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+--- Thread: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk (/showthread.php?tid=68581)
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Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - jeffstick - 12-18-2008
Help!
I keep getting info my Start-up Disk is almost full. I have all kinds of files, emptied the trash, and still the same message. I'm on an older G4, running Tiger OSX 10.4.11 and DSL. Cyber-autistic operator.
Thanks for any advice on what I can do.
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - jardster - 12-18-2008
try the program WhatSize. It'll tell you all the files and their size. Makes it much easier to figure out what to delete (like alternate languages... printers... etc)
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - RAMd®d - 12-18-2008
Google and download a *free* app called Grand Perspective.
Let it scan your entire HD and it will give you a graphical representation of all the files on your Mac.
Bigger block represent bigger files.
Also, boot your Mac while holding the Shift key for several seconds. This will allow it to boot into Safe Boot. This will run a file check on your HD and purge several cache folders. Log in, and when it reaches the desktop, restart. When it finishes booting up normally, empty the trash.
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - jeffstick - 12-18-2008
Thanks Jardster!
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - Forrest - 12-18-2008
jeffstick wrote:
Help!
I keep getting info my Start-up Disk is almost full. I have all kinds of files, emptied the trash, and still the same message. I'm on an older G4, running Tiger OSX 10.4.11 and DSL. Cyber-autistic operator.
Thanks for any advice on what I can do.
Ask Santa for a bigger hard drive >
<
P.S. - RAMd®d - 12-18-2008
When you look at files, be careful what you toss. Look for huge logs; old, bad pron that you don't *really* need, and various bits of flotsam and jetsam that you've gathered.
Other than log files, don't toss anything from the System folder unless you really know your way 'round there.
Also, look for .dmgs and apps that you may have D/L'ed but don't really need.
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - thermarest - 12-18-2008
Hmmm...don't know why deleting and emptying trash wouldn't help. How big were the files you trashed? How much space do you need to clear?
Sorry if this is obvious, but 1000kB=1MB and 1000MB=1GB. To clear off 1GB, you'd have to delete 20,000 50kb Word docs, for example.
My roommate this summer was trying to clear off space on his hard drive by deleting photos...200kB at time. You could spend all week deleting jpegs and word docs and not make a dent in HD space.
Disk Inventory X helps tell where the really big files are:
http://www.derlien.com/
Edit: wow, looks like several people beat me to it. I've never heard of Grand Perspective, but it sounds just like Disk Inventory X.
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - thermarest - 12-18-2008
Two more things:
1) Here's a good article on slimming down disk space:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/05/five-ways-to-slim-down-your-mac-os-x-install
2) the sleepimage file is huge, the size of all your RAM. This is a great one to delete and free up tons of space.
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - RAMd®d - 12-18-2008
2) the sleepimage file is huge, the size of all your RAM. This is a great one to delete and free up tons of space.
I just dumped mine from my BMB last night. It was 4G, the size of all my RAM. (Hm, where *did* I hear that?!)
But isn't that just a Leopard and/or Intel thing?
Re: Assistance with making space on Start-up Disk - thermarest - 12-18-2008
I'm pretty sure it started with Tiger. The feature called "safe sleep" writes the entire contents of ram to the HD. Then if/when power is lost (battery dies), no data is lost. This happens rarely to me and isn't worth 4GB, nor the time it takes to write that 4GB everytime I close the lid
This little utility helps:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/smartsleep.html