I am getting a message that my startup disk is full, what files can be safely removed to open up space or can I use an external HD for my startup disk?

Converted  a FCP X movie into a quicktime .mov file and tried to burn to DVD, message came up that I needed 26.8 GB to burn this movie. I am not sure how I used so much memory. I was not creating Blu-ray movie just a standard DVD. Anyone have any suggestions for what I did to creat such a large file?

It needs free unfragmented space on your boot drive.
So just what and how large and how full is it?
And it isn't 'memory' (ie, RAM), storage is never referred to as memory.
Your system is likely running something later than the 10.6.6 shown.
Clone your system to another hard drive adn then try, or clean it up after backing up with CCC
While at it, move all your home data and media folders off the boot drive (leave a mini ~/Library only)
System
Media and data folders and libraries
scratch
projects
backup partition(s)
etc
more efficient and runs better.
never let the system drive get to less than 30% free, even more.

Similar Messages

  • I am getting a message that sys startup disk is almost full. I cleaned all my old emails out, archived old ones i needed and erased most files on the computer. I restarted but I'm still getting the message

    I am getting a message that sys startup disk is almost full. I cleaned all my old emails out, archived old ones i needed and erased most files on the computer. I restarted but I'm still getting the message

    Reindex Spotlight again.
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716
    Do not concern yourself about the backups.  They will be deleted automatically if space is needed for other data:
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202301
    Ciao.

  • I am getting a message that states "startup disk is almost full.  What does that mean and how do I fix it?

    I am getting a message that states "startup disk is full".  What does this mean and how do I fix it?

    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 an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo 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
    sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
    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. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    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.

  • I keep getting the message that my startup disk is full, yet I have about 300GB of space left on my HD?  Any solutions for fixing this problem?

    I keep getting the message that my startup disk is full, yet I have almost 300GB left on my hardrive.  I have emptied the trash on my desktop and in iPhoto, and I have removed unnecessary programs.  The only way I can get the message to go away is to restart my computer.  If I let the computer go to sleep, I get the message back when I start using it again.  Any suggestions?

    Mountain Lion Recovery
    Boot up from your computer by holding down the command+r keys.  This will take you to the recovery drive.
    Select Disk Utility & hit Return. 
    In Disk Utility select the HD on the left & click on Repair Disk (bottom right).
    =======================
    Empty the trash in the Dock as well as iPhoto’s trash!
    Open up your application folder & go through all your apps.  Trash all the apps you no longer want and/or use.
    An easier way to do this is to open the Application folder in list view & press the Command+j keys.
    In the the dialog that appears, click the "This Window Only" button & the "Calculate All Sizes" check box.
    Wait a bit until your file & folder sizes have all been calculated, then click the "Size" column to sort your apps from the fattest to the most anorexic.
    Get rid of all your photo files you don't want and/or need.  Same goes for those pics off the websites you downloaded (gifs, jpegs, etc.).  Or transfer/move them all to a photo/movie storage site like ImageShack and Photobucket, 2 of the most popular  FREE  storage sites.
    Get rid of all your video & music files you no longer view and/or listen too.  Especially, if you already have the actual CD/DVDs or you can later redownload from a website.  Or transfer them all to a FREE video/movies and/or music storage site.
    Use Spotlight to make sure you got rid of everything.  You can even trash directly from Spotlight!  Better yet, download this FREE software called Find File.  This app puts Spotlight to shame (works w/Mountain Lion).
    Drag what you don't want and/or need to the trash.  Better yet, download this neat little shareware app *demo* called AppZapper.  It basically does all the work for you by not only trashing the apps but the apps preference files, caches & all its associated files.
    Another software that does the above is AppDelete.  Best of all this software is free!
    Burn what you want and/or need onto CDs or DVDs. Not everyone has the  luxury of purchasing an external HD and/or the system requirements for iCloud to store their "stuff.”
    Dropbox is a free storage utility to check out.
    You can check with your ISP to see if they offer *free* storage space.  Most if not all do now-a-days.   There are thousands if not millions of *free* storage facilities on the web also.  Use your favorite search engine to search them out as they come in different storage sizes to fit your needs & wants.
    Check for duplicate fonts.
    Applications>Font Book
    Select “All Fonts”
    If you see any “black dots” next to any fonts this mean you have duplicates and/or multiple versions of these fonts.
    To clean this up, select a “black dotted” font or the Apple + *click* to select multiple dotted fonts;
    Edit>Resolve>Duplicates.
    What the above does is turns off the duplicates & multiple version fonts.  Not delete them.
    More than likely the “extras” were installed by other programs and/or other users.
    Clear out font caches
    Use FontNuke.  It does all the work for you.  And, best of all it’s *FREE*.
    Printer Drivers
    Get rid of all the printer drivers you don’t need & use except the ones for your *current* printer(s)/scanner(s).
    HD>Library>Printers Folder
    If you accidently threw something out that you needed for your printer/scanner it can be easily obtained from the manufacturer’s website and/or from the CD that came w/the printer/scanner.
    Garage Band
    Has about 1GB of loops stored.  Get rid of some some them.  You surely don’t use, like and/or need them all.
    HD>Library>Audio/Apple Loops>Apple>Apple Loops For GarageBand
    Or just get rid of the Garage Band app altogether if you don’t use it.
    Get rid of extra languages
    Strip your computer down to your “native” tongue.
    You can do this with a *FREE* utility called Monolingual.  Another app that apparently does all the work for you.  I’ve never used it.  However, a lot of users here swear by & recommend it highly.
    However, there is a warning for *native English speakers*. Make sure you keep BOTH English and English (United States).
    Other Resources:
    HD Space Checkers:
    Disk Inventory X (FREE)
    WhatSize (SHAREWARE)
    OmniDiskSweeper (FREE)
    GrandPerspective (FREE - donation)
    Mac Performance Guide
    Slimming your hard drive
    Rule of thumb: You should never let your hard drive get to where you have only 10-15% of space left.

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    How do I delete voice mail from my iphone 4s? I keep getting a message that my voicemail is 98% full.

    i realised i have this 200mb of messages this morning & tried deleting my messages but it started to hang half way and my phone gets very hot. thn i do pressed my lock & home button to reset the phone, thn it cool atfer awhile but i got all my messges back lol..
    thn i found out, after deleting all the unwanted messages, sync to itunes, thn all the messages is gone for good. hope it helps?

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    Hello BassoonPlayer,
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    Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects. 
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  • I keep getting a message that my voicemail is 90% full when I have deleted my voicemail messages. What do I do?

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    After updating to ios 6 my phone had to be restored.  Now it will not acitvate.  I am receiving the message that ther server is unavailable.  However, I can not use my phone at all until it is activated.  why can I not activate?

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  • I keep getting a message that says HD disc is full.   However, the status shows I have plenty of memory remaining.  I get the same message when I try to save or email it.  Any suggestions?

    When I try to save or email a document, I get a message that "the disc is full trying to write to MAC HD.  free some space on this drive, or save the document to another disc."  I can't figure out how to save to another disc.  And, when I check the available memory, my computer has  1 GB of available memory.  I closed all programs and deleted the "trash" items.  Any suggestions?  Thanks

    Disk space and memory are two different things.
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  • How can I get my e-mails when I get a message that the folder inbox is full?

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