I am trying to open space in my macbook hard drive, so I deleted files and after emptying the trash bin the amount of Gigs didn't increase, why? Where can I go and delete those files?

Did you do a secure empty trash? SHIFT COMMAND DELETE, they will be over wriiten. Are you deleting docs as they aren't much space, videos,pictures,music use much more space.
You can move those fiels to an external "archive" drive to save them then delete them from your internal drive.

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I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation: What are Local Snapshots? http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

Am using osx lion 10.7.2 on a mid 2010 macbook, and cannot empty my trash bin. it verifies files to delete and then quits. anyone got any ideas how to fix this?

am using osx lion 10.7.2 on a mid 2010 macbook, and cannot empty my trash bin. it verifies files to delete and then quits. anyone got any ideas how to fix this?

This utility may help > Download Trash It! for Mac - Force-empty your trash can. MacUpdate.com

Can I get my files back after emptying my trash

can I get my files back after emptying my trash

Try DataRescue3. You can download a demo that will scan your drive and tell you what it finds. If it finds deleted files that can be recovered, you can purchase the app and recover the files. I have used it, and it works great.
Note: when you empty the trash, the files are not actually erased, the pointers to the files are simply deleted from the disk directory/catalog. As long as the actual locations of the files are not overwritten by something new, the files are usually recoverable. So, the best thing to do is not save anything new until you have recovered what you just deleted.
Further note: if you did Secure Empty Trash or Erase Free Space after deleting files, then the deleted files are actually overwritten with 0's and they are not recoverable.

Trying to make space on Mac, external hard drive

I just installed a Western Digital My Book Studio 1tb external hard drive to use with my Mac. I am using it with Time Machine, not the software it came with.
My question is: If I delete files from the Mac, will it delete them from the external hard drive, too? I don't want to lose the files, I just need to make space ON the Mac hard drive by moving the files elsewhere. Thank you!

First DO NOT use the WD software!!!! Also when you use an external HD for backup it should be dedicated to that use ONLY. NEVER EVER store additional data files on a backup drive. The reason being is HD's fail so if you use the same drive for backup and normal storage if/when that drive fails you will lose not only the oringinal but it's backup which makes backing up worthless!
A true backup system will have multiple backup strategies on independent media. Many folks (myself included) will use TM for backing up and then on another EHD create a bootable clone backup using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner (both about $30), a bootable clone is useful because in the event of internal HD failure you can boot the machine from the clone and resume work! You CANNOT do that from TM. In the case of backup redundancy is a VERY VERY good thing because backups can and do fail too!
As for your data you want to store on an external HD, get a third EHD (EHD's are cheap so don't be penny wise and pound foolish) and store large libraries such as movies, photographs & music on an EHD. Apple explains how to move those libraries to EHD's in:
iMovie: How to move the Library to an EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to an EHD
iTunes: How to move the library to an EHD

Why can't I free up space on my MacBook hard drive?

My MacBook has 2 GB of space left, so I moved over 60 GB worth of movies from iMovie HD (including the application itself) to a hard drive and deleted it all off my MacBook. I then emptied the trash and went to check the space left now and it STILL SAY 2GB LEFT!! Can anybody tell me why I'm not freeing up any space on my hard drive? What gives?

Try restarting the computer, and if it still isn't showing the additional space try:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
And, if this doesn't do it then you need to backup the drive, boot from your Leopard DVD, open Disk Utility on the DVD and erase your hard drive then reinstall Leopard.

Project Files disappear after emptying Aperture trash

Here's an odd issue: I import raw/jpeg files from my Canon 5dMII into a created project in Aperture. I sift through the pix and delete what I don't want. I then check in Aperture's trash to see if the deleted files are there, then empty the trash. What happens then is Aperture also deletes the files that remain in the project from which I had just deleted files! I looked in my imac's regular trash and the the files from the project weren't there--poof--gone! After going through this a few times, I happened to notice some "mystery" projects appeared in my library: "Untitled Project (1)"; "Untitled Project (2)" and so on (four of them).
In these "untitled projects": The mysteriously deleted files from MY project! HUH? Aperture moved the files from my created project into an "Untitled Project" after emptying the trash. Now THAT--is weird....Help!

The files I deleted were masters (raw/jpeg) that I knew I didn't want/need in the project--no other versions were created from them--they were just looked at then deleted. So the files that remained in the project that Aperture moved into an "Untitled Folder" were unrelated to the deleted files. The fact I seem to be the only one with this issue is even stranger to me . Is Apple Feedback the best (only?) avenue to report this bug?

How do I restore files to their original location from the trash bin?

I accidentally deleted a large number of files. I was trying to delete a certain type of file from a specific folder, but ended up deleting all of the files of that type from the computer and, worse, from the external hard drive docked on my desktop. We are talking about 6000+ files. I could not in five years manually copy these files back into their original locations. I deleted additional files after this before I realized what was happening, so I've used up my one undo. Is there no way in Mac OS X to automatically restore these files back to their original locations? It's worth noting that I have not emptied the trash bin; the files are all still there, and this is a brand new computer, so Time Machine hasn't been configured (even if it had been, the external hard drive I would have used for back up is the one I would need to be restoring these files to). You would think something like spotlight, so proficient at finding the file types I was looking for, would also be able to put them back to their original locations.

