Shrinking Hard Drive

I've just moved from PC to Mac and have had my Intel iMac (15 inch, 160 GB)about a month. I have two external USB drives (250 Gig and 120 Gig) for data storage and have been using the Mac for video editing (using iMovie). When I start a new edit, I save the edit project to the 250 Gb external HD and then import footage into that project. When the edit is complete, I archive to the external 120 Gb drive, clear the project off the 250 Gb HD and am not aware of storing anything on the internal HD.
I've noticed that my internal HD has gone from almost 100 Gig of free space to just under 70 Gig of free space in one month. I have nothing in the trash and have not loaded any new programs in this time.
Where has 30 Gb of my internal HD gone? What makes me suspicious is that this would be about the size of the video files I've been importing into iMovie that then showed up on my external 250 Gb HD.
Is it possible that I have video data stored on the internal HD that I do not know about? If so, how do I get rid of it?

Hello,
I would suspect that you have not fully deleted all of the original project files.
Look in your "Username" --> Movies folder and see if there are any remaining files that you didn't know about. And, check their sizes.
This folder should be at:
Hard Drive --> Users --> "Your Username" --> Movies
Now, if the space is not being lost there, then you can see where the space has gone by using a utility such as this one:
http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/
It will allow you to see how much space each folder on your computer is using. It starts-out listing the full drive, and shows branches with their respective sizes listed that you can navigate through to see where your space has gone.
It's quite simple, and very helpful in these cases.
I hope this helps.

Similar Messages

Incredible Shrinking Hard Drive - Where's it all going?

OK. Here is something i have never experienced or heard about.
This afternoon i was playing NWN2 (btw, terrible game, avoid). And a Finder message appears that my Statup disk was running out space. which was odd, as of this AM, i had 98GB available.
I sat and watched it go to 0k...
I restarted, and trashed a few things in my Trash Can and i went from 0k to 18.07GB, and it stopped reducing available space.
Still odd...
Disk Utility reports 232.0GB capacity, and 214.0GB used and a clean bill of health.
I added up the calculated sizes of the 4 top level folders on the HDD:
User: 92.72GB
Applications: 28.36GB
Library: 12.87GB
System: 4.03GB
total used according to THOSE numbers should be approx 138.0GB, that number corresponds to my morning number of 98GB, i am missing 80GB of space.
What the heck is happening?
I installed MacTuneUp this afternoon, played around with it for 5mins, before realizing it was a waste of money, but really didn't do anything.
where'd my Hard Drive go? i want it back!
there has to be a huge invisible file that something must have created. how do i find it and kill it? I am using an iMac Intel 10.5.2
Message was edited by: Erin Waddington

You can try flushing the system cache, although if you're missing GBs of space, chances are that's not the problem (my system cache usually goes nowhere above 100MB). Here's how to do it if you want to try:
In terminal, type the following lines:
cd ~/Library/Caches
rm -rf *
cd /Library/Caches
rm -rf *
When you try the second rm command, it'll ask you to enter the sudo password, as you're accessing root-level data. It's a safe procedure, though; I do it on my system all the time (if you don't believe me, call Apple Support...they're the ones who told me it was safe). Be careful not to do anything other than that though or you could screw some things up.
Also, while this is safe, on a related note, be particularly wary when anyone tells you to do rm -rf * on any directory that doesn't begin with ~.

Partitioning hard drive(Shrink Local Disk C:\)

my hard drive has a usable memory of 461 GB which had no partitions. during shrinking volume of C drive I could not shrink it below 250 gb nearly. I want to allocate 100 gb only to C drive. I am unable to do with Ease us partition manager too. Please
suggest me a way

Hello,
The TechNet Wiki Forum is a place for the TechNet Wiki Community to engage, question, organize, debate, help, influence and foster the TechNet Wiki content, platform and Community.
Please note that this forum exists to discuss TechNet Wiki as a technology/application.
As it's off-topic here, I am moving the question to the
Where is the forum for... forum.
Karl
When you see answers and helpful posts, please click Vote As Helpful, Propose As Answer, and/or Mark As Answer.
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My macbook pro's hard drive space is constantly shrinking...is it a virus?

My hard drive space went from 20 GB remaining to 15.6 GB remaining in less than a day and it's constantly declining without adding any new files or programs. I don't know what's causing it! Please Help!

See Where did my Disk Space go?

