OS X could not install on this disk. Not enough disk space

Question

Hi,
Disclamer here is that I am completely new to the Mac world after having used purely Windows for the last 15 odd years so sory for any silly mistakes
I tried to do an upgrade on my Mac Book Air but am running into a really annoying issue am hoped that someone would be able to give me some much needed help.
I downloaded Mavericks from the app store with no issues. I then tried to do the upgrade and I get to the OS X installer screen, were I chose my language then hit next. I then select the harddrive to install on press install. I then get to the Installing X screen and status says Installing OXS on the disk "Macintosh HD"
After a few seconds I get a message saying "OS X could not install on this disk. There is not enough space on this disk to install the selected items. Deselect at least 1.16 GB and try again"
I appreciate that I need to delete some files but how can I get get to the files in order to delete them as, as soon as I resart the PC I get caught in the same loop
Manu thanks for taking the time to look at this and for your help

Answer 1

If you cannot get into your Mac at all, if you MacBook Air is still under AppleCare, you can purchase an external hard drive to connect up  to your MacBook Air (MBA), bring both the drive and your Mac in an Appe Store or Apple Auhtorized reseller/repair center so Apple techs can install a bootable copy of OS X 10.9 Mavericks onto the external drive where you can boot to that drive from your MBA and access your MBA's internal hard drive and start cleaning off and archiving data.
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 iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
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.
Delete any other mail in your Junk folders. Also, look through your Sent Mail to see if there is anything that can be deleted.
Other things you can do to gain space.
Once you have around 15 GBs regained, do a search, download and install OmniDisk Sweeper.
This app will help you locate files that you can move/archive and/or delete from your system.
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.
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!