What is the startup disk

my mac gives me the message that the startup disk is almost full, what can i do?

You may find this Link helpful...
http://macmost.com/what-to-do-when-your-hard-drive-is-full.html

Similar Messages

  • What does the startup Disk do ?

    i'm a new mac user, and i still don't know what all the option on the mac does, one of those is the startup disk
    i really like to know what does the startup disk do .
    thank you

    The hard drive would need to be formatted properly and have a valid operating system on it.
    For example, if your computer shipped with OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), the external hard drive would have to be formatted correctly and have Snow Leopard installed on it. Once the installation is completed, the drive should be bootable.
    ~Lyssa

  • What is the startup disk that the iMac says is full?

    Where is the startup disk and how can I access it to delete files.

    Do a search for and downlaod and install OmniDisk Sweeper and OnyX.
    Hard drive getting full or near full?
    Here are some of my tips for deleting or archiving data off of your internal hard
    Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
    If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
    If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
    Other things you can do to gain space.
    Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive older emails you want to save to disc, Flash drive/s or to ext. hard drive.
    Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
    Again, archive to disc, Flash drive or ext. hard drive and/or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
    Uninstall apps that you no longer use. If the app has a dedicated uninstaller, use it to completely uninstall the app. If the app has no uninstaller, then just drag it to the OS X Trash icon  and empty the Trash.
    Also, if you save old downloaded  .dmg application installer  files, you can either archive and delete these or just delete the ones you think you'll never install, again.
    Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
    When you install and launch it, let it do its thing initially, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run all of the processes in the tabs. 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.
    If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be thinned out, moved, also, to the external hard drive and then either archived to disc, Flash drive or ext. hard drive and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
    Good Luck!

  • My MacBook Air keeps alerting that the startup disk is full and I've deleted applications, iTunes and MobileSync backups. What else??

    I don't consider myself an advanced Mac user but I'm really trying to use my Macbook Air much more than I do... but the biggest hurdle for me is that it's been alerting me that the startup disk has been full for several months now no matter what I do.  I'm on 10.9.1 OSX and can't even update to the newer version because I'm always out of space.  I have 4GIGs of memory and a 60GB SSD of which 52GB are in use.  Using OmniDisk Sweeper, I see I have 14.6 GB in Library of which 8.1 GB is Mail and 5GB is Application Support (and I have nearly 480 MB in Caches and 191 in Containers, 131MB in Messages).  As for the rest, I've deleted my iTunes content multiple times but my iTunes library STILL says 1.7GBs in Music.  I also have 672MB in Movies which I moved to an external drive and trashed so I'm not sure what still exists here.  I only have 2 movie files and I deleted them both!  I also have 16.9 MB in hob, whatever that is.
    I have 32.8 MB in Logs, 19.8 in Safari, 7.9 MB in Calendars, 5.6MB in Google, 4.3MB in Preferences (!!), and 1.6MB in GameKit (not sure what this is), 1.1MB in KeyChains.
    I'm just not sure what's going on.  I have everything backed up via SuperDuper on a huge external drive and when I delete on my Mac, it doesn't seem to "take."  Is is syncing that's the problem?  Are my iTunes music files from my iPhone reinstalling back on the Mac as are all my photos and movies?  I don't have that checked in iTunes so that shouldn't be happening either.
    Again, I'm not an advanced user so maybe I'm not completing a final step to make sure it doesn't sync with my other devices (I also have an iPad mini).  I like to get messages on my Macbook Air when I'm not near my phone but if it means I have 131MB in Messages that I can't pare down, I'd rather not.  I see no way to reduce the Messages file so that it's not so large.  I definitely want to get a handle on this before I even consider upgrading to a Macbook with more RAM and a bigger hard drive. 
    Final thoughts: Should I delete my mail accounts and just check mail on the web?  Can I delete most of the files in Application Support or leave them alone?  What's the difference between the MobileSync files and the MSYNC files?
    Thanks in advance for help!

    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

  • I'm trying to up grade the os but I keep getting the startup disk is full I ordered more memory I was told this will not help. What do I do?

    I'm trying to up grade the os but I keep getting the startup disk is full I ordered more memory I was told this will not help. What do I do?

