Startup disc full message

I have an iMac G3 running OS10.3, and this last week I have been getting messages that my startup disc is full. I have taken everything off I can, emptied the cache and all trash. The best I can get is 25.2 MB free space, and that will only last for a few hours. How do I get to the startup disc so that I can clean it?
Thanks for suggestions.

jltski:
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Unfortunately you do not tell us what model iMac G3 you have, nor the size of your HDD.
The rule of thumb for free space is that you should have at least 15% of disk capacity free. This allows the computer to function efficiently and avoids directory problems, crashes and consequent loss of data.
You have three basic options:
1. You can free as much space as you can. In the article linked by little shoulders there is reference to the utility What Size, which scans your disk and lists what you have on your HDD by size. However, even if you remove a lot of stuff you will end up where you now are before long.
2. A second option is to purchase and use an external Firewire HDD. These come in very large sizes and generally have speeds up to 7200 rpms. You could partition it and use it for your HDD, as well as for other stuff. However, it has the drawback of not being as portable, which, with a desktop computer should not be a problem.
3. The best solution is to purchase and install a new internal HDD. These, too, are available in fairly large sizes and are relatively inexpensive. If you get a 100 or 200 GB HDD it will be a while before you run out of space. You will need a 3.5" IDE/ATA drive, and you can very likely install it yourself. Here is a list of drives from OWC. The Seagate drives are highly recommended and come with a 5 year warranty.
Please do not hesitate to post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

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Macbook Air - disc full message even after cleaning

I got the disc full message so I saved everything on to a flash drive and deleted every video, picture, and word document that I've ever created. Also some application I do not use. My computer was acting slower around the time I got the original 'disc full' message. After clearing everything off, including itunes. My computer was still running slow, with long loading times online. I downloaded the new Maverick operating system and my computer is running back at normal speed. However, I can only save a few documents before I get that same 'disc full' message. I checked my 'about this mac' and under storage it says there is a total of 3.3GB free out of 120.47GB.
I'm no computer expert, but shouldnt I have memory at least to save a bunch of documents?
I'm a student and I'm always saving notes, word docs, pictures for power point. I need this extra room asap. flashdrives are nice but I can work more efficient with my flashdrive cooperating.
Can some one please help me out?

Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Reboot and it should go away.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

ITunes, iPhone startup disk full messages

Since I got my iPhone 3G 2 weeks ago I have started getting "Startup Disk Full" messages. I then noticed that if iTunes is running, not downloading anything or searching for anything my remaining drive space starts to reduce until the messages. If I reboot this will give me back anywhere from 1 GB to 3 GB of drive space. I used to go for months without rebooting now I can't go a day. What would cause this? iTunes 8.0.2, OSX 10.5.5, iPhone OS2.2, Powerbook G4 1Ghz, 160GB drive, 1GB ram.

open up iTunes to see what is taking up the space.. is it applications/Media/Photos and delete appropriately. If not then you might have just hit a bug or installed some bad application.

I keep getting "startup disk full" message even when I already moved all my files/documents to an external hard disk

Dear all,
What should I do? I keep getting the "startup disk full" message even when I already moved all my files and documents to an external hard disk.
Thanks a heap.

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size with the largest at the top. It may take a few minutes for ODS to finish scanning your files.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

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

I am getting disc full messages on my Mac, unable to empty trash because not enough space, how do I proceed or do I need to increase my 4gig of memory

I am getting disc full messages on my Mac, unable to empty trash because not enough space, how do I proceed or do I need to increase my 4gig of memory in which case how do I go about this process.

You are confusing RAM (Random Access Memory) with hard drive data storage space.
Your hard drive storage is getting too full if you can't empty your Mac's main trash.
Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
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 Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
( as you mentioned, you can't empty this as your hard drive is too full.)
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.
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.
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!

I have nothing on this macbook air just iPhoto and iTunes and the error startup dic full message keeps coming up and the storage is full of other i don't know what to do.

i have nothing on this macbook air just iPhoto and iTunes and the error startup dic full message keeps coming up and the storage is full of other i don't know what to do.how do i delete all of this?

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

My startup disk is full?!?! This has been happening for a while and I have dumped 4500 jepegs from iPhoto onto an external drive to try and free up space. I am still recieving the "Startup disk full" message. What more can I do?!?!

My startup disk is full?!?! This has been happening for a while and I have dumped 4500 jepegs from iPhoto onto an external drive to try and free up space. I am still recieving the "Startup disk full" message. What more can I do?!?!

