Indexing is filling up my start-up disk

Hello All, This morning when I turned on my computer I went to repair permissions, it was acting up a little last night, and I had noticed that my hard disk was almost FULL!!! YIKES....
I repaired Permissions---and it took a looooong time, so I opened Activity monitor and found mds using @80% of the CPU and mdsync and mdimport chewing up most of the rest...basically the three of them using all they could get. I am assuming, that yesterday at some point, it had a hang and just kept writing to the drive. I looked a Dr. Smokes posts about disabling Spotlight but it only seems to be about externals....How do I stop it? Or re-boot it?

Thanks, but it resumed the heavy usage again....I know that re-indexing is expected to use alot, however I did the same w/anothe mac..@ the same MP speed and disk size and that indexed normally....still have a prob.....
I went back and found a download from yesterday...it was a data base and I no longer needed it so I went to delete it and there were over 3 million items to be deleted...this is my problem!!!! But because of the indexing that it is only deleting 2-8 items per minute. I used your advice and moved all the drives to Privacy and it is deleting much faster..
My next question is after the deleting is finished, should I zero out the free space and if I do this w/o indexing will that screw up the hierarchy for the other items on the drive?

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Importing iPhone photos directly to external HD - filling up Start-up disk

I'm stumped - I've moved my iPhoto library to my external drive (Time Capsule) cause my start-up drive on the laptop is almost full. No problems there - when I open iPhoto all my pics load, everything is cool.
However, when I'm trying to upload new photos or videos from my iPhone to iPhoto, it's filling up my start-up disk - I can literally see the 'available space' on my internal HD go down as it's uploading the new photos. Why is this? Where are these photos being copied locally that it's taking up space? Shouldn't it just be going directly to the external HD?
I've searched my internal HD looking for a duplicate iPhoto library or even duplicate photos, but can't find anything.
What am I missing?!?

1 - you can not colocate the Time Machine backup and your iPhoto library (or any other dynamic file)on the same volume because TM will continue to grow the backup until it fills the volume and your dynamic file will not work any longer
2 - to move the iPhoto library to an external drive it must be formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto and point to the new location - fully test it and then you can delete the old iPhoto library - I suggest testing one more time before emptying the trash
LN

Start up disk full and I don't know how to look at what is filling it up

Hi, I have 2 questions.
My start up disk is full and I deleted a whole bunch of stuff and it didn't help. How can I see what is taking up all the space? I only have stuff in Documents (nothing in pictures, movies, desktop) and it isn't alot of stuff. I have lots of applications but I assume that has nothing to do with the start up disk.
Second question. Can I use a generic cable to connect my laptop to my Apple Studio monitor or do I need the apple one?

Hi
First, and forgive me if it's obvious, but empty the trash.
Second, if you have some space left (ie, not literally 0 MB!), download and install OmniDiskSweeper. It will scan your drive and tell you where the large files are. The Applications folder is indeed part of the startup disk, so you could be taking up room there, but it's likelier to be either forgotten user files or possibly abnormally large log files resulting from a system problem.
If you have either GarageBand or iDVD, and don't use them, you can delete their large support files (themes for iDVD, audio loops for GarageBand). The GarageBand files are in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand (about 2GB), and the iDVD files are in /Library/Application Support/iDVD (about 1GB).
Matt
Matt

My brand new macbook pro shows shows that my had drive is filled with 481 gb of other!!! mac keeps showing me that my start up disk is full. what can other be???

mac keeps showing me that my start up disk is full. what can other be???

Where did my Disk Space go?
Slimming your hard drive
OmniDiskSweeper is a free utility that checks HD space.
FreeSpace cost $1 or is a free utility that checks HD space.
SpaceControl is a free utility that checks HD space.

Start up disk full

I keep getting a message that my start up disk is full. I have been deleting from my audio and movies but can't figure out what constitutes as "Other". Help?

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the 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 a photo or iTunes library will corrupt the library. Changes to such a 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.
Install the app 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.
For ODS:
security execute-with-privileges /A*/OmniDiskSweeper.app/*/M*/* 2>&-
For GP:
security execute-with-privileges /A*/GrandPerspective.app/*/M*/* 2>&-
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 and start typing the name.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password.
The application window will open behind other open windows. When you scan a volume, the window will eventually show 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.

MacBook Pro start up disk full. Will not pass the grey screen

Hi
I didn't realized how close I was to fill the start up disk and now my mac pro will not boot.
I have read many entries and try a few things but nothing has worked.
I have the late 2011 MacBook Pro running Mavericks 10.9
Of the 499.25 GB I only have 176.1 MB available.
I tried reinstalling the OS X but I don't have enough space to do it.
On the disk utility I selected the volume Macintosh HD disk and clicked on Verify Disk. After 10 minutes the message read: The Volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
I also clicked on Repair Disk and after another 10 minutes the message read: Volume repair complete.
Updating book support partitions for the volume as required.
At this point I don't know what else to do.
Ideally I would like to be able to access my hard drive to delete the junk I don't need and safe the things I need.
I don't want to loose my files and have to format the whole thing.
Is the a way to save my files?
Thank for all the help.

