Startup disk doesn't have enough memory for applications

I keep getting this message that my startup disk doesn't have enough memory for applications, and advising me to quit apps. Even after a restart I get the same message. I am using only about 10% of my hard drive and I have 4GB or RAM. I have run Disk Utility to repair permissions, I have confirmed that my MacintoshHD is the startup drive, but still keep getting this message. I am running Snow Leopard on a three-year old iMac. What gives?

Startup disks don't provide memory, RAM modules do. When the machine runs out of usable RAM, it uses disk space for virtual memory. Step one would be to run the Apple Hardware Test program, extended tests, and ensure that your RAM is viable. If the RAM passes those tests, download, and run Rember.

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ITunes tells me my IPhone doesn't have enough memory for all the items in my iTunes library...

However, i had about a gigabyte (or so) free before I added only ten more songs to my library. Now, though, when I try to sync, I get the following message: The iPhone “John Masella’s iPhone” cannot be synced because there is not enough free space to hold all of the items in the iTunes library (additional 1.05 GB required). Initially, ITunes told me I needed about 3 gigabytes, but I deleted some pictures and apps. I don't know what to do at this point, because I really have nothing else I can delete. If anyone could provide me with some assistance, I would be very appreciative.
Essentially, I have 3.74 GB free and am only syncing ten more songs to my phone, but ITunes tells me there is not enough memory.

I had a similar problem, and other answers allude to the kind of solution that works. What was rather annoying for me was that, by deleting a few apps, the iTunes display suggested I should have plenty of room. Furthermore, the error message included the bizarre phrase "the required space is 1.26MB but only 126MB is available": yes, more space available than needed by a factor of 100!
What seems to be the case is that the sync does not necessarily remove everything you specify for removal before copying things on that you want on the device. Therefore, even if you have enough space for what you intend to have on your device at the end of the sync, it won't help if the space is insufficient to copy at least some things on in the first place. So I actually solved the problem by deleting one of the apps on the iPhone, which was an app I was going to remove anyway. In general (on iOS 8), go to Settings | General | Usage | Storage then choose something you are happy to be without.

I have an old MacBook laptop and it doesn't have enough memory for a new version of Firefox; why can't I keep the old version which works fine on this computer?

I am running Firefox version 3.6.23 and I keep getting a message saying that I should upgrade, but I am working on an older MacBook laptop computer with 640 MB of memory and an 800 MHz Power PC G4 with Mac OS X version 10.4.11 and when I tried to upgrade, your message said that it couldn't happen. Please let me keep running the older version of Firefox because it works fine on my old laptop.

The latest 9.0.x version is not compatible with your os.
see :[http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/9.0.1/system-requirements/ Firefox 9 System Requirements]
Firefox 4 versions and later do not run on a '''PowerPC Mac'''(like yours) and require '''at least OS X 10.5 and an Intel Mac'''.
The latest supported version for your os is '''3.6.25''' (you have 3.6.23), your can download from here:
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-older.html
see : [http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/3.6/system-requirements/ Firefox 3.6 System Requirements]
[For older Macs that aren't supported in Firefox 4+ versions, if you like, try TenFourFox for PowerPC's running Mac 10.4.11 & 10.5.8]
http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/
http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/
https://code.google.com/p/tenfourfox/wiki/PluginsNoLongerSupported
thank you
Please mark "Solved" the answer that really solve the problem, to help others with a similar problem.

Trying to update iPhone but my computer doesn't have enough memory and I don't want to loose media.

Trying to update iPhone but my computer doesn't have enough memory for backup. It says I will loose all media off phone if I proceed. What do I do?

I think you misunderstand... iCloud backups are stored in the cloud and not on the PC. So, if you do an iCloud backup, it won't take up room on the PC.
But, if you want to transfer the iTunes purchases over, set up Home Sharing. Also, see this link.

