Hard Drive Full - Dock doesn't appear

Hi,
Problem with iMac OS X 10.6.8.
When I start my Mac it says that the Disk is Full.
I can log in with any user.
Logging with the administrator account, nothing appears, neither the dock.
Although when I log with a user account, that has Mail selected to open at startup, it opens Mail, but it's not possible to open any other Applications neither the dock appears. Mail doesn't receive or send emails.
I can reboot using the Snow Leopard startup disk and done Repair Disk Utility saying that everything is ok.
I have Daylite Server on this machine which makes automatic backups (I believe the lack of space is because of that).
Could you please give me a help. Is it possible to delete files using terminal starting up via the Snow Leopard installation?
Can I delete files connecting the iMac to a Powerbook via Firewire cable?
Thank you.

Can I delete files connecting the iMac to a Powerbook via Firewire cable?
Yes, I think that's a good way to go. Study the details of connecting via Firewire in the article below.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
At a guess, it is usually media that fills a person's hard drive, so target that data, for the best effect.
Message was edited by: roam

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When you get sounds like that, it usually means that a HD is failing.
Partitioning means that you divide the HD space into two or more partitions. For example, on a 150GB HD, you divide it into a 100GB partition and a 50GB partition. I don't understand what you mean by "when I got it, they were partitioned together".
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My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive.
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Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
Empty the Trash.
- Start iPhoto.
Empty its trash.
Restart.
Backup:
Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)
For more about backups:
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
Deleting files:
Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.
Additional reference on freeing disk space:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
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Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. This will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.
Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.
Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.
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From: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
To move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:
To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder."Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.thexlab.com/105/ 00000849.html
Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account. https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7689/itunes-library-manager
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https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12175/iphoto-buddy
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7158/iphoto-library-manager
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OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ . If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare replacing the SSD will void the warranty.

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(105476)

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LN

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1. The day before yesterday, Mac OS (10.6.xxx) informed me on my 2007 15" 2.33 MBP that it was out of HDD space and I needed to kill some apps to recover virtual memory.
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Hard Drive Full - Dock doesn't appear

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