hard drive space

[reginaoak]

Hello,
I have a G4 computer that has the capacity of 57.26GB. It is also saying that I am using 48.81GB and have 8.44 GB available. Obviously, I need more space.

The thing I don't understand is that when I add up all the folders in my hard drive it is only 24.36GB. (not even close to 48.81GB)

Is there any way I can get more space on my hard drive without purchasing a new one?

Thank you~

[mad jew]

A good first step might be to work out the discrepancy between how much space you know you're using and how much space OSX thinks you're using. Try using an app like OmniDiskSweeper (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/) to do this. :)

[reginaoak]

Thank you very much.
I will try it.

[tektonnic]

or WhatSize (http://www.sh2.com/2005/05/27/whatsize-a-nifty-os-x-app/)

[iPhil]

The MadOne™ does give str8 problem solving ideas.... :D

Unless he's drinkin' and in a sleep deprivation state




:eek: :o :eek:

[reginaoak]

ok... I just tried the omnisweeper trial. I might not be doing this correctly but it seems that it is only reading 26GB on my hard drive (which I think is what I have) and asking what I want to delete but when I go into my "info" it is saying 49.61GB is being used. I don't want to delete anything I just want my lost 23GB back....
:confused: :(

[grapes911]

Sometimes just emptying the trash can return a lot of space. Many people just let deleted files pile up.

[reginaoak]

I have nothing in my trash

[baby duck monge]

How long has it been since you restarted your computer? It may sound odd, but it could be that you have used that much of your HD over time in virtual memory, and a restart should fix that.

[yellow]

The thing I don't understand is that when I add up all the folders in my hard drive it is only 24.36GB. (not even close to 48.81GB)

There are many hidden folders that can hold a lot of data, so adding up what you "see" in the Finder always falls short of what is actually on the disk.

I just tried the omnisweeper trial. I might not be doing this correctly but it seems that it is only reading 26GB on my hard drive (which I think is what I have) and asking what I want to delete but when I go into my "info" it is saying 49.61GB is being used. I don't want to delete anything I just want my lost 23GB back....

Open ODS, choose your boot drive, click the sweep button at the bottom, and wait.. until it's done. It will list the largst directory of disk space at the top. Most likely it's /private..

How about some screenshots to help us interpret what you're seeing?

[grapes911]

How long has it been since you restarted your computer? It may sound odd, but it could be that you have used that much of your HD over time in virtual memory, and a restart should fix that.
That is an excellent point.



But if that doesn't work, can you give us a screen shot of Disk Utility with your hard drive selected, or at least tell us what it says. Maybe something is getting mounted wrong. (Note: I doubt this is the problem, but we are running out of ideas. It's time to start check everything no matter how unlikely).

[plinden]

ok... I just tried the omnisweeper trial. I might not be doing this correctly but it seems that it is only reading 26GB on my hard drive (which I think is what I have) and asking what I want to delete but when I go into my "info" it is saying 49.61GB is being used. I don't want to delete anything I just want my lost 23GB back....
:confused: :(
Try WhatSize too. I've just tried out both and they didn't quite give me identical results. For example, /usr is 1.1GB using OmniDiskSweeper and 1.88GB using WhatSize. Not a big difference on my machine, but mine isn't yours.

An alternative is to open Terminal and type "cd /", then "du -h > ~/result.txt". You can then view result.txt in a text editor and see where the most disk space is being used. That's a little less user-friendly.

Edit: I changed "du -H" to "du -h"

[reginaoak]

Thank you for eveyone's help...
I have attached screen shots of both the omnidisksweeper and my disk utility...

[yellow]

ODS is not giving you the correct info.. are you an admin on the box? Please post the results of (from Terminal.app):

du -h -d1 /

(it will take a while)

Oh.. and for the record, you seem to be using a Norton product. Is it Norton AV or something else?

[plinden]

It might be a good idea to pipe the results of "du -h -d1 /" to a file, like I suggested before - you are going to get a very long list.

And please, try WhatSize. It's pretty much the same as OmniDiskSweeper but may give different results.

