Thumb Drive Available Space

I'm trying to use a variety of thumb drives ranging from 500 Mb to 8 Gb in size with a new iMac. Even though the thumb drives have nothing on them except for the operting system, the iMac is indicating that they have almost no available capacity. These thumb drives are also used with a PC, and are in MS-DOS (FAT-32) format. Do I need to reformat these drives to Mac OS Extended format for the iMac to recognize their full capacity?

Yes and in order for them to be bootable.

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Hard drive available space shown incorrectly in finder

Hi,
I noticed that my Finder status bar shows incorrect amount of available space. Actually the amount of available space is larger that the actual disk size. The same problem is experienced if I click "Get Info" on my Macintosh HD. It also shows drive capacity as 249.82GB and Available as 252.7GB.
All the other tools, for example Disk Utility and About this Mac/Storage show the correct information, which is that I have 115.46GB of free space on my Macintosh HD.
Any idea what could cause this? Or has anyone else experienced similar problems?
Oh, and I have Filevault 2 turned on.
//ilari

Maybe I should be a bit more specific:
Currently the Get Info for Macintosh HD shows the following:
Capacity: 249.82 GB
Available: 282.69 GB
Used: -- bytes (-- KB on disk)
While for example df -k shows the following (which is accurate):
$ df -k
Filesystem                        1024-blocks      Used Available Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk1                          243966468 152025216 91685252    63%    /
devfs                                     181       181         0   100%    /dev
map -hosts                                  0         0         0   100%    /net
map auto_home                               0         0         0   100%    /home
localhost:/ezioMnNoyRVU8Vj-YxC4cJ   243966468 243966468         0   100%    /Volumes/MobileBackups
No matter which way you look at it, the Finder currently calculates the available (free) space incorrectly.
//ilari

False Hard Drive Available Space Reading

Yesterday, I was adding a partition to my hard drive. i was going to create "Macintosh HD_2". i had 90GB left on my 160GB hard drive and the partition i was creating was about 70GB. Halfway through the partitioning process, a message prompted that my mac needed to be restarted. After restarting... i opened a finder window and there was only one disk image "Mactinosh HD". there was no HD_2. here comes the frustrating part... my macintosh HD has only 20 GB of free space left, almost as if there was a partition taking up the other 70GB... but, like i said, the other disk image is nowhere to be seen. this isn't the first time this has happened, when i had OS 10.5.1, i tried to do the same thing, with the exact same results. when apple released OS 10.5.2, it fixed the problem. I dont really want to wait for 10.5.3 for this to be fixed... Any ideas?

Does Disk Utility still show your total hard drive capacity as 160 GB, or does it show it as being 70 GB or so smaller? If it still shows as 160 GB, then it looks like the partition you attempted to create may have created some sort of file that is taking up space. If your total hard drive capacity has changed to 90 GB (160 GB - 70 GB), then it would seem that you have created a partition that you cannot see.
Assuming that your drive still shows as 160 GB, you can try to see what is taking up the space by using WhatSize or Disk Inventory X:
http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/
http://www.derlien.com
Disk Inventory X if free. WhatSize used to be, but there is a small charge now.
One of these should be able to tell you what is occupying 70 GB.
Also, it's good practice to keep 15%-20% of your hard drive free for best operation of the OS. 20% of 160 GB would be 32 GB. Your partition would have left just 20 GB. Don't know, but this might be part of the problem.
Good luck!

Where did my hard drive available space go?

I partitioned my hard drive to for bootcamp last week (100GB) and then decided that I didn't want it anymore, so I attempted to remove the partition. Now, whenever I start my computer it seems boot to an empty partition - I just get a black screen that tells me to insert a disk (or something of that sort). For some reason that is the default - I have to hold the "option" key to be able to boot up to my Mac side. It looks like I need to change the defaulty boot disk - I could do this on a PC, but don't know how to on a Mac.
My biggest problem, however, is that even though I got rid of the second partition, I haven't seemed to get back the 100GB. When I go into the Disk Utility it shows that I have 499.76GB Capacity, but only 359.3GB Available and 39.7GB Used. (I am assuming that Capacity = Available + Used, other at least close to) Where did the other 100GB go and how can I get it back?
Thanks in advance,
Mike

Hi entresoft,
I am not sure how to do this. I am not a very literate computer person but have a vague idea of what you are suggesting.
If I do manage to figure out how to do what you have suggested will this restore my iPhoto Library and I assume maybe other files?
Thanks!

Why is there so much available space on my hard drive after installing Lion?

I just made the decision to go ahead and install the new operating system "Lion"
I backed everything up to my Time Capsule and I have an older back up of everything on an external hard drive.
Now I have two questions and one task.
Why is there so much available space on my hard drive and where did my iPhoto library go after installing the new operating system?
My task is to restore my most up to date iPhoto library which I assume is on my time capsule.
How should I approach this task?

