"Startup Disk is Full" even though I have 3.5 GB free

I just upgraded my RAM from 2 GB to 4 GB yesterday (2 x 2GB Kingston DDR2), and today I'm getting a message that my "startup disk is full," even though I have 3.5 GB of space on my hard drive.
I've gotten this message in the past when I only have 100 or 50 MB left on my hard drive, but 3.5 GB of space seems like a lot of room to be getting the "startup disk is full" error.
I know I'm supposed to have 10% of my hard drive free for optimal usage, but I'm wondering whether this error message is an indication that the RAM isn't working the way it's supposed to.
Also, the other thing I noticed acting funny since the RAM got installed was shutdown problems. Today I had to hold down the power button to shut down, since doing it via the finder window was not working.
Thanks in advance for any ideas and tips!
Mark

Hi Markus,
The sleepimage file is from Safe Sleep. This saves the contents of RAM to the HD each time Mac is put to sleep in case of a "mishap" so that data would be saved. As you've discovered, it can take up a bit of HD space (as much RAM as you have installed). Thus, I've disabled Safe Sleep and trashed that file. Sleep is now faster too. If you care to do this, here are my directions:
Safe Sleep: How to Disable
Safe sleep copies the content of RAM onto the HD prior to sleep, so it can cause very slow go-to-sleep performance (slow), and sometimes additional issues.
To disable Safe Sleep:
Open Terminal.
Copy and paste in the following two commands:
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0  
sudo nvram "use-nvramrc?"=false  
Hit return.
When Terminal is finished doing its thing, type in
Exit
hit return, and quit Terminal.
If you do decide to disable Safe Sleep, there’s also a file you can get rid of to save some space on your HD (this file can be as large as the amount of RAM you have installed, probably 2-4GB for the average Mac).
From the Finder (just click once anywhere on a bare Desktop area to make the correct menu bar appear).
Click on the Go menu and select Go to Folder.
Copy and paste or enter the following in the “Go to the Folder:” field.
/var/vm
Trash the file named “sleepimage.” (Do NOT trash the file named “swapfiles.”)
Close the windows, empty the trash, and you should have faster sleeping and a bit more free HD space.

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Boot up from your computer by holding down the command+r keys. This will take you to the recovery drive.
Select Disk Utility & hit Return.
In Disk Utility select the HD on the left & click on Repair Disk (bottom right).
=======================
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Open up your application folder & go through all your apps. Trash all the apps you no longer want and/or use.
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HD Space Checkers:
Disk Inventory X (FREE)
WhatSize (SHAREWARE)
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GrandPerspective (FREE - donation)
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1. Click on the Finder
2. Click on 'Go' in menu bar across the top of the screen.
3. Click on 'Go to Folder'
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Still getting the same message?
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"Startup Disk is Full" even though I have 3.5 GB free

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