MacBook disc full message
Help, on startup I get a "startup disk is almost full" message, when I pass this and start up my computer just seems to freeze, it just shows the purple stars/space picture. Nothing else.
I've tried to redraft and boot of a system cd but it always defaults back to my startup login security screen.
Any ideas how I can start up of another cd to delete data.
Startup in Safe Mode then delete data from there.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
Make sure you have a minimum of 15% free disk space.
Similar Messages
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Macbook Air - disc full message even after cleaning
I got the disc full message so I saved everything on to a flash drive and deleted every video, picture, and word document that I've ever created. Also some application I do not use. My computer was acting slower around the time I got the original 'disc full' message. After clearing everything off, including itunes. My computer was still running slow, with long loading times online. I downloaded the new Maverick operating system and my computer is running back at normal speed. However, I can only save a few documents before I get that same 'disc full' message. I checked my 'about this mac' and under storage it says there is a total of 3.3GB free out of 120.47GB.
I'm no computer expert, but shouldnt I have memory at least to save a bunch of documents?
I'm a student and I'm always saving notes, word docs, pictures for power point. I need this extra room asap. flashdrives are nice but I can work more efficient with my flashdrive cooperating.
Can some one please help me out?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 reboot. 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. 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. Reboot and it should go away.
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 (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. 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.
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. -
New memory card installed but getting 'Start up disc full' message?
Running on an old Power Mac G4, 256 MB, I have recently got a new ipod and began filling my itunes when I get a 'start up disc full' message. I've successfully installed another identical 256 MB memory card which the computer is recognizing (now showing 512 MBs of memory) but after downloading another 1 or 2 CDs I'm back to 'start up disc full'. I know I have the correct memory card for my G4 but it isn't allowing me more memory. Any suggestions? Do I have to change something that isn't in my owners manual?
Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
You need more hard drive space. Although replacing the internal with another, larger drive is an option, it is easy to just add another drive. The G4, any model, can use up to 4 internal drives.
Some have size limits, so you need to tell us your G4 model. Use the "About this Mac" in the Apple menu on your desktop, and the following to ID your model:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418
Another option is to buy an external firewire hard drive, so you can backup, and store files on it, freeing up space on your strtup drive. You really should have an external, anyways, so you have a backup, and don't lose any data if there is a problem.
Adding a hard drive is relatively easy. You can find Do It Yourself guides in the following:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=31292 -
I am getting disc full messages on my Mac, unable to empty trash because not enough space, how do I proceed or do I need to increase my 4gig of memory in which case how do I go about this process.
You are confusing RAM (Random Access Memory) with hard drive data storage space.
Your hard drive storage is getting too full if you can't empty your Mac's main trash.
Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
( as you mentioned, you can't empty this as your hard drive is too full.)
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Good Luck! -
Hard disc full message on my macbook pro
I have 391 gb used, and am maxed out. What is the best way to get more space? What can I do besides deleting pictures?
Have a look here...
what-to-do-when-your-hard-drive-is-full.html -
Help - Getting Disc Full message
Hello, hope someone can help here... I have a 13" macbook pro and have been working in a word document. have just tried to save it - but am being given a message that tells me the macintosh hd is full and to try another drive.
I emptied my junk folder and got rid of a few downloads but am completely stuck - and panic-stricken, as its clear my much worked on report isn't saved.
I have plugged in my external hard drive that i do my time machine back up on, but cant see it in my finder.
Please can someone help? How do I clear out a bit of memory? Is there some sort of cache that needs to be emptied regularly... I don;t know what to do and there is no one I can ask - I'm not even sure how to use this forum or if I'm posting in the right place...
Thanks
Ali-bongoFrom Finder menu -> Go -> Go to Folder ...
/private/var/log
Take a look at those different log files - some of them may have grown really huge.
You may free some space by deleting older files. -
I have an iMac G3 running OS10.3, and this last week I have been getting messages that my startup disc is full. I have taken everything off I can, emptied the cache and all trash. The best I can get is 25.2 MB free space, and that will only last for a few hours. How do I get to the startup disc so that I can clean it?
Thanks for suggestions.jltski:
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Unfortunately you do not tell us what model iMac G3 you have, nor the size of your HDD.
The rule of thumb for free space is that you should have at least 15% of disk capacity free. This allows the computer to function efficiently and avoids directory problems, crashes and consequent loss of data.
You have three basic options:
1. You can free as much space as you can. In the article linked by little shoulders there is reference to the utility What Size, which scans your disk and lists what you have on your HDD by size. However, even if you remove a lot of stuff you will end up where you now are before long.
2. A second option is to purchase and use an external Firewire HDD. These come in very large sizes and generally have speeds up to 7200 rpms. You could partition it and use it for your HDD, as well as for other stuff. However, it has the drawback of not being as portable, which, with a desktop computer should not be a problem.
3. The best solution is to purchase and install a new internal HDD. These, too, are available in fairly large sizes and are relatively inexpensive. If you get a 100 or 200 GB HDD it will be a while before you run out of space. You will need a 3.5" IDE/ATA drive, and you can very likely install it yourself. Here is a list of drives from OWC. The Seagate drives are highly recommended and come with a 5 year warranty.
Please do not hesitate to post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius -
When I try to use my iPad2 camera a message appears saying that the disc is full and that I must delete photos or videos. The same error appears when I try to download apps. There are only a dozen photos on my iPad and there are no videos. What could the explanation be for this error message? Any help?
