How to delete "other" files on hard drive

Our 500 hard drive is almost full, 256 of it is labled as other, how do access these files to deleate them?

Other means anything that isn't music, movies, photos, programs, and backup files. What hasn't been specifically mentioned? Documents and the operating system. Other is basically the operating system (OS X) and the temporary files the OS needs to function. If you are curious you may notice that Other is smaller when you first restart your computer and that it grows the longer the computer has been 'up' (that is used without restarting or shutting down). For most people Document files take up a very small amount of hard drive space which is probably why it doesn't get its own category.
You really have little control over Other. Photos, music and movies take up the most space on most people's drives and should be the target of your investigation. I generally recommend that people buy an external drive and movie their iTunes library to it. This article explains how to make the move. Once you've done it you can delete the iTunes Music folder from your computer's hard drive (it can be found in your iTunes folder which is in the Music folder). Don't delete the iTunes folder or anything else that is inside it.

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How to delete all files on hard drive

I am selling my iMac 27" and I want to deleted all of my files except for the IOS Lion. Can anyone explain how to do this and get the hard drive back to a factory setting so that I can sell the computer and not have to worry about content being on the hard drive. I have a external hard drive backup.
Thank you,
Scott

Hi Scott,
2 ways to go...
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
   2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
      *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
   3. Click the Erase tab.
   4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
   5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
   6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion do a new install.
Or...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
In the same pref pane highlight your old account, click the little minus icon, then use Disk Utility to Secure Erase Free Space.

How to delete other files(yellow color code) from the hard drive, how to delete other files from the hard drive

how can i delete the yellow color code items from my hard drive? What are these other files anyway? I wanna save some memory space from my storage.

Macbook Pro community is here
Following thread could solve your question.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19030300#19030300

How do you delete transparent file from hard drive?

Hi. I lent my hard drive to my friend and came back with this weird file named "\". I want to delete this file, but when ever I put this in the trash and empty it, my computer starts lagging. (So I have to relaunch my Finder) This file doesn't allow me to rename it. If anyone knows the way to delete this, please tell me. Thanks

Hi rebellium.rebel,
Thank you for your reply.
Another option to consider would be formatting (erasing) the hard drive, after moving your files off of it.
You can find a step-by-step guide for this in the below article, which are good general steps although the article references Aperture:
Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture - Apple Support
If the files reappear in the future, some of the steps in this guide may be helpful, such as checking with the manufacturer regarding this situation and whether the drive requires additional software:
USB and FireWire Quick Assist - Apple Support
Best Regards,
Jeremy

Deleting photo file from hard drive

Hello,
I would like to be able to delete items (photos) from both the iPhoto library and my hard drive, but I don't seem to be able to. After I delete items from the iPhoto library, the files are still on the hard drive... (I did empty the trash and I did delete the items from the Library folder)
Note: I just started using iPhoto. I already had a large (?) (9000+ items) library of photos that I keep on an external firewire hard drive. I did not use the "Copy files to iPhoto Library folder when adding to library" function, because a) I didn't want to wait for the system to copy all 9000 images, b) my internal hard drive isn't really big enough to store all these images and c) I'd like to keep using other software (Photoshop, stich software, etc.) to view, open and edit my images.
I like using iPhoto, it seems faster than what I've been using and I like the clean interface, but if I can't use iPhoto to both view and delete images it might not be the software I'm looking for...
My apologies if this question has been answered prior - I just searched and couldn't find an answer.
Thanks for all help!
PowerBook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.9) iPhoto 6.06

Theo
Unfortunately the "Show File" or "Show Original File" command doesn't seem to work when more than one file is selected... (the program just points to one of the selected files). Is there a workaround?
No, I think you'll need to do it one at a time.
How would I specify more than one external application (e.g. Photoshop and a panorama stitching app)
No, you won't be able to set up more than one app at a time. The obvious one being to set up Photoshop. What I would do is export the pics for stitching and then import the resulting image as a new image - but that's just me.
Saving an additional file is as simple either duplicating in iPhoto or using Save As in Photoshop and the importing the new file.
You can download with Image Capture (in your Applications folder) and rename files with a batch renamer such as File List. iPhoto has no facility to rename files except on export as filenames are quite irrelevant within iPhoto. You can, of course, apply titles in iPhoto.
As you say, perhaps the app is not for you - it's not right for everybody in every situation.
Regards
TD

HOW TO GET OLD FILES FROM HARD DRIVE? HELP!!!!

hello. so i changed my 320gb HD to a 1.5tb! its running good. the reason why i changed it was because it went white with a folder that had a question mark blinking! so i inserted the disk that came with it and it wouldnt come up on "select a destination" and when i would go to disk utility, it would only show "Media" (which i believe was suppose to be my hard drive), Pioneer CD-RW, and the Installation Disk. so i decided to buy a new and bigger HD and did a partition (dont what that means but it worked) and installed Leopard. now its working good. i just need help on how to get my old files from this old HD i have in hand (the 320gb). like what do i use? can i put it in a PC? PLEASE HELP!!!!!