My hard drive is shrinking - why

so for the past few months my hard drive has been at 15.43 GB, becuase i bought an extrneal drive and have been saving things to it. Yesterday I woke up my computer and saw a "start up disks full" message. I know it needs about 10% of my hard drive space which 15 gigs clearly covers...
i checked my hard drive space and it said zero KB... yes zero KB. so i may have thought it was an oversight on my part... so i deleted some photos and some tunes and useless stuff. freeing up approxamately 8 gigs. all was good. then i started to work on photoshop and illustrator and all of a sudden "start up disks full" . its telling me i only have 200 megs in my hard drive. and on top of this it is counting down.
someone help before i reach zero.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
Use a program called Whatsize to see what the larger files are that are taking up disk space. You can download it from http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/index.php . Sometimes disk space surprises are caused by backups to external drives that are interrupted, leaving a huge file on the disk.

We are puzzled as to why we are having hard drive memory leakage. Tends to shrink with usage.Should we replace the hard drive? rive lea

According to the get info on the imac hd icon we have used 249.7 out of a possible 250 gb of hardrive. We have deleted some file, caches, but still face the shrinkage which occurs with usage. It may rise to 320 MB but with use fall to 10mb. Is there anything we can do or replace the hard drive?

The 'shrinkage' is due to the system using HD space as virtual memory. That is the reason why you should always leave a good chunk of disk space available for the system to use (depending on how much RAM you have and what sort of work you're using it for, that could be anything from 5 - 20GB or more).
Nothing wrong with the drive itself, you just need to offload some stuff to an external drive to free up enough space for the system to work.
Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
How to free up my disk space:
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html

Cannot Install OS 8.1 on new hard drive, 233 G3 Powerbook

Ok, so here's the deal.
I have an old Powerbook G3 Wallstreet. 233 Mhz 13" screen.
I recently ran into a problem where I booted up, and the hard drive (original 2GB) was erased. Completely reinstalled, and as soon as it rebooted after the install, the hard drive was empty again. Weird.
So, I decide to reinstall OS8 on a new hard drive. I have an older 20 GB drive from a compaq Armada M700, which I had replaced with a newer 120 GB drive, so I used that in the Powerbook.
Anyway, I've tried lots of things. Fully empty nonpartitioned drive, single 8GB partition by using MacDisk in windows, multiple 8GB partions, what have you. Disk Setup does not see any hard drive I place in the powerbook. I tried both the 120 and the 20 GB.
Any suggestions? I only have a Windows machine to work with, as the G3 is my only Mac. (Well, I have a graphite iMac, but it's suffering from the screen shrinking/power down problem common to those units, so I can't really do anything with it.)

ShatteredOne,
When you have installed the OS and restarted, did you get the blinking '?' alternating with a folder? If so, try resetting the PRAM to possibly correct this issue.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Will the Wallstreet boot to the MacOS 8.1 CD? If so, try Drive Setup on the 8.1 CD again after resetting the PRAM.
The original Wallstreet shipped with a special OS 8.1 CD (green label) since the retail MacOS 8.1 CD will not have the necessary Powerbook G3 enabler file.
You do not have to partition the HD, but just make sure you are have formatted as HFS Extended although HFS Standard will work. However, on a large drive like the 120GB, you will have a lot of wasted space due to the block size.
If still having problems, install the original 2GB HD > boot to the 8.1 CD > open the utilities folder on the CD > Drive Setup and select 'zero all data' when you initialize; now run the Test Disk test and see if it passes. If it fails, zero/test one more time.

How difficult would it be to replace my 250 gb hard drive with a 500 gb hd?

Would it be something that I could do on my own or would I need to take my iMac to the Apple store or other authorized reseller to have upgraded? Any suggested posts, Apple or other, for instructions? What kind of drive would I need to get and what brand would you suggest?
Thanks much!