Did you empty the Trash?
What size hard drive & how much free space. You should always have a minimum of 10-15% or more free space?
 Cheers, Tom

.mov file 'converting' causes startup disc full msg

QT player version 10.3
OS X version 10.9.3
I have a 2TB external drive with most of its space empty. I have a set of 15 .mov files (their format is in the screen cap attached at the end of this question) on that drive which I'm trying to open and trim in the QT player. When I open them as a set, each one of them says 'converting' on it and the process takes a few hours. Finally, the process fails and I get a message that my startup disc is full. The QT player is obviously using my internal disc (the startup disc) as the scratch disc rather than the 2TB external (which is write enabled). When I cancel the process, the startup disc goes back to normal size and the scratch files are deleted.
1. Why is the QT player converting a .mov file to another .mov file?
2. Why isn't it using the file's location as its scratch conversion location?
3. There are no preferences in the QT player so how do I set this as a pref?
4. Is there an alternative app to use for a simple trim operation to a .mov file of this (see screen cap) format?
Thanks!

stevens-mbp:~ Steven$ read InstalledLegacyVideoCodecs
my system showed the exact same list as yours.
This is the list of "legacy" codecs available to be enabled on your system.
For stevens-mbp:~ Steven$ qtDefaults read LegacyVideoCodecs
my system returned no results and displayed another stevens-mbp:~ Steven$ prompt.
The results indicate you have not enabled any of the available "legacy" codecs while my results indicate that I have re-enabled both Motion JPEGA and Motion PNG for use on my system. (I.e., MJPEG is a handy medium efficiency intermediate codec for editing/conversion in/by QT 7 based apps while the MPNG is an HQ alpha-channel capable codec formerly used by many professional and prosumer level videographers. While I only class myself as a "hobbyist," I still find these two codecs particularly useful on occasion.)
I'm going to start with the 2008 version of streamclip and see what happens. My task for these clips is actually quite simple: trim off bits of the beginning and end (they're music performances and we just want the performance and not the clapping) and then export for youtube. I'll report back once I get into the project using your great advice.
Workflow is basically the same for either the free MPEG Streamclip or QT 7 Pro ($29) apps.
A) TRIM ENDS OF CLIP
1) Scrub the playhead to the approximate frame you wish to edit
2) Use right and/or left arrow keys to locate exact frame you wish to edit
3) Use the "i" and "o" keys to set "in" and "out" edit points
4) Use the "Trim" or "Trim to Selection" Edit menu option to physically trim content
5) Save or export the results to a new file.
NOTE: While step 4 is not really required for MPEG Streamclip, I recommend you use it as different apps can store the resulting file differently causing potential problems in the way QT and non-QT apps handle the resulting content.
B) TRIM MIDDLE OF CLIPS
1) Scrub the playhead to the approximate frame you wish to edit
2) Use right and/or left arrow keys to locate exact frame you wish to edit
3) Use the "i" and "o" keys to set "in" and "out" edit points
4) Use the "Cut" Edit menu option to physically remove selected content from the middle of your clip
5) Repeat steps 1 thru 4 as needed
6) Save or export the results to a new file.
NOTE: This approach is handy for removing things like commercial segments from the middle of broadcast recordings.
Good Luck!
Thank you for your service.
My pleasure.

Startup disc full after file transfer from old mac

Hi everyone,
I had a Macbook pro that was about 6 years old until I bought a new Macbook Air. I tried to transfer my files via the migration assistant but it didn't work, so I backed everything up onto an external hard drive and then transferred everything via that onto my new macbook air. All the files saved onto my desktop in a file called "Olivia's MacBook Pro", but none of the files are directly linked to my new air (i.e., I can access my old pictures through my desktop but they aren't in my new iPhoto). The issue I'm having is that I often get a popup that says my startup disc is full. I followed directions on old threads that said to download omnidiscsweeper, which I did, and all the room is being taken up by that folder of all my old stuff on my desktop (~185 GB).
My question is- do I just have too much stuff? Is there a way to keep my pictures and such on my new computer without always getting this error message and having to shut down different applications? Please help! I am not very computer savvy
Thanks so much for reading.
PS- appx 76 GB of my computer storage is movies...but I don't have any movies saved on here that I know of... another 72 GB is "Other".
Thanks!!

Frankly, You'll probably waste more time and effort than if you just got a Firewire cable. I'm pretty sure you'll need to have a cross connect Ethernet Cable (I usually make my own, not sure where you'd buy one) to connect them via ethernet, and even then you still have to mess around with getting them to talk to each other. Other option is to plug both computers into a hub or switch, or better yet a router.
Another option is to spend $20 on a usb adapter that can connect any drive to your Mac. [Here is one that I have|http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo =2329300&CatId=3770] from Tiger Direct that works quite well.

Startup Disc Full

My iMac is giving me the message "startup disc is full" but I don't know what to do about it. Any ideas?