Hi entresoft,
I am not sure how to do this. I am not a very literate computer person but have a vague idea of what you are suggesting.
If I do manage to figure out how to do what you have suggested will this restore my iPhoto Library and I assume maybe other files?
Thanks!

Hard Drive Capacity Issue -- 51 GBs missing btwn utilized and avail space

I have a 200MB internal hard drive.
My SYSTEM PROFILER states:
Capacity=185.99GB (which I understand due to system use, etc)
Available= 26.25 GB (odd)
This available space reading seemed odd as I don't have much data on the HD (transferred files using Migration Assistant from a 80gb, 1.67ghz older G4 laptop).
So I went to the ACTIVITY MONITOR and looked at DISK USAGE at it states:
Space Utilized= 99.14 GB
Space Free= 25.85 GB
With a total of 124.99 GB between the two (the adjacent pie chart total)
MY QUESTION: If I have a HD with a capacity of 185.99 GB, with only 99.14 GB utilized, why is the space free missing 51 GBs? Where did this memory space go?
Note: I have never partitioned the Hard Drive or created any sort of RAM Disk.
Anyone? Please help.

UPDATE BUT STILL NO ANSWER:
Ran DISK UTILITY which fixed some minor errors and how states "Volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK"
But the issue remains - I have a 200GB hard drive but the data at the bottom of this utility reads:
Capacity : 186.0 GB (199,705,673,728 Bytes)
Available : 26.3 GB (28,291,375,104 Bytes)
Used : 98.6 GB (105,916,047,360 Bytes)
Number of Folders: 173,085
Number of Files: 886,070
HOW CAN I ONLY HAVE 26.3GB available when I have only used 98.6GB of 186GB = Should be a 87.4 GB balance available, not 26.3 GB, right????????
What is the deal here? Is this related to MobileMe or iPhone issue maybe?
The hardware start-up test and disk utility test are all clean. Someone? Anyone?
Thanks!

Verbatim disk drive historically used only for time machine backups. Recently i added some other media files to use some of available space without partitioning, the disc now refuses to mount in finder despite appearing in disk utility. Repair fails. HELP

Sorry to elaborate a bit more.
I have used time machine since owning my mac book pro with no issues. i keep the timemachine backups on an external hard drive made by Verbatim. This has not external power source.
Recently i decided to use up some of the available space on the external verbatim disk drive to store some movie files which were sitting on my macbook pro.
Therefore i created a new folder outside of the time machine backup folder and stored the movie files in there.
From then on Time machine failed... and a few days later i noticed it was not mounting in 'finder'
Therefore i used disk utility to see if it was recognising it. Which i was. However when i try to repair it the repair process fails.
In disk utility i am presented with 1 TB Samsung HN M10 which has a child called Verbatim HD.
The 1TB Samsung hardware appears fine, but the verbatim disk i am unable to fully verify and fix.
Does this mean i have lost all my back ups?
Have I lost all the media that i put on there?
Is there any way to fix this?
Any help would be appreciated.
didier07...

To summarize: You used an external Verbatim HD for your TM backups. Then, you stored some movie files on the "spare" space on the Verbatim drive. Now, Disk Utility isn't being recognized, and repair is disabled. Your home Samsung drive is working fine, but the Verbatim cannot be verified.
The problem, I believe, is that the external Verbatim drive wasn't partitioned. There should be two partitions: one for TM backups, the other for video. That way, you can perform backups, and still retain some space for video or somesuch.
Frankly, I don't know how to fix this except through the following. (1) Erase the Verbatim drive, (2) Create a new blank space and format it, (3) Make two partitions - one for backup, the other for video. (4) Run TM through one partition, but switch to the other for your videos. The better solution might be to have one dedicated drive (perhaps the Verbatim) for backups, and another dedicated drive for video backups; that way, you'll have plenty of space for expansion.
I hope someone will correct me if I'm incorrect, but I believe you've essentially lost your backups and media. I don't know how you can retrieve that clump of the now-undifferentiated data on the Verbatim drive. To retrieve any lost data, you're going to require another external drive that's larger in capacity, as well as data recovery software; don't expect encouraging results. If you're desperate, there are firms like Drive Savers that can offer a more comprehensive solution - at a cost.
Post if you have questions, or additional concerns!

HT5318 Ever since I updated what looked like iTunes 10.6.1 my computer has been corrupted with Malware, which has filled up all available space on my hard drive. What do I do to get rid of the Malware?

Ever since I updated what looked like iTunes 10.6.1 my computer has been corrupted with Malware, which has filled up all available space on my hard drive. What do I do to get rid of the Malware?