    I think as drive capacities increase, the old 10-15% becomes less accurate.  The amount of free space you need doesn't really have anything to do with the drive size.  So, increasing your drive size shouldn't mean that you need to have more free GB (which using a % of drive space would mean).  You need free space to accommodate page outs (the amount of which would depend on how much RAM you have installed and how memory intensive the applications are), sleep images (again, this would max out at your total amount of RAM), and a bit to minimize fragmentation.
    With desktop drives commonly in the 2TB range today, it is certainly not necessary to have 200GB+ free in order to maintain proper operation.  I generally find about 30GB to be the minimum I'm comfortable with.  Mind you, I pretty much always have way more than that available.  But, if I'm working on a system and the amount of free space is at least 30GB, I would generally not site drive space as the cause of any performance issues.  I'd say that 30GB is a minimum for a stable system (with 8GB or RAM installed).  Of course at that amount, you would still need to free up space if you were to want to install or download any significant amount of data.
    With servers being more likely to run into the 16GB of RAM range, more storage would be necessary.  Most servers should be well stocked with storage, but the actual needs would vary greatly depending on what's being "served".
    The 10-15% thing came about when we used to talk about drive capacities in hundreds of MBs and RAM in terms of KB (not MB and certainly not GB).  More drive space is always a good thing, but as drive capacities continue to sky rocket, we don't need to dedicate larger amounts of storage on systems with the same specifications.  A set amount of space is required for proper operation regardless of the capacity of the drive installed.

  • What is OTHERS mean under the startup disk category???

    Hello guys, I am facing troubles with the Startup disk. I am getting the message that says " your start up disk is full"...this is not the case, the problems is the category OTHER, i could not find which files goes under that ?? the other categories such as photos, and movies are clear.
    I want to know what kind of files goes under category OTHERS so i find them and ears them.
    Pleas help...

    Grand perspective is fine. But why does every progressive update of Ios make it more difficult to execute such regular maintainence/ why should i have to download a second party piece of software and sit through a long scan just to find the "other" files that are suddenly filling my hard drive? I freed up to 60 GB three weeks ago and now I'm down to 4GB.  Since they were the likely suspect, I deleted my iphone and ipad back-ups. I deleted them all because  I couldn't figure out on lion how to delete the latest ones. still only got back 8 GB. Something unexplainable is eating all my disc space and it should be easier to find it. Maybe the "it just works" motto has finally crossed into PC micro management lunacy.

  • My Macbook air keeps getting a message saying that the startup disk is full. I don't have picture, music, or movies on it. Im not sure whats wrong with it.

    My Macbook air keeps getting a message saying that the startup disk is full. I don't have picture, music, or movies on it. Im not sure whats wrong with it.

    The first step is to check and see how much space really is there.  From the desktop right click on the drive in the upper right corner (at least it's there by default) and select "Get Info" to see how much space it reports as free.
    It's not just media files that eat up disk space, though they are often a major contributor.  Do you happen to be running one of the virtual machine programs (Parallels or VMWare Fusion)?  When you create a guest drive there you normally have a fairly decent amount of disk space dedicated to it and that can fill the drive.
    As well, a quick fix that may buy you some time is to empty the trash if you've not done so recently.  Click on the trash folder in your dock and then in the window that comes up select the option to empty the trash.
    If you can free up some space, there are programs that will help you find what files and directories are using disk space.  I've used Space Gremlin (in the App store) for that sort of thing, though there others.  If you run that sort of utlity you'll get some idea about what is really eating up the drive space.

  • 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

  • I want to erase my macbook files and reinstall the startup disk. I have backed up old files. whats the best approach?

    i want to erase all my macbook files and OS and reinstall the startup disk. I have backed up old files on separate HD. Whats the best approach for a smooth reinstall.? I haven't done this in years.

    I found a great short article by Aaron Sumner posted 02/02 which clearly explains the process. Thanks.

  • HT3680 My 3 year old iMac is freezing and I get a message "startup disk almost full for running applications. delete files..." Where do I find the startup disk and what should I delete?

    My 3 year old Mac is having trouble and freezes up from time to time lately. I get a message saying "startup disk almost full, delete files ..." something about having enough room for applications to function.  I know my startup disk is the Macintosh HD, but what kind of files do I need to delete and how much space do I need to free up?  In my "about this mac" area, it says I have 4.89gb free out of 319.21  So I am confused why I need to do this.

    You're less than 2% free and should always have at least 15% (my SWAG). Best is to get an ext FWHD and move stuff from the startup disk to it and delete it from that. Best things to move are movies, music, and photos, using the apps that manage those things.

  • Trying to get rid of error "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition". Recovery HD visible.

