snow Leopard. I bought OS X 10.6 DVD Snow Leopard version from Apple Store.
Last night, I save my all the data on external HDD, and tried to install 10.6, and it is installed over 10.4.11 with everything on the internal 160 Hard Disk. I did not want like that. I again started the installation process, I went to Disk Utility, I did some thing with partition, i.e. I created again 160 GB partition. Then I wanted to format, Then I saw some Erase Free Space and only Erase also, I click on Erase only, it is finished in seconds. but I was not satisfied. I saw button Erase Free Space then I click there, then , it takes about 90 minutes, and at the end, I saw a failure message that it could not create the temporary file or something like that I forgot what was written, however, it was a failure message ( it is failed to create etc ) .. ,
Then I saw, that there was nothing in the disk utility tool except the installing 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD. I was shocked, what happened.
Does some body could help me in this regard. How can I get the internal HDD with installation DVD ? What should I do after to erase everthing from my internal HDD, I mean , there should be nothing on it ..,
A big THANKS to you to solve this problem.
Best Regards,
Imran Khan
Macbook Black
1 GB RAM
160 GB HDD
2.16 GHz Intel

Yes, I just played with Disk Utility, and in the end, I found nothing.
With the installer DVD, when I came upto Menu List, I click on Apple in the upper left corner, There are many menus but in grey, I can't click on them, e.g.
About This MAc
Software Update...
Mac OS X Software ...
Logout ...
I can't click them ,
Just for Info, In the Utilities Menu, the list is as below,
Startup Disk ..
Reset Password..
Firmware Password Utility
Disk Utility
Terminal
System Profiler
Network Utility
Restore System From Backup,
Here I click on the System Profiler Menu, After that, I go into deep, there are hardware list,
In ATA ... it shows only MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857E .. in detail it shows about the installer 10.6 DVD
and
In Serial-ATA .. it shows Intel ICH7-M AHCI ..
I did not find anything about internal HDD of 160 GB.

Erase Free Space vs Reformat Hard Drive

I am getting ready to sell my computer. In the past I have had troubles when I reformatted my hard and then reinstalled the OS. If I use "Erase Free Space" from the Disk Utility and choose 7 pass overwrite should I be confident that all deleted personal information will be securely removed?
Thanks
12" PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 768 MB RAM, Superdrive

It would be simpler, not to mention much, much faster, to do an Erase and Install of OS X. If you've had problems with the hard drive in the past, then I suggest doing the following before installing:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Now proceed with the OS X installation. When the installation has completed DO NOT RESTART. Instead simply shut down the computer. When the new owner starts up the computer it will automatically start up in the Setup Assistant as if new out of the box.
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Help please - message after using the Erase Free Space function in Disk Ut

Please help. I've been using my Mac Mini for 6 months and decided I wanted to securely erase previously deleted files, and found the Erase Free Space facility in Disk Utilities. So I chose the option "7-pass Erase of deleted files", and left my Mac Mini to do its business.
At the end, I got the message that my startup disk is full, but ignored that message because I understand that's normal when free space has been deleted.
After doing a Restart, things seem to be running smoothly, but I have a Warning message which reads
Warning. The following disk images failed to mount:
Image: EFTFile1.sparseimage Reason: corrupt image.
What does this mean, please, and what do I have to do, if anything?
I'm completely new to this, so please explain clearly.
Thanks everyone!!

Hi again, i've resolved the problem, thanks. It was my inexperience that was helping confuse the issue.
Sorry to have taken your time. Thanks again for your input.

Erase free space fails

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