New MacAir error states "your Mac OSX startup disk has no more space available for application memory" All I have added is MS Office

My new Mac Air states that my " Mac OSX startup disk has no more space available for application memory" and wants to force quit Safari. I have only added MS Office to the computer and Carbonite. Any suggestions?

Select the icon of your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you renamed it) in the Finder and open the Info window. What value is shown for Available (space)?

Msg states: "your Mac os x startup disk has no more space available for application memory...Removing files from startup disk may help." yet, I have 299.11GB of 319.73GB available. Why is msg received?

The full message reads as, "
Force Quit Applications
Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory.
To avoid problems with your computer, quit any applications you are not using. Closing windows and removing files from your startup disk will also help."
Currently I have:
Capacity: 319.73GB ; Available: 299.11GB ; Used: 20.62GB
Why am I receiving this message and being forced to force quit items? Both times the message has been received, Safari was open (frozen) while checking yahoo! mail.
I received my MacBook Pro as a gift less than a month ago and I have only saved 20 pictures within iPhoto and installed Skype and Vuze...no other modifications from default have been made.
Any idea?

The full message reads as, "
Force Quit Applications
Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory.
To avoid problems with your computer, quit any applications you are not using. Closing windows and removing files from your startup disk will also help."
Currently I have:
Capacity: 319.73GB ; Available: 299.11GB ; Used: 20.62GB
Why am I receiving this message and being forced to force quit items? Both times the message has been received, Safari was open (frozen) while checking yahoo! mail.
I received my MacBook Pro as a gift less than a month ago and I have only saved 20 pictures within iPhoto and installed Skype and Vuze...no other modifications from default have been made.
Any idea?

HT4796 on my windows XP pro PC i opened windows migration assistant and the first message is: "Cannot start Outlook Express. The application can not initialize the storage. The computer doesn't have enough memory or your disk is full. (0x80007114)"

on my windows XP pro PC i opened windows migration assistant and the first message is: "Cannot start Outlook Express. The application can not initialize the storage. The computer doesn't have enough memory or your disk is full. (0x80007114)"
On my windows PC outlook express is NOT running and as far as i know, NOT installed.
How do I install Outlook Express??
I want to use my new Imac.....

Disk storage issues frequently happen if the hard disc is over 85% full. Make sure your trash can is emptied after backing up any files you want to keep elsewhere.

HT3919 In the past was able to adjust the memory for each individual application, my Illustrator CS5 appears is doesn't have enough memory to complete a particular project. How do I boost the amount of memory that Illustrator uses so I can complete my pro

In the past I have always been able to adjust the memory of each individual application,
my Adobe Illustrator CS5 appears that is doesn't have enough memory to complete a particular project.
How do I boost the amount of memory that Illustrator uses so I can complete my project?

With OS X, it automatically allocates RAM and it can't be allocated manually.
What model Mac do you have and what OS X version is it running. Your profile shows a PowerMac and OS 10.6.8. A PowerMac can't run OS 10.6.8. It's max OS is 10.5.x
How much RAM is installed in your Mac? You need to max out the RAM and close other open apps if you are having problems with Illustrator.
 Cheers, Tom

"Your Mac OSX startup disk has no more space available for application memory" - uploading files problem

Hi everyone,
I'm running a late-2012 27 inch iMac - 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB 1600 MHz DDR3 with the 3TB fusion drive, OS 10.8.4. At present there is 1.92TB of available storage.
I have received this message "Your Mac OSX startup disk has no more space available for application memory" just before a full on crash multiple times in the past couple of days whilst using WeTransfer to send over some large files (500MB+). The applications I have had open at the time have been: Activity Monitor, App Store, Firefox, and Finder. Over the course of uploading the files, the active system memory has gone from 1.04GB and steadily increased until it more or less maxes out around 29GB, at which point the Page Outs rocket up to around 40GB/s and the swap memory fills up pretty quickly until the computer basically can't take any more and blacks out.
This is a pretty new thing, haven't really had an issues before. My main software used: Sibelius 7 & Logic Pro X. I've also recently started working with Final Cut Pro X, which seems to have been struggling at points. I've tried closing everything, restarting the computer and not opening anything (specifically NOT FCPX) before attempting an upload. I've even gone so far as to remove FCPX from my system, and yet the problem is still recurring. Both "kernal_task" and "WindowServer" have been running high on CPU when these problems have occurred.
Does anyone know what might be the issue and how it could possibly be resolved?
Really appreciate any help, I'm in the middle of a fairly sizeable project and the deadlines are just around the corner.
Thanks,
Tom