First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
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 really see everything, you have to run it as root.
First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
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.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
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 this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

External hard drive has no available space even though i have deleted nearly everything on there

I have an external hard drive for backups and it has no available space even though i have deleted nearly everything on there. Where is the space?

Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

When I plug in a Lexar thumb drive, I get a "USB Low Power Notice' saying it cannot operate because it needs more power than is available. This is new. Thumb drives worked last week. Any suggestions? Is this an apple or a Lexar issue?

When I plug in a Lexar thumb drive, I get a "USB Low Power Notice' saying it cannot operate because it needs more power than is available. This is new. Thumb drives worked last week. Any suggestions? Is this an apple or a Lexar issue?

Apple intentional, use a powered USB hub instead.

My hard drive icon has gone from finder. how do i check available space?

I normally check my available hard drive space by clicking on the icon hardrive in finder window. However in Lion its not there. where is it? How do i check available space?

Go to Finder Preferences (in the Finder menu) > General tab, make sure the item "Hard Disks" is checkmarked. Once it is, your hard drive's icon should appear on the desktop in the rightmost column.
You can also maintain a quickly viewable summary. In Finder, go to the View menu and select Show Status Bar. That will add a narrow area at the bottom of each Finder window. In that area will be shown the amount of free space remaining on the drive, as well as the number of items in that folder.

Available space on MacBook Pro Doesn't Update After Moving Files to iCloud Drive

I need to free up space on my MacBook Pro and have moved about 10 GB of files from my MacBook Pro to my iCloud Drive; however, the available space on my MacBook Pro doesn't show that 10 GB additional space available. How do I get my MacBook Pro available space to recognize that additional 10 GB as available?

No. Sorry. You may want to look into something like the WD My Cloud drive. I've seen the 2TB version refurbished on the WD site for as low as $99 recently. I considered one myself, but I'm not pushed for space as I have an iMac at home with a 500 GB internal drive and 4TB of external storage attached. I don't need that much accessible remotely. What I do need I sync with Dropbox or OneDrive (which also behave the same way as iCloud drive in that they sync to local storage and still consume disk space).

Recently, I have been unable to import all of the "songs" or discs from multi-CD operas in itunes to my ipod classic or network hard drive. Only 1 or 2 discs import despite plenty of available space in both devices. Very frustrating! Any suggestions?

Recently, I have been unable to import all of the "songs" or discs from multi-CD operas in itunes to my ipod classic or Seagate network hard drive. Only 1 or 2 discs or 20 or so "songs" out of a total of 40 - 80 import despite plenty of available space in both devices. When I check itunes, each opera disc with all of the "songs" are listed. Very frustrating! Any suggestions?

right click on the songs that do transfer and select create aac version then re sync
Peace, Clyde

I have iPhoto 4.0.3. I want to know if it will take less space on my 8 GB thumb drive if I scale the photos smaller

Hi -- My computer is gonna hold itself hostage unless I free up some space! I figure a good place to start is with photos. I have iPhoto 4.0.3 and want to export my photos to an 8 GB thumb drive. Would it be better for me to export them as jpegs? If I can scale the photos to be smaller size, will the require less space? Any help for an old-timer with old-timey stuff?

Any time you reduce the file size, i.e. read qualtiy, or file dimension, i.e. read height and length in pixels, you will reduce space needed to store the photo on a hard drive or flash drive. But both will reducer the quality of the photos. The first, reduces the image quality by using more jpeg compression while saving the image file and the other throws away a good part of the data, i.e. pixels, thus reducing the size of a photos you can print in high resolution.
What with the low cost of external hard drives why not get an external hard drive to move your iPhoto library to and run it from there. That way you can recover important free space, (10 GB minimum free space is recommended for optimal system and application performance).
Or keep a full library on the external HD and a smaller library on your boot drive with just the more recent or necessary photos. You can use iPhoto Library Manager to copy events or album between the two libraries and keep keywords, titles, and other metadata intact.
However, if you must degrade the photos to save space I would export the photos as Format=JPEG, Quality=Medium and Size=Full size.
What you plan to do with the reduced size photos on the flash drive.
OT

I'm a new Apple user - when I deleted some large files the available space didn't increase - I emptied the trash - am i missing a step to tidy the hard drive?

I'm a new Apple user - when I deleted some large files the available space on the hard drive in the activity monitor
didn't increase - I emptied the trash - am i missing a step to tidy the hard drive?

Open the Finder.
From the Finder menu bar top of your screen click View > Show Status Bar
You should now see the the free space available at the bottom of any Finder window and that should change after you empty the Trash.
Freeing Up Hard Disk Space - Mac GuidesFreeing Up Hard Disk Space - Mac Guides

Thumb Drive Available Space

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