If the old drive is not accessible then, no, you will not be able to access all your files on it. In this case you may need to look at the following:
Basics of File Recovery
Files in Trash
If you simply put files in the Trash you can restore them by opening the Trash (left-click on the Trash icon) and drag the files from the Trash to your Desktop or other desired location. OS X also provides a short-cut to undo the last item moved to the Trash -press COMMAND-Z.
If you empty the Trash the files are gone. If a program does an immediate delete rather than moving files to the Trash, then the files are gone. Recovery is possible but you must not allow any additional writes to the hard drive - shut it down. When files are deleted only the directory entries, not the files themselves, is modified. The space occupied by the files has been returned to the system as available for storage, but the files are still on the drive. Writing to the drive will then eventually overwrite the space once occupied by the deleted files in which case the files are lost permanently. Also if you save a file over an existing file of the same name, then the old file is overwritten and cannot be recovered.
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten with recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

How to delete a file in the drive?

I'm wondering which class should I check out for deleting files from the hard drive? Thanks!

Hi ,
Method delete() in File class

Satellite L40: How do I recover files from Hard Drive

Hi
Can anyone help me please. About one week ago I started experiencing a clicking sound coming from my Satellite L40 laptop. My laptop froze and when I restarted it, I was directed to the system setup with a message at the bottom saying
"Pri Master Hard Drive Disk SMART status bad, Backup and replace.
Press F2 to presume."
I have pressed F2 but I haven't a clue what to do?
Can anyone tell me how to backup my files before my hard drive has completly gone or if it has gone can I use another device to get them off.
I have tried to use the recovery disk but the disk is not responding??
Please help
Pete

Hi
This messages looks like an warning notification from the S.M.A.R.T.
It does mean that your HDD will eventually fail.
It could happen next days or it may not happen for a few months but the SMART capability has detected that the drive is going bad so it should be replaced as soon as possible.
It looks like your notebook is not very old so the warranty should cover all replacements.
I see only one way to access and backup the data. Possibly you could buy an external USB SATA HDD enclosure and could connect the HDD to another computer.
Im not sure if you will be able to access the HDD due to the malfunction but if you want you could try this.
Good luck

How to delete other files in phone memory

i had a problem that other files in my phone are rapidly increasing in size they have increased from 60 mb to 103 mb in two days and now my phone take so many time to process any application that i open.
Please help me i want to set memory card as default memory for all application as i had saved maps, messages in memory card.
I think that internet browsing has eaten my phone memory, i had also deleted all my privacy data from internet but nothing helped me.
Please help me guys how do i delete or move these other files.

It is very strange that you lost ~43 MB of phone memory in two days! If you think the web browser cache is still to blame, you can try deleting it manually using a third-party file browser like Y-Browser (http://www.drjukka.com/YBrowser.html , then scroll to the bottom) or X-Plore (http://www.lonelycatgames.com/?app=download). Delete the entire contents of C:\System\Cache , but not the Cache folder itself. Reboot and see if that makes a difference.
If that doesn't fix the problem, some people have blamed Bluetooth file transfers on lost phone memory. Maybe you have done this lately? Otherwise see this thread for advice: /t5/Eseries-and-Communicators/E72-RM-530-Phone-memory-full-for-no-apparent-reason-any-solution/m-p/1... . (Beware that I rambled too much. ) Your best friend may be NetQin's Mobile Guard program. Its File Manager feature includes an "Analyse Storage" option that will look for the largest files on any drive. Post a followup if you need more advice.

How to delete locked files on pen drive

I have a pen drive which has 2 partitions and there is no problem with one partition. Other partition shows itself as "CDROM" and none of the files in that partition could be deleted. There is no option to format the entire pen drive also. Even if I format it, the "CDROM' partition still remains.

Hi Scott,
2 ways to go...
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
   2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
      *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
   3. Click the Erase tab.
   4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
   5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
   6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion do a new install.
Or...
Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
In the same pref pane highlight your old account, click the little minus icon, then use Disk Utility to Secure Erase Free Space.