There is excessive swapping of data between physical memory and virtual memory. That can happen for two reasons:
You have a long-running process with a memory leak (i.e., a bug), or
You don't have enough memory installed for your usage pattern.
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
When you notice the swap activity, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.
The process named "Safari Web Content" renders web pages for Safari and other applications. It uses a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider it a prime suspect.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

When I open my iMac, I get this message - Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory. ???????

When I open my iMac, I get the following message : Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory. Then it says to quit applications not in usw and to close windows and remove files from startup disk. It lists Safari, email and Finder. I force a quit on all applications yet the same message comes up every time I open an application. What do I do to get rid of this once and for all? The computer is not even two years old and is only used for email and Safari. Help will be greatly appreciated,

The message has nothing to do with low disk space.
There is excessive swapping of data between physical memory (that is, the memory chips on the logic board) and virtual memory (one or more files on the startup volume.) That activity is relatively slow and causes the whole system to be less responsive. It can happen for two reasons:
A long-running process with a memory leak (a kind of bug)
Not enough memory for your usage pattern
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
These instructions are for OS X 10.9 ("Mavericks.") The procedure may be slightly different for earlier versions of OS X.
When you notice the swap activity, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the View menu, if it's not already selected. Select the Memory tab. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.
The processes named "Safari Web Content" render web pages for Safari. They use a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider them prime suspects.
Another process often implicated in memory leaks is "inkjet4" or "inkjet8," which is a component of the HP printing software. If it's present, force-quit the process in Activity Monitor to solve the problem temporarily. Empty the print queues in the Printers & Scanners preference pane (which has a slightly different name in each recent version of OS X.) If you don't use an HP printer, remove the software. Otherwise, if the problem is recurrent, update the software (which may not help) or contact HP support.
"Wired" memory should be a small part of the total. That memory is not swapped, but it makes less physical memory available which may then result in swapping. If you have a lot of wired memory, that's usually an indication of a memory leak in a third-party program that modifies the operating system at a low level. Ask for guidance in that case.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

I'm getting this error with bootcamp "The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned"

Here's the story...
I had a dual boot configuration on my mac with Mac OS X Lion and Windows XP (made with bootcamp).
I decided to reinstall windows.
I deleted the windows partition using BootCamp.
Tried to recreate the Windows partition with Boot Camp and got: "The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned You must have at least 10 GB of free space available"
After reading several posts on this forum I decided to defrag the hard drive and try again.
The defrag did not work and I'm still getting the error, I have 22 gb of free space on my drive.
Any suggestions?
Also, I tried repair disk and repair permissions
Hmm, my external harddrive says on the box "OS X 10.5.8 or higher (32-bit kernel only)" Could the 32-bit requirement be an issue? Is lion 64-bit?

Boot Camp must be able to allocate a contiguous block of space on the drive. If it cannot find 10 GBs of contiguous space, then you cannot create the Windows partition.
You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive.
Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the external one.
Boot from the external hard drive.
Erase the internal hard drive.
Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
Clone the internal drive to the external drive
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After startup do the following:
Erase internal hard drive
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your internal hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Do not quit Disk Utility.
Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.

"The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned?" WHY!??

