Start up drive full

I recently ran into the above error when trying to do a software update. I went out and purchased a 40 Gb drive to use as a slave. I have been moving items to the slave drive to free up space and that has only given me 430.4 Mb free space on the start up. I was advised there is an article here on moving the Itunes library to the slave drive with out messing up the Iphone sync. Also if there is anything about what files necessary for the start up disk and what can me moved to the slave? Could someone direct me to this info? Thank you in advance

Also look at these links.
Where did my disk space go?
http://www.macfixitforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Forum38&Number=770243
Download & use WhatSize described in this link or Disk Inventory X @ http://www.derlien.com/
Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
Amazing Disappearing Drive Space
http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/TigerMisc.html
Increase HD Free Space
http://macosx.com/forums/howto-faqs/275191-how-easily-increase-hd-free-space-lap top.html
How to free up my disk space
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html
 Cheers, Tom

Similar Messages

Start up drive full on 4 week old MBA

Hello,
I received a message ths morning regarding my start up drive being almost full. When I have looked at the breakdown I have around 16GB of photos, music & Apps & 96GB of other. What is this other & where has it come from? Does anyone have any tips about how to find it (without the use of complex programmes).
I have emptied my Trash & the Safari Cache.
Thanks!!

Hi,
I've just run the disc inventory X & I have a couple of odd things
Mail Message @ 79.6 GB 8641 files
Documents @ 8.3GB 80229 files
Do you think this is the time machine back up? I've deleted all my old messages as they've come through & I only have about 3 documents on.
I tried disabling the local back ups, via terminal using the command
sudo tmutil disablelocal
It doesn't seem to have made any difference though (not sure if I used it right??)
Thanks for your help so far.

Start-up drive full - when its not

Yesterday I rebuilt my xserve, with leopard OSx server. I've just got a message saying that the start-up drive is full, and when I get info on the drive, it is showing it as full. However, I've only installed the OS, nothing else! Not only that, when I go and get info on all the folders in the start-up drive, they total to less than 10 gb. I have three 148.42 GB discs, one being the startup and the other two will be for images when I get to it.
Has anyone got any ideas to what is taking up all the room?

Hi
+"Has anyone got any ideas to what is taking up all the room?"+
For lack of any details possibly a runaway log. Won't be the first time. I've seen the Samba log bloat to 200Gb and more for no apparent reason. The Print Service can also hang onto stale print jobs for no apparent reason. On the Server and if you're able to launch Terminal and issue:
sudo du -chxd 1 /
Be patient as it will take some time. If for some reason you can't run the command on the server itself use it via ssh. If that's not possible target disk mode the server to another mac and run the command again making sure you use the appropriate path.
Tony

My 'start up drive' is almost full, and running slow. I transferred all my music to an external drive, but still getting messages. What is the best way to get rid of unneeded files.

I am deleting or burning to CD photos I dont use regularly. What else can I do?
Does a full hard drive and slow machine warrent upgrading to a new one?

I have 13 GB free out of 250GB
That's tight. Rule of thumb for a start up drive - the one inside the Macbook - is to have atleast 15% free at all times.
For getting rid of unnecessary stuff off the internal drive, I suggest you try Omni Disk Sweeper. It will give you a complete inventory of your drive, and purge what you ask it to delete. But be patient when it runs, give it time to do a full sweep.
It's the second one on this page: http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Hard drives are not that expensive. If I were you I would invest in another external drive for your library.

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,
Veronica

Would 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...

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive.
Do you know how I can tell how large each file is taking up and what my 'other' category could be?
thanks

Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
Empty the Trash.
- Start iPhoto.
Empty its trash.
Restart.
Backup:
Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)
For more about backups:
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
Deleting files:
Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.
Additional reference on freeing disk space:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
Offloading files:
Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. This will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.
Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.
Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.
Now both your system disk and your external offload disk will be backed up onto your Time Machine disk.
From: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
To move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:
To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder."Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.thexlab.com/105/ 00000849.html
Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account. https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7689/itunes-library-manager
To move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition:
To move the iPhoto Library folder to a new location, employ the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document from http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506 corresponding to the version of iPhoto you are using. Additional information can be found in iPhoto Help.
Laptop users may want to consider having two iPhoto libraries: a small library of current, favorite photographs on their computer, while their complete library, or archives of older photos are saved on an external hard drive. Utilities such as iPhoto Buddy and iPhoto Library Manager enable you to have multiple iPhoto libraries that you can use with your account.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12175/iphoto-buddy
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7158/iphoto-library-manager
Hardware — Bigger disk/SSD:
OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ . If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare replacing the SSD will void the warranty.