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free on the startup volume for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then drag or copy — do not type — into the Terminal window:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Press return. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

My startup disc full i tried to clean it but i could not also i could not empty my trash

i have problem with my startup disk
i wanted to install some softwear but always i got a massege says ypur startup disc is full delete some content from it i tried to delete some app but still its full
so i check my trash i fined it full with 21 GB i tried to delete it but also i couldnot
so now i dont know how to solve this issue

Make sure that you don't have many login items.
If that trash won't empty, you can do a secure empty but with 21 GB of items it will probably take a long time. Unless you really need something you should probably just erase and reinstall.

Startup Disk Full Message Keeps Occuring

I'm new at maintaining our Xserve here at work. It seems that each day the serevr gets incapacitated because the Startup Disk space fills up. I keep deleting log files and other files that are temporary, but to no avail. I can free a Gig or 2 then a day or two alter it's full again. Is there something wrong with the configuration?

You found a disk-full message and, well, piled onto the thread. OK. There's a decent shot that there is no connection to the previous disk-full error, too. If you lift the hood and look at the Unix layers, there are a large number of files being written, and many differing triggers for general or for excessive disk consumption.
As was mentioned earlier in the thread, this likely isn't specific to Xserve hardware, and this is probably a generic Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server issue, too; something occurring within the Unix layer of the platform. Something writing a log. Caching. A run-away process. Etc.
Get the [Grand Perspective tool|http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net> as a start. That can show you where your space is going.
Also launch Terminal.app and use the shell commands:
find / -size 1k -print+
sudo du -sHh /*
mdfind 'kMDItemFSSize > 10000000'
The first shows files larger than 1K, the second shows disk space. There are commands around to sort this stuff, too; to rank your use as output by du. That last one, the mdfind command, is a (fast) Mac search command that works reasonably well as part of a pipe.
And 150 gigabytes? That's comparatively tiny. I'm running 750 GB drives on servers that are now three years old. Go get yourself actual disk storage devices. Smaller drives can sometimes be used for high performance, but SSD is infiltrating that usage. The tiny SAS disks that were sold with various Xserve boxes were built for speed and bandwidth (as HDDs go), and aren't so good for storage or for sharing the operating system installation with, for instance, users.
And if it's log files, have a look at what's going on as - as is typical with many of these cases - the log can be filling because there's an error somewhere. And the specific trigger for the error can by most anything. Do your due diligence as a Unix server administrator and find your big file(s) and have a look at what's going on with your Unix server, in other words.
Also try a few Google searches, as this problem is a common one, and there are any number of discussions around of various find and du and mdfind and other commands that can be used here. It'd be nice if there was an integrated and GUI-friendly mechanism within Mac OS X, but that's not available; it's add-on or Unix shell commands for now...

MacBook disc full message

Help, on startup I get a "startup disk is almost full" message, when I pass this and start up my computer just seems to freeze, it just shows the purple stars/space picture. Nothing else.
I've tried to redraft and boot of a system cd but it always defaults back to my startup login security screen.
Any ideas how I can start up of another cd to delete data.

Startup in Safe Mode then delete data from there.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
Make sure you have a minimum of 15% free disk space.

How to make room when startup disc full?

I have been getting pop-up warnings that my startup disc is almost full or full. It says to delete files but I don't know how to go about this nor do I know what is safe to delete. Would someone be able to help guide me through this?

More info overload.....
Quick fix How To Quickly Free Up Hard Drive Space on Mac OS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO-mlLApEuk
Empty the trash in the Dock as well as iPhoto’s 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 Command+j 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.). Or transfer/move them all to a photo/movie storage site like ImageShack and Photobucket, 2 of the most popular FREE storage sites.
Get rid of all your video & music files you no longer view and/or listen too. Especially, if you already have the actual CD/DVDs or you can later redownload from a website. Or transfer them all to a FREE video/movies and/or music storage site.
Use Spotlight to make sure you got rid of everything. You can even trash directly from Spotlight! Better yet, download this FREE software called Find File. This app puts Spotlight to shame (works w/Mountain Lion).
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 the system requirements for iCloud to store their "stuff.”
Dropbox is a free storage utility to check out.
You can check with your ISP to see if they offer *free* storage space. Most if not all do now-a-days. There are thousands if not millions of *free* storage facilities on the web also. Use your favorite search engine 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 FontNuke. 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 Monolingual. 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:
HD Space Checkers:
Disk Inventory X (FREE)
WhatSize (SHAREWARE)
OmniDiskSweeper (FREE)
GrandPerspective (FREE - donation)
==================
Mac Performance Guide
Slimming your hard drive
Rule of thumb: You should never let your hard drive get to where you have only 10-15% of space left.

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