That is a feature available in Windows but not on you Mac. Your only slender hope is Undo, but it only has one go, and you say you've used it.
If the task of relocating them seems impossible, and you say the machine is brand new, then the quickest thing would be to reinstall the OS and start again, as you would not have personalised/changed it much, so soon.

Why when i delete photos and movies do i not get the free space back on my hard drive?

I'm desparately trying to free up hard drive space. I have deleted unwanted photos and videos, emptied iphoto trash, rebooted and emptied regular trash but there is no corresponding increase in available hard drive space! Please help or the Mac gets it!!

If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. 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.

I am trying to burn CDs to an external hard drive to conserve space on our laptop. When I change the file location it says the folder on the external drive is invalid. Am I missing a step?

I am trying to burn CDs to an external hard drive to conserve space on our laptop. When I change the file location it says the destination folder on the external drive is invalid. Am I missing a step?

It does, but that's definitely strange. Try showing all hidden files and folders on your Mac to see if that helps.
To do this, head to Applications -> Utilties -> Terminal and type:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE -> Press Enter
killall Finder -> Press Enter
Then navigate out to your iPod again via the Finder. Any luck now?
B-rock

I have sent a file to the trash bin. When I come to empty the trash bin everything goes out except this one particular file and I get a note saying the file is 'in use' but it is not. How can I delete this file from trash?

I have a Macbook Pro with OS X Lion 10.7.2. I have sent a work file to the trash bin along with many other files. When I empty the trash this one particular file remains and I get a message that this file is still in use. I have tried returning the file to my documents, opening it, closing it and then sending it to trash and again I try to empty trash but the same message comes up - Q - How can I trash this file permanently?

First just try logging out and back in. Whatever is holding on to it may not be running after the logout thus freeing it so you can trash it after logging back in.
You might also try Trash It!
Lastly, look at the following for suggestions:
The X Lab: Solving Trash Problems

On my MacBook with Lion Safari does start, does not react immediately after trying to open it. Installing a new Safari does not help. Removing parts of Safari in the Library did not help. Where can I find and remove all components (LastSession ...)?

How can I reset Safari with all components? On my MacBook with Lion, Safari does not start, does not react immediately after trying to open it. Installing a new Safari does not help. Removing parts of Safari in the Library does not help. Where can I find and remove all components as LastSession and TopSites?

The only way to reinstall Safari on a Mac running v10.7 Lion is to restore OS X using OS X Recovery
Instead of restoring OS X in order to reinstall Safari, try troubleshooting extensions.
From the Safari menu bar click Safari > Preferences then select the Extensions tab. Turn that OFF, quit and relaunch Safari to test.
If that helped, turn one extension on then quit and relaunch Safari to test until you find the incompatible extension then click uninstall.
If it's not an extensions issue, try troubleshooting third party plug-ins.
Back to Safari > Preferences. This time select the Security tab. Deselect: Allow plug-ins. Quit and relaunch Safari to test.
If that made a difference, instructions for troubleshooting plugins here.
If it's not an extension or plug-in issue, delete the cache.
Open a Finder window. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder
Type or copy paste the following
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db
Click Go then move the Cache.db file to the Trash.
Quit and relaunch Safari to test.

I have dragged 2 files to the trash bin but I cannot delete them from the trash bin. It keeps telling me these files are in use when they are not. How do I delete these files? One is a txt file and the other is an xls file

I have dragged 2 files to the trash bin but I cannot delete them from the trash bin. It keeps telling me these files are in use when they are not. How do I delete these files? One is a txt file and the other is an xls file

From the Finder menu select 'Secure Empty Trash'. If this or the suggestion above doesn't resolve the problem take a look at the various suggestions in this link:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Is it a USB hard drive? USB hard drives have the problem of not giving full speed if they are hooked up on the same bus as keyboards and mice. Double check your profiler to make sure that is not a problem. If it is Firewire, make sure there aren't other firewire devices in use at the same time. I recommend not only keeping a Time Machine backup, but also a clone, and if you do use Time Machine, to make sure the Time Machine drive or partition is at least twice the size of the original drive.

I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then onl

I have moved old Back Up files from my external hard drive to the trash and as the Trash previews the files, i.e. counts them (over 850,000 files) it then begins to delete but then stops. Is it possible to move the files out of the Trash file and then only delete a small amount at one time?

See
Deleting backups via the Finder on Lion 10.7.x or later:
http://pondini.org/TM/12.html
Hold option (alt) while emptying the Trash.
See also
http://pondini.org/TM/E6.html
Message was edited by: WZZZ

I am trying to open space in my macbook hard drive, so I deleted files and after emptying the trash bin the amount of Gigs didn't increase, why? Where can I go and delete those files?

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