You may have a corrupt file that is eating up all your space. Connect it to iTunes, highlight the name, and in the Summary tab see how much space is taken up. If it is full try Restoring it from your Backup.
-
Compressor fails, disc full message
10.5, Intel dt,
Got 3 small 2gb 10 min movies, QT, 1080i 1440x1080 ( anamorphic ). made a custom preset to simply de-interlace the movies and make them progressive, nothing else. The destination is an internal disc with 179gb free. The boot disc has 10 gb free and I've set compressor's presets to NOT copy files to cluster during processing yet compressor fails the job each time even trying one movie at a time, saying my HD is almost full.
Cant work it out? Any ideas?
PeterIf your system HD has less than 10% free space it could contribute to odd operating issues.
Click on the preset and look at the far left box near the top of the inspector window. How big does it say the file should be? What was this preset made from?
Could the preset you started with be a factor? -
Start up disc full, tried everything I can find, no changes, help?
I posted this somewhere earlier, sorry for repeating, but I can't find it. AFter getting the start up disc full message, I backed up everything on an external hard drive with Time Machine, and additionally, copied everything from iphoto on to the same drive, different partition. I have freed up tons of memory, but no change to the start up disc when I check it in the activity monitor area. I have restarted it a number of times, emptied all trash, and checked the console log for messages. I see lots of "failed to count the number of files in the "/system/library/memory/startupItems": No such directory. Other than that, nothing popped out at me. I also ran the diagnostics for the disc and repaired all permission scripts, (I think that's what it said) no help.
I am grateful for any help, could it be a virus or an error I can't detect?
Thanks,
VeronicaWould that have worked if I had tried it before the "archive and install"? Because that is what I tried next and it didn't work, and I'm just wondering if it didn't work BECAUSE I tried to do the Archive and Install first? Or if it just never would've worked because my hard drive's messed up?
I'm just wondering because after I got the last response, I called Apple Care to see if there was ANYthing else I could do before having to either erase everything or actually haul it down to the Apple store, and it's the Apple care guy who told me to try the Archive and Restore first. So I'm just a bit annoyed if this could've been avoided by simply doing a new install first, if it's the Archive and Install that ruined everything... -
Using PSE-12 on my Mac and got the message 'scratch disc full' I have backup disc attached to computer and tried making this the number 1 disc. I now can't get PSE-12 to open so that I can get back and reverse the order of these discs. What can I do?
Go to your username>library>preferences and delete:
com.adobe.PhotoshopElements.plist
Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 paths
Adobe Photoshop Elemetns 12 settings
and any lockfiles with the same names. That library is hidden in 10.7 and up. To see it, click the Go menu in the finder and hold down the Option key and it will appear below the little house for your user account. While you're in there go to the saved application states folder and delete any for PSE. -
I keep getting the message "macintosh hd disc full" when I try to edit or import video. How can I make room?
You can go to Applications, Utilities, Activiy Monitor to see just how much space is available. To free space you need to remove files that take a lot of space, things like videos, photos, music. Get an external hard drive, OWC http://www.macsales.com has a good selection, and move material off the internal drive.
-
I keep getting a "start up disc is full" message on my iMac (OSX 10.7.3 running leopard). It can't be full the mac is only a few months old - please help - I am not a computer whizz so treat me gently!!
Do you have any external hard drives attached that your system might be booting from? Did you create multiple partitions on your hard drive, one of which may be full? These are a couple of possibilities, and there may be others.
I suggest powering on your system then immediately hold down the option key. Your system should display the system picker screen showing all bootable volumes. Do you see just one boot volume show up?
I also suggest launching the Activity Monitor application that can be found in the Applications/Utilities folder. Click on the 'Disk Usage' option to see how much drive space is available as shown below. You may also want to use the Disk Utility application to verify the hard drive and file permissions. Both of these are options available within the application. -
i have nothing on this macbook air just iPhoto and iTunes and the error startup dic full message keeps coming up and the storage is full of other i don't know what to do.how do i delete all of this?
First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. 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. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your 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.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can 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.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS 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 ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the 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 (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS 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 you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal. -
Photoshop - Scratch & Start Up Disk full messages
Hi all,
I am working on a large image file in Photoshop and as I know that this could cause my Macbook Air to run out of memory space I was saving the file onto my external hard drive. Unfortunately the Start Up Disk and Scratch Disk 'almost full' messages appeared. I saved what I could, closed all my apps/programs and checked out my memory situation on my Mac. I discovered I only have 9.6GB free and 36.14GB is being used by 'Other'. I have only music and iTunes movies on my computer and save all my work onto my external hard drive. I ran Disk Utility and it said there were no errors or anything to fix. I opened finder and selected 'All My Files' and there were 1,000+ of images I had just moved from iPhoto (there were off my iPhone) to my external hard drive. Some were even doubles. So I deleted all of these and ensured my trash was empty.
I do not know how to empty any more off my Mac as I cannot see any more files other than music. Please help, I've looked through lots of forums and found no solution.
Many thanks.Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto or Aperture, both have its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you are an iMovie and/or a Final Cut user, both have its own individual Trash location that needs to be emptied, too!
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.
http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Moving iTunes library
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Moving iPhoto library
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
Moving iMovie projects folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289
Good Luck!
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