I"m trying to intall windows 7 on my Macbook air OS X 10.6. When i enter bootCam i get this error "The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned" . It says I need 10GBs of free space, even though I have 500GBs of free space on my drive external hardriver.
I did my research, and a lot of people are saying to use idefrag and defrag the hardrive, which i did. I also verifed disk permissions and repaired disk permission and all the other stuff.
What should i do? Apple hass the shittiest service. I spend $1100 bucks for something and i don't even get support without paying? to me, that's BS. so if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks Bob.
And now to close this thrilling episode we will sing the "Dragnet Theme Song". All together now.....
“Dum De Dum Dum…”
“Dum De Dum Dum Dum”

Mac os x startup disk has no more space available for application memory

Suddenly over the past 2-3 weeks, first my iMac, then my Mac Pro both started giving me the pop-up error message: "Your mac os x startup disk has no more space available for application memory" offering for me to Force Quit open applications. Which does not work. Restarting temporarily helps, but the error will eventually return.
I have over 50% available in HD space on the iMac.
Also, I do not know if this is related, but the computers are running very slowly as well.
Additionally, before all of this, our Contact data, sync with Mobile Me, tripled in size with duplicates and jumbled messages.
Seemed like a cascade of failures beginning with contacts and ending with the memory error.
I have tried Applejack several times to no avail.
Any one have any ideas? Thanks.

CMCSK wrote:
first my iMac, then my Mac Pro
I have over 50% available in HD space on the iMac.
What about the Mac Pro? How large is your hard drive on both computers?
Problem first appeared on the iMac, then the MacPro starting giving the same error.
MacPro 999.5 GB total, 277 GB available
iMac 499.76 GB total, 214 GB available
"Your mac os x startup disk has no more space available for application memory"
Is FileVault enabled?
Never (unless it turned on itself)
have tried Applejack several times to no avail.
Have you tried using _Disk Utility from your install disc?_
From the HD, but not from from install disk. I will dig it out and try it.
Did you run Apple's Hardware Test?
Where do I find this?
Did you disconnect all peripherals except for the keyboard & mice while troubleshooting?
I did not since I am having the same problem on 2 different computers.
the computers are running very slowly as well.
Check the items in the Login Items. Delete or disable all you do not need.

Hello, Trying to run Bootcamp on my 15" Macbook Pro (Maverick).60 gig available on my computer's hard drive and 250 gig on a separate hard drive that I have attached which is single partitioned. Keeps saying "The startup disk does not have enough space"

Hello,
I'm trying to run Bootcamp on my 15" Macbook Pro (Maverick). I have 60 gig available on my computer's hard drive and have 250 gig on a separate hard drive that I have attached, which is single partitioned (MS-DOS FAT). It keeps saying "The startup disk does not have enough space, you must have 28 gig of free space available" Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the advice Bob The Fisherman. I'm just reading what turbostar has kindly written and it appears that perhaps, if I take advice from you both, I need to free more space up on the computer's hard drive?
With the external hard drive; would it be advisable to defragment? Know of any defrag freeware for Mac OSX?
Many thanks to you both.

The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned

I have a custom upgraded Mac Mini (from 1.6 Core Duo to 2.33 Core 2 Duo & 64GB SSD - a fast little machine!) Under Leopard 10.6.6 & could create a BootCamp partition. Now after a reformat & upgrade to 10.6.7, BootCamp reports, "The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned". BootCamp says it needs 10 GB free space. The Finder says there is 23.4 GB available.
Has anyone else run across this?

Backup. Format. Restore.
Windows 7 needs 40GB+
HFS needs 20GB/20% free space to function.
64GB is fine -- but just one OS, not two.
you might squeeze OS X into 30GB if you move and trim a lot.
Windows 7 SP1 32-bit - the updates take 9GB of space (temp) on top of 20-25GB plus you'll need to disable page, hibernation, not install programs, and leaves little for TRIM and Garbage Collection.
When Windows gets too low, you can be blocked from login or runnng.

Startup disk doesn't have enough memory for applications

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