What is the other storage on my hard drive?

Hello,
My name is Corey, and just recently I noticed on my MacBook Pro that a large portion of my storege is filled with "other". What is this "other" storage and how and I free up the storege on my hard drive? Here is a photo for reference.
Thanks.

For hints on how to free disk/SSD storage see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5779274?tstart=0

Similar Messages

HT1689 what is the "other" storage on my iphone 4 and how to i delete it?

Again what is the "other" storage on my iphone 4 and how to i delete it?

There will always be some other - favorites, history, voicemail and other items.
Much more than a GB or so indicates corrupt files. A restore should resolve.

What is the proceedure for replacing a hard drive (after failure) for RAID 5 with IX4-300D?

I have the IX4-300D with 4 hard drives (identical Seagate drives) using RAID 5.
Someday a hard drive will fail and I and I have to replace it. I read through the users manual briefly and I didn't see any documentation on how to perform a hard drive replacement and not lose any data.
So here are my questions:
1) I know per the instructions that Lenovo prefers using identical hard drives. Let's say in 2 years, 1 hard drive fails. Most likely, the same model Seagate hard drive will not be available. So will using a replacement hard drive by the same manufacturer with similar specifications work?
2) Will the front panel (or the software) tell me which hard drive has failed?
3) What is the proceedure for replacing a hard drive after a failure occurs? I read that the IX4-300D is not hot-swappable. So do I just power the IX4-300D down, replace the hard drive, and turn it back on?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi exceptionalht,
It is best to replace the hard drive with one that is the same manufacturer, rotational speed, and capacity, so it does not have to be exactly the same model.
The front panel should show which drive has failed. If not you can check the web interface to find out.
That is the basic procedure for replacing a hard drive. You can see a more detailed instructions here: Installing hard drives in an ix4-300d
Have questions and need answers?
Search the database for answers to FAQ's, software/driver downloads, tutorials, news, features and more!
LenovoEMC Support & Downloads
LenovoEMC North America Support Contact Page

What is the opt folder in my hard drive?

What is the opt folder used for in my hard drive? All I know it has some files for GIMP and gutenprint.
Should I leave that folder alone?

Many open-source software projects (like gimp) use the /opt folder. If it's not there, they will create it when you install them.
In a standard unix-like operating system (and darwin, the unix-like foundation of mac os x is no different), the core binaries are installed in /usr/bin or /usr/sbin, and core libraries are installed in /usr/lib, and there are specific directories where the system looks for specific types of information... However there are lots of dependencies amongst this core functionality: more than one binary application can use the same library.
If the user decided to install some additional software, (and usually the admin password is needed to do it, right), the user has authorized the installer to do what it needs to do to get the software installed, even if this means updating one of the libraries to the most recent version. In this case, what happens to all the other software already installed that used the old library? Well... what happens, is none of the old programs work anymore.
The workaround has been to create a separate directory for additional software installs, so that the core functionality in /usr won't be threatened. Many software projects created a directory inside /usr called /usr/local in which they install their components. Other projects use the /opt directory. Others use /opt/local.
This is why, in unix-like operating systems, you find repititions of the same folders in other folders (i.e., there is a /usr/bin and a /usr/local/bin and an /opt/bin). The "bin" is a common name for folders that contain binaries (commands and applications that are executable and built for the specific operating system that they are running under), and "lib" is a common name for folders that contain libraries. You can find "bin" and "lib" folders throughout your system.
One downside to this is that additional programs installed into the "opt" directory could interfere with the ones that are already there, and for this reason, some programs will create their own directory all to themselves and install everything they need there, even if most of it is a copy of libraries that are already present somewhere else on the system--space is less and less of an issue in the age of terrabytes.
If you learn make your own binaries by compiling them from source code (way easier than it sounds, as you usually only have to type "./configure" and wait an hour for it to finish, "make", wait another hour, and then "make install"--really that's all there is to it) then you can control which directories the software uses (whether to use /usr, /opt, or to create a new directory entirely) plus you can run lots of cool free software.
So that's what the opt folder on your hard drive is for.

What does the other storage consist of?

My macbook is saying that the internal storage is almost full.
I would like to try and clear some of my 'Other' but i am not sure what it consists of.

OmniDiskSweeper is a freeware program that catalogs your drive and shows what you have and how much space it uses. You may find it useful. There are other similar shareware programs that are somewhat friendlier. You may find it useful to look at some of them including WhatSize and DaisyDisk.
Keep in mind that media files (video, music, & digital photos) tend to be very large while documents tend to be rather small in the greater scheme of things. Applications run the gamut from small to gargantuan. For this reason I tend to look at media first.

My storage, it says I have 44.58GB of "other storage"? How can I find out what is the "other" storage and/or delete it?

HELP! My storage, it says I have 44.58GB of "other" storage. How can I find out what this "other" storage is and/or delete it? I have no space available to update or download the software for my personal cloud.

About “Other”:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202867
Go step by step and test.
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13806
3. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
Local backups
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
4. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.
    iTunes > Preferences > Devices
    Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
5. Re-index Macintosh HD.
    This will take a while. Wait until it is finished.
    System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409
6.Try OmniDiskSweeper. This will give the storage size details of the items.
   https://www.omnigroup.com/more
   Select Macintosh HD and click “Sweep Selected Drive” at the bottom.
   Delete the files you don’t want to keep.
   Be careful. Delete only the files that can be safely deleted.