Hello,
Starting with the iSight version of the G5, Apple redesigned the entire machine in a way that it is now major surgery to replace the hard drive.
It is possible for the end-user to do it. But, the end-user needs to be comfortable with opening the case, and literally removing every part inside the computer to perform the task.
If you want to see what's ahead of you, take a look at these pictures for an idea of what disassembly will be like:
http://www.kodawarisan.com/imacintel/imacintel001.html
Of course, that doesn't show you the method to get everything taken apart. But, it shows you what is in your way.
You can find a large file containing a disassembly guide here:
http://www.baconeggs.co.uk/manuals/index.htm
Understand that you will clearly void your warranty by performing these tasks, and that is a risk you need to be prepared to take.
If you are not comfortable with that, you need to take the machine to an authorized service provider for servicing / upgrading.
As for drives, you need a Serial-ATA (SATA) hard drive. It should be a 7200 R.P.M. drive with at least 8 MB of Cache memory built-in. And, it should be labeled as SATA-150 or SATA-300. Either will work, but you will only get the performance of the SATA-150 drive either way (the 300 will slow to 150 to communicate with your system).
As for brand, I would recommend Western Digital or Seagate. Both are great companies with excellent warranties. Be sure to buy a retail boxed hard drive if you want a warranty. The OEM drives have a 1 year warranty, but that cannot be claimed by an end-user (it is only honored for legitimate OEM system builders).
Retail drives will be very obvious. They'll come in a colorful retail box, and be shrink-wrapped. They'll come with a 3 to 5 year warranty, and the consumer / end-user can claim that warranty directly if needed.
The majority of the hard drives sold in small shops and on the Internet are OEM drives. If one of those fails, the manufacturer will direct you to go to the OEM who sold it to you for replacement. So, basically they are as is if you buy them as a single component. They are only intended to be sold as part of a complete computer or external hard drive package. In that arrangement, the company who produced the finished package would provide their own warranty, and any claims would be between them and the manufacturer.
So, know what you are buying.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

Windows XP Pro doesn't recognize new hard drive on T61 thnkpad

Hard drive: 160GB 7200 RPM SATA
                    The Lenovo part number for the new hard drive on my invoice is: 41N5737
                    However, the sticker on the hard drive itself has this Lenovo part number: 42T1057
                    It is made by Hitachi.
Thinkpad: T61 (8891-CTO)
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 (newly purchased, shrink-wrapped)
This thinkpad had Vista Home on it. I bought the new hard drive for the purpose of loading a just-purchased copy of Windows XP Pro SP2 on it (. After installing the new hard drive:
1. I turned on the machne and inserted the Windows XP CD.
2. Files from the CD (drivers, etc.) started being loaded (into memory, I guess).
3. Then got a prompt to select whether I'd like to install a new version of XP or restore an existing version.
4. I selected Install a new version.
5. Then I got a message saying Windows could not find a hard drive on my machine.
6. Then I restarted, and interrupted the restart to look at the BIOS config settings
7. I found the hard drive test function, and started the hard drive test.
8. It took a while, but the hard drive test was successful. So hard drive is OK, and the BIOS is aware of it.
How can I make Windows XP aware of my new hard drive?
Thanks for any help....
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Tdc3, welcome to the forum,
change the BIOS settings in Config > SATA to Compatibility Mode from AHCI.
Andy ______________________________________
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DVD from hard drive

How can I play DVD that I rip with DVD Shrink and that now I have on an external hard drive on my macbook
Please advise
Thanks in advance

Did you try DVD player. It comes on the Mac. It will play the video_ts folder just like you had it on a dvd. I store certain favorite movies on my external hard drive in this format. That way I can watch them on my computer without the physical dvd in and get the same quality.
Once they get converted to .avi or other format then you lose some of the resolution. I do this for movies I am going to watch on my iPod. I usually have two version of my favorites on my hard drive.
The DVD ripped version and the iPod version. With a large external drive I don't care that each ripped movie is 4 gig or so in size.
If you use the dvd player do not try and open the folder that has the movies name. It will come back with an error. Open the sub-folder called video_ts. Then it will work correctly.
Mort

Questions Re: Partitioning External Hard Drive

I need to free up some space on my MacBook Pro, but first I need to reorganize my external hard drive. It's presently divided into five partitions, as follows:
Mac - Mac OS (Extended Journaled) - 100 GB
Mac 2 - Mac OS (Extended Journaled) - 115.76 GB
Media - Mac OS Extended - 100 GB
Websites - Mac OS Extended - 50 GB
PC - MS-DOS (FAT) - 100 GB
I use the first two for cloning my hard drive, the next two for storing images, videos and websites, and the last one is reserved for files I copied from the PC I abandoned when I bought my Mac.
In fact, the last partition (PC) has about 80 GB available, so I'd like to take 75 GB and redistribute it. I'd like to wind up with something like this:
Mac - 100
Mac 2 - 145
Media - 150
Websites - 50
PC - 25
In other words, I want to add more capacity to the partitions Mac 2 and Media.
First question: Is there a way to shrink PC from 100 GB to 25 GB without erasing the data it contains, then expand Mac 2 and Media without destroying the data they contain?
If not, there's another possible solution. My last attempt to clone my hard drive failed, so I erased Mac 2; it's empty.
So could I reformat it as MS-DOS, resize it to 25 GB, then copy all my files from PC to Mac 2, then either reformat and enlarge PC or delete it and create a new partition?
When I open Disk Utilties and click on my external hard drive, I can then click on each partition and see its stats. But I don't see any way to resize any particular partition. At the top of the panel it says Volume Scheme, below which it lists Current, followed by other partition schemes (3, 4, 5, etc.). However, I assume that clicking any of these would erase all my data.
So can anyone suggest a way to reorganize my external hard drive without losing all my data?
Thanks.