HT4847 On startup my macbookair says start up disk full/delete some files. When I look at storage disk utility I see 51GB of a possible 60GB is used with Other. What is Other? and how can I view and delete some of these files?

On startup my macbookair says start up disk full/delete some files. When I look at storage disk utility I see 51GB of a possible 60GB is used with Other. What is Other? and how can I view and delete some of these files?

A MacBook will use Time Machine to make local backups so that when connected to an external drive it will backup a lot faster.
to disable this, you must use a command under terminal.
to locate terminal, do a search for it under spotlight (the magnifying glass on the top right corner), should be the first hit.
once under terminal, type the following text exactly:
sudo tmutil disablelocal
hit enter.
you will be asked to input your password, if you do not have a password, you will have to create one before performing this command. after entering your password, hit enter again and close terminal.
in a few minutes the space taken up by time machine should be cleared.

How do I clear the start up drive to download the new operating system

how do I clear the start up drive to download the new operating system

Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
You should never, EVER let a computer 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/ Final Cut user, both apps have their 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
Also, Find Any File
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/
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!

Upon start up I get a start up disk full message and to delete files, now I only get a a blue screen on start up. How to I get past the blue screen and how do I delete files?

Upon start up I get a "start up disk full message, delete files". Now on startup I only get a blue screen. How do I get past the blue screen and how do I delete files.

That;s really not enough free space... you can use a tools such as OmniDiskSweeper to find out where your large files reside and begin pruning (or copying to an external if they're files that you want to keep).
One thing is certain - if you're going to continue your current usage you're certainly going to need to install a larger boot drive.
Clinton

Imac frozen at blue screen after i went into disk utilities and cleaned my free space. I tried holding down T key as it reboots and i get a message. Start up disk full empty it how can one emptie it if you cant get past the blue screen

Imac frozen at blue screen after i went into disk utilities and cleaned free space.
I tried holding down T key as it reboots
and i get a message. Start up disk full empty it how can one emptie it if you cant get past the blue screen?
to make matters worse we bought the IMAC of amazon uk on the 4/07/011 so what can we do?
please remember how frustrating it is when asking for help when the helper telling you to type something on the screen when its frozen
Tell us when you can type some instuctions to the software how do you get to the doss prompt so to speak to do this
Thanks

i tried all this thanks
i can not get past blue screen and message Your disk is full it needs to be emptied Please not I cant proceed past this message.
no matter what you tell me
Am i right ok in thinking that
when i went into disk utilities and chose to clean my free space i left it over one hour to do its stuff
i came back and there was no progress bar just the box so i quit the program and when i opened mac mail the system just froze i forced quit mail rebooted and blue screen death
Now when free space is being cleaned is it the same as windows dose the utility write lots of 0 on the hard drive then rebbot its self to free the space
basicly is my hard drive full of 00000 is this why im getting this message because the process was interupted
I need to know if i need outside help i bought the computer on line on amazon uk what dose one do next

"startup drive full" error - help

I have gotten a "startup drive full" error a couple of times while using Microsoft Word. It usually occurs when I am trying to save something. My drives are no where near full. What is causing this? How do I fix it?