    Hello,
    I've been stuck for some hours now trying different things to install Windows 7 on my Macbook Air, and I think now is the time to call for some custom help.
    I'm using OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks.
    So some months ago I just wanted to run Linux on my laptop so I installed rEFInd, shrunk the Macintosh HD partition by 25GB and booted on a linux live USB flash I burned using dd.
    Then I used gparted to create my linux partitions.
    It worked just fine, even though disk utility from OS X seemed quite unhappy about this (it seemed to have incorrect informations about the filesystem on these partitions, seeing them as journaled Mac OS while they were clearly not). At this point already, the Recovery HD from mac showed up in disk utility, which I found weird but didn't bother me.
    But recently I needed windows on my Mac. So after a few tries for the triple boot, I managed to create a bootable USB stick with boot camp, which already showed me the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" and hence refused to partition/install himself.
    So I thought "OK, that's no big issue, I can just partition with disk utility and then boot on the USB stick and everything will work fine". But when EFI booting on the USB flash drive I got stuck at the beginning of Windows installer with no keyboard or mouse support.
    After some hours spent googling, I was unable to find a working fix for that, and as there was no support for my case (where I used bootcamp to create the bootable flash but NOT to partition/reboot) I decided to give bootcamp a try.
    So I erased my linux partitions, and cleaned up everything I could on the HD with disk utility. That means I now have two partitions showing in disk utility : Macintosh HD and Recovery HD.
    When using disk utility from terminal, the list is :
    /dev/disk0
       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
       2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            80.0 GB    disk0s2
       3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery HD             650.1 MB   disk0s3
    But boot camp still isn't happy, and the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" keeps popping after the intro and I can't partition/boot from bootcamp.
    So, as I don't understand what is wrong here anymore, any help would be greatly appreciated!
    I will be watching the thread a lot because I really would like this resolved (or windows installed one way or another) this weekend; so any questions on my past manipulations or config just ask!
    Thank you.

    keyboard issues are also something of a common issue.
    I wish the best threads were voted to the top of forums, something! Me, I literally burned out here, but after installing 10 Preview, wanted to "see what was going on" after hiatus of a couple years and see if anything had changed (no, not really!)
    Also, these new Communities are not putting "more like this" and failing to help too.
    I think rewriting Boot Camp Assistant's built in help and pdf would help a lot, and needs to be clearer and go into details. And Yosemite was not it seems tested against Boot Camp, and drivers for new Macs + new OS also lag behind. Again, common and no sign of improvement or change.
    One of the tricks to the "can't partition" is rather simple - of course backup is step #1 and is spelled out - SHRINK the main HFS+ partition! then stretch it back to full length. Sometimes a reboot is needed, and sometimes even do a Safe Boot - not sure what but Recovry Mode might be a good option too. That does seem to consolidate free space, move files that are locked and cannot be moved otherwise, and allow BCA to partition, jusst be sure to have enough space left and large enough for a proper Windows install (and fudge factor).

  • The startup disk can't be used as a restore source

    Dear,
    can anybody tell, whenver i tried to clone (thru disk utility using firwire cable ) my macbookpro with imac (latest one), it shows me the folloing information/error
    i.e.
    The startup disk can’t be used as a restore source.
    To use this disk as a source, restart your computer using the recovery system, and open Disk Utility again.
    Followed the below steps_________________________
    Disk Utility>  Selected HDD > Restore (tab) > drag hdd  to SOURCE (it is my MBP) > dragged hdd to DESTINATION (it is iMac) > Restore
    Looking your reply.
    Regards
    K.Pradhan

    Are you trying to copy the OSX drive from a MacBookPro to an iMac?  If so, be glad it won't let you.  Most likely, it won't run at all; if it does, all sorts of things will go wrong.
    What are you trying to do?   If you're trying to set one Mac up like another one, see How do I set up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC?

  • My Macbook doesn't recognise the startup disk

    I started having problems with Yosemite and lion (installed in the same hard drive, different partitions) so i erase all and instal mavericks, the macbook is late 2009 stock but i don't have startup disk, when i install mavericks it tells me that wont boot and it went an error trying to install, so i am able to boot with the alt key but my mac doesn't recognise de boot disk, when i try to select the startup disk on preferences it tells me: "You can’t change the startup disk to the selected disk. The bless tool was unable to set the current boot disk.", what i can do, i can boot with the alt key but it doesn't boot automatically.

    If you erase a drive, then in order to install Lion or later you must first install Snow Leopard 10.6.8. You can install Snow Leopard using the installer discs that came with your computer when it was new. You can then update the version of Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 by downloading the combo updater.

  • I have Mac OS X, using boot camp i installed windows 7.  installation was successful but when i try to select to boot back to mac os x via boot camp from Windows 7 control panel, its saying "You may not have privileges to change the startup disk..."

    from the boot camp control panel, highlighted "Macintosh HD Mac OS X", click on Restart button or click OK or click Apply buttons gave me "An error occurred while trying to change the startup disk.  You may not have privileges to change the startup disk.  Make sure you have administrative privileges and try again."
    Im logged in to Windows 7 as admin thou but still giving me the above message.
    i rebooted & the option key does not give me option to boot to Mac instead gives me a screen with lock then below is a blank field then a right arrow on the right side, i normally hit the power button from this screen
    please help
    thx

    sorry for digging up an old thread, but what was the problem?

  • "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”

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