Do what arthur suggested but have an external HD on hand, formatted OS X Extended (journaled) to move files from your MBP to it so as to clear out some free space.
It's recommended that a minimum of 10-15 GB of free space be maintained for optimal system and application performance. If you use iDVD make that a minimum of 20-25 GB free space.
OT

HT201364 I am unable to install OS X Mavericks on my macbook air 13" it asks me to remove items from my start up disk...how do I do that?

How does one remove items in the start up disk....
Thank you

You apparently have filled your boot disk to a point where the remaining space is below Mavericks installation requirements. It is implying that you need to review your login directory for very large files, or folders.
Open a new Finder window. In the left nav, select your short login name. Then change the View to list view. If the Size column arrow is pointing up, click it to down and your folders and files will be listed in descending storage use. The folders with an engraved emblem on them were created by the operating system, so do not remove them. Also, resist removing Apple applications found in /Applications.
Top candidates would be huge iTunes Music or applications content, iPhoto, or video collections. Whatever is taking up your storage will stand out. Generally, you should stay out of your Library folder.

My iPad is filling up my PowerBook hard disk. Where can I find the sync Photo file to delete it ?

Hi
My iPad is filling up my PowerBook hard disk. Where can I find the sync Photo file to delete it ?
Copying over photos via iTunes/iPhoto - there is a back-up file created (I can not turn it off) and it's now filling my PB-Pro.
So I need to find it and trash it and start over.
- Where is it located ?
- What is it's name ?
Yours Bengt W

Thank You
I found my iPhoto library
ctrl-clicked on it and opened package/content
here I found the iPod photo cashe folder
copyed this to a safe hard disk
then deleting it's content
and my memory/free space on boot drive is back
So I hope all's well.
Yours Bengt W

Why does start up disk lose/gain memory?

I keep getting the "Your start up disk is almost full" message.
I delete (+empty trash) or transfer files to an external HD freeing up space (then delete/trash).
Often when I delete files my HD memory decreases! but reappears if I restart. I don't restart regularly preferring to sleep my computer.
Sometimes the HD memory decreases when I haven't downloaded anything.
Any hints please

Hi Stephen!
"13GB HD...try to leave 1GB free...but rapidly fills up."
If you are running Panther 10.3.x with only 1GB or less, of available free space, on a 13GB HD, I fear that may be your problem.
During everyday use, you are crossing the safe threshold.
You need to create additional free space.
Insufficient available space, can cause performance issues, system corruption, and possible loss of data.
Depending on Mac system usage habits, it is a general recommendation, to keep 10% to as much as 20%, of the Total capacity, available at all times.
Review the suggestions, in the documents that I have linked to below.
Authored by Dr Smoke:
Problems From Insufficient RAM And Free Hard Disk Space
Freeing Space On Your Mac OS X Startup Disk
Have you ever run any routine Maintenance procedures, as suggested in the articles linked to below?
Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System Maintenance, authored by Gulliver
Maintaining Mac OS X, authored by Dr Smoke
Is the Mac shutdown overnight, or does it run 24/7?
If you turn the Mac off nightly, the Background Maintenance Tasks, are never run.
These can also be run, using a Third-Party utility, or manually using Terminal, to run the CRON Commands.
I use MacJanitor, when necessary.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN CRON MANUAL COMMANDS
Quit all applications/programs.
Navigate to HD > Applications > Utilities.
Double click on Terminal, to open.
At the prompt, type:
sudo periodic daily
Press Return.
Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
This will execute the daily script that is sheduled to run every night.
When completed, repeat this procedure, but change the command to:
sudo periodic weekly
This one rebuilds a database or two, and usually takes somewhat longer to complete. It is scheduled to run once a week.
Repeat again, with command:
sudo periodic monthly
Or they can all be run in one pass, which is preferable, with this command:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
When the tasks complete, and return to the prompt, you may quit Terminal.
Restart the Mac, and run Repair Permissions.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
ali b

Full start up disk... problem with disk partition.

Hi,
Ive got an original blueberry ibook which an ex, who considered himself some sort of high flying computer buff, decided to fiddle with... In his vast wisdom he deemed that my ibook would run better if he partitioned the start-up disk. The result being a slow running laptop, constant warnings that my start-up disk is full, a keyboard that doesnt function properly, hence missing characters and being unable to use the delete key.
The message that comes up warning about the start-up disk being full says that I need to delete stuff to make room so that it can run properly. Ive tried going into the disk utility thing but it wont allow me to restore the disk back to its original state. I dont know a huge amount about computers but I have tried deleting all programs I dont use and having a good clear out but it hasnt made an ounce of difference.
Does anyone have any idea how to get around this problem? All suggestions appreciated.

Hi dancingdryad
The first thing to check is, have you emptied the trash.
Deleting Applications (programs) should not be necessary, rather the space is more likely being taken up by too many of your documents.
The space has been filled up by your own files, generally called documents, but also includes, videos you have downloaded, photos, music. These are files that you have either created or downloaded and these are the things to move.
So look in your Documents folder, in the iTunes and iPhoto applications, for excess photos and music that you can move onto an external drive, or burn to a CD.
And after trashing something, do empty the trash.
If you have a Previous System Folder on the hard drive, you can trash that as well.
Extra tips from Dr Smokes can be read here:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
happy house cleaning.
regards roam

My start up disk is full on mac book pro, how do I empty it?