Will Time Machine delete existing files on hard drive

A coworker is running OS X 10.6.8 on a MacBook Pro, and the computer is running very slow. I told her she should back up all her files with Time Machine, wipe her drive, upgrade to 10.10 and reimport all her files once that's done and see how things run then.
The problem is her existing hard drive has a lot of files on it already, that she doesn't want to risk losing.
So if I back up her hard drive with Time Machine to this hard drive, will it automatically erase all the existing files on the hard drive? Or can the Time Machine back up coexist with those existing files?

If the drive's already formatted as Mac OS Extended or Xsan, the files will remain as is. If not, they'll be erased.
In any case, all of the files you want to keep should be on at least two drives so that they won't be lost in the event that one of them fails.
(116250)

How to delete photos from my hard drive to free up space?

I've got a Mac Book and have ran out of space.
How to I delete photos i don't want any more from my hard drive? It seems that if I only delete them from iphoto is not enough.
I don't see individual photo documents stored in my hard drive as would have seen in Windows environment.
Help please!

You won't actually see the pictures deleted. They are stored in User/Picture/iPhoto Library. When you delete pics in iPhoto, the size of that library should be reduced
If you right click on the library, select "Show Contents", and you will be able to see all your images in the "Master" folder.

ITunes 7.1.1 deletes music files on hard drive

After updating iTunes to 7.1.1, I discovered that my playlist for "alternative" music had dissappeared. OK, no problem, the music files must still be in "music/itunes". Searched through this folder, but ALL the "alternative" music files were gone from the hard drive - all the music burned from CDs, even those purchased from iTunes! Used "find" in various ways, no luck. They are truly deleted.
After hours and hours of reinstalling all the "alternative" music from backups, all was back as before. I shut my Mac down for the night. The next day I opened iTunes and the "alternative" playlist was gone again - and the music I had put back onto my hard drive had been erased again!
I've tried starting iTunes from an old library - the playlists come back, but the music is not, just shows question marks. I've even done a virus check of the whole HD.
As any ideas as to why this is happening, and what to do?
Now I'm worried that other playlists, and their actual music files will be unpredictably wiped.
Has this happened to anyone else's "Alternative" music files and/or playlists?
I can't believe my music files have been erased off my hard drive - twice!
Hard to trust iTunes now.
G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Thanks for the reply, it's appreciated.
I usually turn off the computer each night. After updating to 7.1.1, just the "alternative" playlist and music files were gone from my HD. I re-installed the music files from a backup HD.
To test things, I quit iTunes and then opened it again and looked in the music file on the HD, a number of times. The replaced music was still there.
The next morning, I turned on the computer [Of course, I know that an off computer can do nothing ]. When it came time to open iTunes, again the music files were gone. I didn't check to see if the files were there before I opened iTunes, unfortunately.
I did use Norton, but only AFTER I discovered the files were gone ...
At the mo' I'm trying to recreate the problem to see if I can further narrow it down. Putting just one song into the Alternatives playlist, shutting down, starting up, etc. See if it's there. Repairing permissions with Disk Utility, etc etc.
Again, thanks for trying to help!

How to delete other files on SD card ?

My Sd card almost full because its filled with big other files. Its about 8 GB. I was frustated because i can't delete it.. How can i do that ? Anyone knows ? Help me, please....

@ThePolover
He measn that you need to connect your phone to the PC via the USB data cable. From there you can access both the Phone's internal memory as well as that of the SD card. You can easuly delete any files in the SD card that way.

How to access restricted files from hard drive that won't boot

My Macbook Pro (10.9.3) wouldn't boot up. I'd get the gray spinning progress indicator along with a gray progress bar which would get about 10% through and then restart.
I booted into recovery mode and run Disk Utility to repair the disk and got a message saying can't repair, back up your files.
So I took the HDD out and mounted it as an external drive on my Mac Mini (10.9.3). I got a message saying it's read only and I should back up my files. I can browse to my users directory and see all the base folders (Movies, Music, Docs, etc), but there's a red no entry icon on all the folders and accessing them through Finder shows they are empty.
I browsed the files through Terminal as super user and can see the files. I can also copy the files through Terminal. However, after copying a test directory some of the files are read only and others are still no access.
So the question is, how do I back up these files and maintain permissions?
Thanks!
PSA: Go do a backup. Don't feel my pain.

In the Finder, drag the folders to another drive. You'll be asked for an administrator password.
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How to delete "other" files on hard drive

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