Reinstalling OS X 10.6.8 and Migrating Data

Question

My MacBook Pro's HD is running very low on space (<10GB). I don't have any money to upgrade to a bigger HD and now my apps (e.g. iPhoto '11 & Aperture 3) are starting to not work properly. I've repaired both permissions and libraries for each via Disk Utility and holiding down alt + cmd when starting each app. iPhoto crashes while importing a photo and Aperture gets stuck loading assets. This only happens, however, when I use my main personal account on my laptop. When trying it through my Guest Account the problems do not occur.
Does anyone know why this is happening and if there is a fix to this?
I took it to the Apple Store and after running a few tests, I was told that the best thing for me to do would be to create a new account and then transfer things over.
I've tried reinstalling iPhoto but to no avail. With Aperture 3, I have my serial number but I lost my disc when I moved into my new apartment. I have all my stuff backed up on Time Machine and I even have a clone of my HD via SuperDuper! disk cloner. My concern is that my iPhoto & Aperture backups are also corrupted.
Ultimately, if I can't figure out why this is happening, I feel that my only solution would be to reinstall OS X and start with a fresh slate.
Can anyone suggest any alternative methods or solutions that I may not have tried?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to do some serious house cleaning by dumping stuff you no longer need and/or want.
Empty the trash!
Open up your application folder & go through all your apps.  Trash all the apps you no longer want and/or use.
An easier way to do this is to open the Application folder in list view & press the [b]Command+j[/b] keys.
In the the dialog that appears, click the "This Window Only" button & the "Calculate All Sizes" check box. Wait a bit until your file & folder sizes have all been calculated, then click the "Size" column to sort your apps from the fattest to the most anorexic.
Get rid of all your photo files you don't want and/or need.  Same goes for those pics off the websites you downloaded (gifs, jpegs, etc.).
Get rid of all your music files you no longer listen too.  Especially, if you already have the actual CDs and/or DVDs or you can later redownload from a website.
Use Spotlight to make sure you got rid of everything.  You can even trash directly from Spotlight!
Drag what you don't want and/or need to the trash.  Better yet, download this neat little shareware app *demo* called AppZapper.  It basically does all the work for you by not only trashing the apps but the apps preference files, caches & all its associated files.
Another software that does the above is AppDelete.  Best of all this software is *free*!
Burn what you want and/or need onto CDs or DVDs.
Not everyone has the  luxury of purchasing an external HD and/or a .Mac account to store their "stuff, junk, music & photos".
You can check with your ISP to see if they offer *free* storage space.  Most if not all do now-a-days.  I store all 5000+ of my music (mp3s) files & 500+ music videos in my ISP storage bin. There are thousands if not millions of *free* storage facilities on the web also.  Use your favorite search engine, Google &/or MacGoogle to search them out as they come in different storage sizes to fit your needs & wants.
Check for duplicate fonts.
Applications>Font Book
Select “All Fonts”
If you see any “black dots” next to any fonts this mean you have duplicates and/or multiple versions of these fonts.
To clean this up, select a “black dotted” font or the Apple + *click* to select multiple dotted fonts;
Edit>Resolve>Duplicates.
What the above does is turns off the duplicates & multiple version fonts.  Not delete them.
More than likely the “extras” were installed by other programs and/or other users.
Clear out font caches
Use http://www.jamapi.com/pr/fnFontNuke.  It does all the work for you.  And, best of all it’s *FREE*.
Printer Drivers
Get rid of all the printer drivers you don’t need & use except the ones for your *current* printer(s)/scanner(s).
HD>Library>Printers Folder
If you accidently threw something out that you needed for your printer/scanner it can be easily obtained from the manufacturer’s website and/or from the CD that came w/the printer/scanner.
Garage Band
Has about 1GB of loops stored.  Get rid of some some them.  You surely don’t use, like and/or need them all.
HD>Library>Audio/Apple Loops>Apple>Apple Loops For GarageBand
Or just get rid of the Garage Band app altogether if you don’t use it.
Get rid of extra languages
Strip your computer down to your “native” tongue. You can do this with a *FREE* utility called http://monolingual.sourceforge.netMonolingual.  Another app that apparently does all the work for you.  I’ve never used it.  However, a lot of users here swear by & recommend it highly. However, there is a warning for *native English speakers*.  Make sure you keep BOTH English and English (United States).
Other Resources:
Where  did  my  Disk  Space  go?
Slimming your hard drive
Seven ways to free up drive space
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.
FreeSpace cost $.99 -  FreeSpace shows you how much space is available on all local, connected, and network drives with a single click.
Rule of thumb: You should never let your hard drive get to where you have only 10-15% of space left.