Missing Disk Space....How to Fix This?

Hi all,
I've got a 60gb Macbook. I'm using Whatsize to figure out what's been eating my hard disk space, but it still doesn't make sense. I'm the only user on my computer, and my home folder says I've used about 43 gigs with about 12 left. Using Whatsize, it calculates my use to be about 21 gigs, which is what I figured it to be, adding up my music, photos, docs, and apps. But on the sidebar of the Whatsize app, it says that I've used 43 gigs in my home folder. So what is eating up the extra 22-ish gigs on my hard disk that my home folder says I'm supposedly using? I was poking around Whatsize and under Macintosh HD-->Users, I found something weird. I've got 2 accounts under the same name ".USER" and "USER". The one without the period before it contains all of my files and docs and stuff (and 21 gigs, exactly what I've been using), while the other one just says "USER.sparseimage" and the sparseimage is 26 gigs! What is the sparseimage and can I delete it? If anyone can help, I'd appreciate this! Thanks!

Hi,
I had the same problem with FileVault (FV) on my MacBook when I deleted a master copy of a iphoto DVD. The cdr file (ca. 5GB) disappeared but the space was still occupied.
What worked for me was simply turning on USE SECURE VIRTUAL MEMORY in the FV preferences (Preference Panel). FV (Mac OS X 10.4.10) requested a restart and then asked me whether I desired a cleanup of my disc.
Confirm FV's cleanup request and let it restart. You should have that missing disc space back afterwards.
Hope this works for you guys also. If you are interested, www.omnigroup.com has a great program to check where your disc space has gone (Disc Sweeper) and I advise to always get the AppleCare. Have had a few macs and not one worked the way it should.

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Hi,
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Go to Solution.

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Note from Moderator: Please update your profile with your correct country location as per the forum rules. Products, options and services vary from market to market. Knowing your location helps us help you.
Message Edited by nonny on 04-19-2008 11:44 AM

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Missing Disk Space....How to Fix This?

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