One of the reasons (when one exists) for a startup drive full message,
could be if the computer has several temporary files and virtual memory
files on the hard disk drive; this could happen if you have insufficient
installed chip RAM and the computer is using HDD free-space as RAM.
And if you are multi-tasking in Mac OS X, there may be a point where
the drive is fully in-use. The utility "Activity Monitor" could tell you what
is happening in the system at different intervals and perhaps you could
tell what is running in there and using a lot of virtual memory; and also
what that utility says is going on elsewhere at the same time.
You may have to boot the computer from the Installer disc and use
the version of Disk Utility on that (in the Installer's menubar is where
you find options, other than running the installer on that disc) to run
'repair disk.' There also may be some caches and other files on the
drive which are not properly being cleared after quitting applications
or after saving works in progress.
A variety of maintenance tasks can be performed to help the Mac
run better; and maybe these are overdue. I use an easy way out
and do not boot into the single user or other modes to do house-
keeping chores in OS X 10; the software (runs free) I choose to
have do these, on occasion, is called OnyX and is a download
from Titanium Software online. An easy search, to get there and
see the correct download for the OSX version your machine runs.
The OnyX 'automation' selection has several check-boxes and
a few times a year, I run all of the options shown there; otherwise
I only run the default set, and then have the utility automatically
restart itself afterward. There are settings in the OnyX preferences.
Not sure what else may be going on in the computer's hard disk
drive; but to use the boot/install disc's Disk Utility to 'repair disk'
and also to verify or see the status of SMART, may tell you if
the hard disk drive is starting to fail. (Although it could stop work-
ing and not say it was failing; checking anyway, is easy enough.)
If you have a third-party disk utility such as Drive Genius or
maybe DiskWarrior, these may be able to check and repair
some aspects of the hard disk drive's files. Some of these
tools are better at some tasks than others; and so I am not
sure which one(s) are best at specific jobs. Each is a bit
different and so there are times where having more than one
could be very handy... if one knew what they did, and when
to use one over another third-party disk utility. (I don't!)
At some point, it is very handy to have an externally enclosed
FireWire hard disk drive, and be knowledgeable and practiced
in making bootable clones of the computer's hard disk drive
and the contents there in. This can give you great backups
with the ability to clone the complete disk image back as it
was, but on to a repaired or low-level reformatted HDD. I use
a free-running utility to clone, Carbon Copy Cloner.
Hopefully a fix as simple as using the Disk Utility found in
the installer (hold C key on startup with disc in optical drive)
and do not launch the installer, use Disk Utility from menubar;
and 'repair disk' may help. If there is a defect in the Hard Disk
Drive (HDD) a repair may help; or a more invasive approach
may be required, to include other tools in the Disk Utility, which
could totally erase all your stuff plus the OS from that hard drive.
Not sure how much experience you have in any of this; so at
this point...
Good luck & happy computing!

Start Up Disk Full Error

I continue to get a "Start up disk full" message when I try to use iPhoto or iMovie. It then tells me to delete items, but it does not tell me how to do this.
Can some one walk me through it?
Thanks

Mark,
Evidently, you have filled your hard drive completely. You must get rid of some files. Make some determination as to what you can safely delete, then begin placing files in your trash, and emptying it.
You mention iMovie. DV footage, imported into iMovie, requires about 20 GBs of disk space per hour of footage. This could be the biggest consumer of your disk space. Placing an iMovie project file in the trash, then emptying it, might go a long way toward freeing up some space for you.
If you can't find anything that can be safely deleted, you're going to have to purchase an external hard drive, copy some file to it, then delete them from your internal hard drive. In fact, I recommend you purchase an external drive regardless. You can use it to make backups of your important data, as well as using it to free up disk space.
Scott

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

RE: Start-up disc full!

I am receiving msg. "start up disc full" and am unable to do updates, download i-tune purchases, etc.... I went into finder and did the command i on "library". Looks like this is my problem. Any suggestions on how to clean it out? Thx!

If you are talking about the Library folder (or the System Library folder) at the root level of your hard drive, DO NOT delete anything in it.
Your best bet is to move some of your content files to an external drive. Items like your iTunes and iPhoto libraries are likely to be largest. Here is how to do it:
Copy the library in question (the iTunes library is located in your Music folder, iPhoto can be found in your Pictures folder) to an external hard drive.
Launch the application while holding down the option key on your keyboard.
In the resulting dialog, select the library on your external drive.
Test to make sure the copied files are functioning normally. If they are,
Move the old library to the Trash and empty the Trash to reclaim that disk space.
Best of luck.

My start up drive is almost filled. What do I do?

My start up drive is almost filled. What do I do?

Hard Drive full or near full?
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 use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Other things you can do to gain space.
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 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.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its thing initially, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run all of the processes in the tabs. 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.
You may have to Purchase an external FireWire or Thunderbolt hard drive to 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!

Start up drive full

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