What is the "Other" Storage Category

I am trying to clean up the contents of my iPhone 4, and I have 3GB of "Other" material (the yellow bar in my iTunes summary). What type of data makes up the "Other" category, and how can I clean this up?
Thanks!

A ' Large Other ' usually indicates Corrupt Data...
First Try a Restore from Backup... But... if the Large Other Persists, that is an Indicator of Corrupt Data in the Backup... Then a Restore as New is the way to go...
Details Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
More Info in this Discussion
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19958116

What are the symptons of macbook pro hard drive not running fast enough

what are the symptons of the hard drive not running fast enough

Physically the drive will be as fast as any other of its class, and if not then it's experiencing a mechanical issue that should prompt a warning or two in the system, especially if you use a drive management tool like Disk Utility that checks the drive's built-in "S.M.A.R.T." diagnostics.
As for "logical speed," if there are bad blocks on the drive where sectors cannot be read or written to because of a breakdown of the storage medium, then this can result in a program or the entire system crashing or hanging (generally the latter is the case), where it usually pauses for a number of seconds at a time. This is usually accompanied by messages that state "I/O Error" or other similar warning in the OS X Console (in the Applications > Utilities folder).
Beyond this, drive formatting errors such as might happen after a crash or power outage can result in similar hang-like behavior, though this is usually not as distinct of a hanging behavior as is seen with bad blocks.
Finally, if the drive is simply full of files or highly fragmented (not as much of a problem in OS X, but it can happen), then this can reduce access time for reading and writing files, and prevent the system from optimizing the use of RAM, which can result in overall slowdowns. Heavy drive use can also cause similar bottlenecks, but this is ususally only an intermittent issue during a time when you are performing a heavy file transfer or copying process, or other task that occupies access to the drive's index and formatting (e.g., if you check it for errors with Disk Utility, then you may see the system pause or slow down during the check).

How do I reduce OTHER storage on my Hard drive...

How does one reduce the OTHER store on the hard drive. I have a 160G hard drive and constantly get reminded of lack of storage on my drive. I have reduced by transferring photos to an external drive but am trying to find out what and how to reduce the OTHER category in the storage on the drive...

This will shed some light on, "other" > OSX Tips The Storage Display

What is the best pre-installed external hard drive for my macbook pro?

I need advise on what kind of pre-enstalled external hard drive which supports both usb and firewire to get for my new macbook pro? I would like to stay in the $100. range but am willing to go higher .

giftshopgurl wrote:
pre-enstalled external hard drive
Pre-installed with what?
Your best bet is to always format a new hard drive, so there are no surprises.
If you buy an external HD specifying ready for Mac ( or some such) it will cost you more for nothing.

What is the warranty on a replacement hard drive in a Macbook Pro.

I had my hard drive replaced less than a year ago, (out of warranty of course) and lo and behold it is doing the same thing again and the apple store is telling me that it is not under warranty and warranty is 90 days. Also says I need a "hard drive bracket" that should have been installed at time of replacement but that is also gonna cost me another $56.00, Maybe I should have went with a Windows computer and avoided all this costly repair on my $3000.00 paper weight.

I'm not sure exactly what the tech at the apple store was referring to when he mentioned the hd bracket. But I do know he said it includes replacing the wire that connects to the hd which sometimes becomes kinked and causes problems. When I asked him why they didn't replace it at the time of the last hd replacement he said it was not standard procedure at the time, but now Apple wants it replaced anytime a hd is replaced. In my opinion they are admitting that there is a problem and it should be replaced for free, but they don't seem to feel the same. They also said there isn't a known issue with the hd in these units, but it seems kinda weird that if that is whats wrong with mine, it will be the second time and I'm sure I don't have over 100 hours of use on it since it was replaced last time.

What is the exact type of internal hard drive I buy?

Hi all, I want to upgrade my 160GB drive, can someone advise me on what exactly it is I have to buy. And also th ebest name brands. I have macbook 13". I know western digital are pretty good, any other ideas?
Tracy

Any 2.5" notebook SATA drive up to 320 GBs will work. The Samsung 500 GB drive will also work as it's the only one that is 9.5 mm high and will fit in a MacBook.
Notebook drives are available from many different manufacturers: Seagate, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Western Digital to name a few. You can find benchmarks, comparisons, and reviews at Bare Feats and Storage Review.

What are the "other" files on the hard drive and how can I reduce them

Advice please - what are the "other" files on my hard drive and can I reduce or clear them - currently taking up over 90 gig of disk space

WZZZ wrote:
"Other" than what?
In About This Mac > Storage -
...the yellow stuff.
I believe "Other" is primarily System and System-related files.

What is the "other" that is suddenly taking up so much space on my hard drive?

How do I find what is the "other" listed on my hard drive and clean it up? Seems to be taking almost 80gb's of space now. Also on my iPhone and iPad, although much less space is being taken.

read "more like this".

"other" segment on MBA hard drive

The "other" segment on MBA hard drive is too large, taking 80% of its capacity. How can I identify what these files are and reduce the volume?

Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
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.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
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.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click the line of text below on this page 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.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders. It may take some minutes for ODS to list all the 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.

What is the other storage on my hard drive?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for