All the commands remain grayed out when I click on various partitions. Maybe it's because I'm actually booted up on my external hard drive. I deleted several GB of files from my internal hard drive, but it still won't boot up. So it looks like I have a technical problem, and I'll have to visit my local Apple store. After I get it fixed, I'll take another look at re-partitioning my external hard drive.
Thanks.

MSSQL - Backup to external hard drive failed

Hi gurus,
I am tryin to backup a database using MSSQL2005 Studio to an external hard drive. but i couldn't execute the backup to my external hard drive which is USB. I've checked the error log file in MSsql . I have pasted the following error message below. I done some research and few suggested about the permission or file system could be the issue. I am not sure how to change it. I'm still beginner in MSSQL. Please guide me through to resolve this issue.
BackupDiskFile::OpenMedia: Backup device 'G:\MSSQL\backup' failed to open. Operating system error 2(The system cannot find the file specified.).
2009-11-24 14:39:11.41 spid52 Error: 18204, Severity: 16, State: 1.

Hi Ram,
As quick resolution for your issue, please follow below instructinos.
Get into Enterprise manager
Right click on the database name.
Select Tasks -> Shrink -> Database
Then click OK!
As long term plan, please refer below link that refered when i was settingup backup stragy for my system.
http://www.sql-server-performance.com/articles/dba/creating_backup_jobs_p1.aspx
I hope this will reduce a significatly and gains you free space.
Regards
Sekhar
Edited by: sekhar on Nov 24, 2009 8:25 AM
Edited by: sekhar on Nov 24, 2009 8:27 AM

Can anyone help with clearing space on my Mac Mini, it says the hard drive is full and runs slowly.

Please help, we got the Mac Mini from a family member so it may have his stuff on it but no longer required, we have only put a smal amount of data on it so don't believe we have over filled it. I backed up to a hard drive all photos etc as I thought it may be them filling it, now I cannot even scan a document to it. Is there any way to Defrag it as you can normally do to a windows system as well as either declutter it or restore the whole thing.
Best Regards
Smithy

The first thing to do with a second-hand computer is to erase the internal drive and install a clean copy of OS X. You — not the previous owner — must do that. How you do it depends on the model, and on whether you already own another Mac. If you're not sure of the model, enter the serial number on this page. Then find the model on this page to see what OS version was originally installed.
1. You don't own another Mac.
If the machine shipped with OS X 10.4 or 10.5, you need a boxed and shrink-wrapped retail Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) installation disc from the Apple Store or a reputable reseller — not from eBay or anything of the kind. If the machine has less than 1 GB of memory, you'll need to add more in order to install 10.6. Preferably, install as much memory as it can take, according to the technical specifications.
If the machine shipped with OS X 10.6, you need the installation media that came with it: gray installation discs, or a USB flash drive for some MacBook Air models. For early MBA models, you may need a USB optical drive or Remote Disc. You should have received the media from the previous owner, but if you didn't, order replacements from Apple. A retail disc, or the gray discs from another model, will not work.
To boot from an optical disc or a flash drive, insert it, then reboot and hold down the C key at the startup chime. Release the key when you see the gray Apple logo on the screen.
If the machine shipped with OS X 10.7 or later, you don't need media. It should boot into Internet Recovery mode when you hold down the key combination option-command-R at the startup chime. Release the keys when you see a spinning globe.
2. You do own another Mac.
If you already own another Mac that was upgraded in the App Store to the version of OS X that you want to install, and if the new Mac is compatible with it, then you can install it. Use Recovery Disk Assistant to create a bootable USB device and boot the new Mac from it by holding down the C key at the startup chime. Alternatively, if you have a Time Machine backup of OS X 10.7.3 or later on an external hard drive (not a Time Capsule or other network device), you can boot from that by holding down the option key and selecting it from the row of icons that appears. Note that if your other Mac was never upgraded in the App Store, you can't use this method.
Once booted in Recovery, launch Disk Utility and select the icon of the internal drive — not any of the volume icons nested beneath it. In the Partition tab, select the default options: a GUID partition table with one data volume in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. This operation will permanently remove all existing data on the drive.
After partitioning, quit Disk Utility and run the OS X Installer. You will need the Apple ID and password that you used to upgrade. When the installation is done, the system will automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant, which will prompt you to transfer the data from another Mac, its backups, or from a Windows computer. If you have any data to transfer, this is usually the best time to do it.
Then run Software Update and install all available system updates from Apple. To upgrade to a major version of OS X newer than 10.6, get it from the Mac App Store. Note that you can't keep an upgraded version that was installed by the previous owner. He or she can't legally transfer it to you, and without the Apple ID you won't be able to update it in Software Update or reinstall, if that becomes necessary. The same goes for any App Store products that the previous owner installed — you have to repurchase them.
If the previous owner "accepted" the bundled iLife applications (iPhoto, iMovie, and Garage Band) in the App Store so that he or she could update them, then they're linked to that Apple ID and you won't be able to download them without buying them. Reportedly, Mac App Store Customer Service has sometimes issued redemption codes for these apps to second owners who asked.
If the previous owner didn't deauthorize the computer in the iTunes Store under his Apple ID, you wont be able to authorize it immediately under your ID. In that case, you'll either have to wait up to 90 days or contact iTunes Support.