My start up disk is full and I need to empty it or remove some data in order to install Daisy Disk, as advise by apple, so i can see whether i need more storage. Can anyone advise how I remove some in order to make space?

Go step by step and test.
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13806
3. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
Local backups
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
4. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.
    iTunes > Preferences > Devices
    Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
5. Re-index Macintosh HD.
    This will take a while. Wait until it is finished.
    System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409
6.Try OmniDiskSweeper. This will give the storage size details of the items.
   https://www.omnigroup.com/more
   Select Macintosh HD and click “Sweep Selected Drive” at the bottom.
   Delete the files you don’t want to keep.
   Be careful. Delete only the files that can be safely deleted.
7. Move iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie media folders to an external drive.
    iTunes
    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201562
    iPhoto
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
    iMovie
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289

My start up disk Macintosh HD is full on my McAir OSX 10.9.4 memory 4GB. I need to clear the disk so that I can update it with the new software IOS 10.9.5 requiring 2.05GB. Need guidance on how to clear space.

My start up disk Macintosh HD is full on my McAir OSX 10.9.4 memory 4GB. I need to clear the disk so that I can update it with the new software IOS 10.9.5 requiring 2.05GB. Need guidance on how to clear space.

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.

Start up disk memory full but can I replace my memory with 1GB disk?

My start up disk memory is full. I have delete a majority of cluttered mess I do not need but I know that I will fill it up fairly soon. I have an external hard drive but how do I put some of my files onto that? If I put it on the hard-drive will I only be able to access it with the hard-drive plugged in?
And I currently have 512MB put into my Powerbook. Can I add in a 1GB memory card into my Powerbook without losing any of my files? And if I will lose my files will the Apple store (where I plan to get 1GB memory put in) put all my files on a disk and then replace it?

You can only use your external drive if it is hooked up, through direct USB/Firewire or through a network.
Adding RAM has no effect on the files you have on your hard drive. I'd suggest, considering how much Apple overcharges for RAM, that you get third party RAM and install it yourself, its not that hard.

START UP DISK AND CANNOT CREATE FILE

hi!
I've read about 10 posts and a million suggestions about cleaning up my start up disk cause it's full but nothing has worked yet... Many also recommened some apps to download to help erase things but, my computer isn't letting me download anything.. the downloads box thing says, "cannot create file" and I'm pretty sure it's saying that because of my start up disk being full.. I don't know much about computers but--- I mean, that makes sense, right? HELP HELP HELP. I've made sure my downloads are set to download to my desktop and yes it has the read/write option thing selected..etc etc.
HELP!!!!

Hello KaylaJ,
You'll need to boot from another hard drive or system disk.
If you have the original disks that came with the machine, stick it in the cd tray, close it and reboot holding c.
Next you'll have to delete or move files to another hard drive, once it's copied over by drag and drop methods, delete the original on your boot drive to free up space.
In fact I would take the precaution of backing up all your user data, iTunes folder, "User"/Library/Mail and "User"/Library/Safari folders. Leaving apps that you have the original install disks/sources and associated passwords.
If you want to take a step further, you might as well erase the boot drive by selecting Disk Utility from the menu (c booted from the System Disk) and chose the option to Erase with Zero. (warning all data will be totally deleted). Come back after lunch and reinstall Tiger fresh, immediatly Software Update until clear and reinstall your apps from original sources (if all possible) and update.
Then hook up the second hard drive and copy only security sensitive files into your User/Home. Leaving the bulk of files on the second drive. This leaves the boot drive rather light (keep under 50% filled) and Mac OS X will perform snappy.
Also because you reinstalled totally, you optimized your boot drive and got rid of old garbage.
Investigate how to clone your now perfect boot drive by visiting Carbon Copy Cloner forums, just in case something happens you can hold option and boot from a external drive.
If this is too much for you, search Apple main page for "Macintosh User Groups" and find a person near you to help you set up a optimized and backup solution.

Start Up Disk Full Error

I continue to get a "Start up disk full" message when I try to use iPhoto or iMovie. It then tells me to delete items, but it does not tell me how to do this.
Can some one walk me through it?
Thanks

Mark,
Evidently, you have filled your hard drive completely. You must get rid of some files. Make some determination as to what you can safely delete, then begin placing files in your trash, and emptying it.
You mention iMovie. DV footage, imported into iMovie, requires about 20 GBs of disk space per hour of footage. This could be the biggest consumer of your disk space. Placing an iMovie project file in the trash, then emptying it, might go a long way toward freeing up some space for you.
If you can't find anything that can be safely deleted, you're going to have to purchase an external hard drive, copy some file to it, then delete them from your internal hard drive. In fact, I recommend you purchase an external drive regardless. You can use it to make backups of your important data, as well as using it to free up disk space.
Scott

Indexing is filling up my start-up disk

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