Hard drive "unallocated" - trying to get it back

Please advise if "hardware" is not the right category for this issue.
I have a Pavilion dv2660se running Vista 32bit Home Premium. It all started with a system freeze over a week ago. When attempting to reboot, the system would not come up - all attempts to repair or restore to a previous point failed. I used my recovery disks to reinstall the system, but this failed. So, after "chatting" with HP support, I ordered a new set of recovery disks. When they arrived, I started the system restore with them. After about 4 hours of loading software, the system seemed to get into an infinite loop of staying up for about 10 seconds then rebooting. I was able to restart in Safe mode and ultimately in Selective Startup Mode with the installation program disabled so that I could look around.
I realized once I was in Disk Management that the C drive was showing only a total of 25GB (out of a 250GB drive), with only 556MB free. There were no other drives or partitions shown. The remaining 209GB showed as "unallocated" and I could not figure out a way to access it. Just for kicks, I ran the hard drive diagnostics, and it showed everything as passing.
So, I got on "chat" again with HP support. After some back and forth, I asked if I needed to reformat the entire drive. They said yes, and had me run the recovery disk again to do that. Well, there is no option for formatting the entire drive on the recovery disk, so it is going back through the restore process again until it gets to a point where I can look at things again. And Chat said to get back with them at that point.
I'm not sure I want to go there again! Does anyone have suggestions for next steps once the system gets back to a point where I can access it? Appreciate any advice!
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Got it fixed! I took a chance and got back on chat, this time with an agent who seemed to understand my problem. He took me through a series of steps Shrink Volumes and Extend Volumes that then showed my total hard drive. So, other than now having to go through the restore process again, I should be good!

External Hard Drive - Partition or Not?

Ok, I have looked everywhere for the answer and everyone has a different opinion. So, I'd like to get opinions on my situation because the Discussions have always been the most helpful.
I recently had a post about whether I should upgrade my Powerbook's hard drive or just get an external Firewire drive to transport files here and there. In the end, I decided to get a 400GB internal drive (for storage) and bought an enclosure for it, since my hard drives only seem to be shrinking. I got an amazing price so I went for it - the other thing will just have to wait. I decided to keep my iPhoto Library on it, backup of important files (also burned to cds)... you get the point.
Up until now, I have only been backing up my user folder because I was only interested in keeping those files. After visiting the Discussions, I've learned a lot (what can I say, I'm young and I know my way around a computer, but I still have A LOT MORE to learn). Ok, so now I guess it's time to make a bootable copy of my hard drive (at least the Mini, because that's where all of the files are).
To the point... Should I partition my 400GB drive into 2 sections: one for a backup and one for all the other storage? Can I boot from this if my Mini's hard drive fails? Or is it best to leave the 400GB as storage and get an 80GB solely for bootable backup?
The problem is I don't have a lot of money to spend on this. I was looking forward to getting the new 30GB iPod (for music and files), but protecting my files is more important. There are so many options, but they are expensive options (to me, at least). I would be so grateful if anyone has suggestions on the best way to go about this. Thank you!!
12" Powerbook G4, Intel Mac Mini, iPod Nano Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Personally I would choose no. 2 primarily because I like to keep backups separate from regular working drives to minimise risks of mishaps, problems, theft etc.
If something happens to the single 400GB drive you could, potentially, lose both stored data as well as the backup. Ultimately it might cost more to have two drives but when it comes to backups I prefer not to cut too many corners.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Shrinking Hard Drive

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