[reginaoak]

ok.... I hope I'm doing this right. Here is a screen shot of "what size" and below is the information I got from "terminal"

[Design-2s-Computer:~] design2% du -h -d1 /
251M / 2003 Organized Fonts
du: /.Trashes: Permission denied
0B /.vol
3.9G /Applications
113M /Applications (Mac OS 9)
1.5K /automount
3.4M /bin
0B /Cleanup At Startup
0B /cores
32K /Desktop Folder
8.7G /dev
1.1M /Documents
1.1M /hp LaserJet Folder
du: /Library/Logs/Console/admin: Permission denied
7.7G /Library
1.5K /Network
du: /private/etc/cups/certs: Permission denied
du: /private/var/backups: Permission denied
du: /private/var/cron: Permission denied
du: /private/var/db/dhcpclient: Permission denied
du: /private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb: Permission denied
du: /private/var/db/openldap/openldap-data: Permission denied
du: /private/var/db/openldap/openldap-slurp: Permission denied
du: /private/var/root: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/clientmqueue: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/cups: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/mqueue: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/active: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/bounce: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/corrupt: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/defer: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/deferred: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/flush: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/hold: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/incoming: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/maildrop: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/private: Permission denied
du: /private/var/spool/postfix/public: Permission denied
du: /private/var/tmp/tmp.0.6I03mH: Permission denied
du: /private/var/tmp/tmp.1.rPWTaK: Permission denied
du: /private/var/tmp/tmp.4.yhAHNu: Permission denied
du: /private/var/tmp/tmp.5.xhyMyr: Permission denied
du: /private/var/vm/app_profile: Permission denied
1.3G /private
2.1M /sbin
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/da.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Dutch.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/fi.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/German.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Italian.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Japanese.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/ko.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/no.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Non_localized/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/pt.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/Spanish.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied

[reginaoak]

du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/sv.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_CN.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Documents: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Library: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Movies: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Music: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /System/Library/User Template/zh_TW.lproj/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
1.0G /System
2.9G /System Folder
184M /TheFindByContentFolder
8.0K /TheVolumeSettingsFolder
du: /Users/admin/.Trash: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Desktop: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Documents: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Library: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Movies: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Music: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Pictures: Permission denied
du: /Users/admin/Public/Drop Box: Permission denied
8.7G /Users
300M /usr
du: /Volumes/WhatSize_10.3.91/.Trashes: Permission denied
182G /Volumes
217G /
[Design-2s-Computer:~] design2%

It didn't all fit...
:)

[yellow]

My bad.. I omitted the use of sudo in the command line use above, so all the "permission denied" are for this reason. Anyway, WhatSize seemed to work for you.

As you can see.. there's something in your /Library that is eating a lot of space.. unfortunately for you, it's probably related to iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand.

Beyond that, if you don't use Classic at all, then you can get rid of "/System Folder" and save yourself almost 3GB (As well as "/Applications (Mac OS 9)" for an additional 112MB).

Ultimately, I think you've just found out that you need a bigger hard drive. It seems you have Norton System Works or some other such Norton Util installed. I STRONGLY suggest you uninstall that ASAP. Norton's time with the Mac has passed into legend. It's current offerings for OS X are pathetic.

[reginaoak]

why is it that in "what size" on the top portion it says 26.6 GB but on the bottom I'm using 49.7GB? I know it wouldn't be the exact same number but shouldn't it be close?

[yellow]

Off hand I'd say that it's registering what can be see in the Finder. You'd have to look at the whatsize documentation for what that means.

[reginaoak]

When I add up all the items in "What size" it still only adds up to 26.6GB...
:(
Where is my other 23GB?

[yellow]

Looks like you're going to have to try again:

sudo du -h -d1 /

And post the results. This requires that you be an admin user on the Mac.

[WildCowboy]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

It looks like there's another user on your computer called "admin." Because your account doesn't have admin privileges (I assume), you can't see very much inside of admin's user folder using any of the methods outlined above. If you log into the admin account, I think you'll find your space. If it's not immediately obvious, run WhatSize or ODS from that account and show us what you see.

[yellow]

ODS is not giving you the correct info.. are you an admin on the box?

Yes.. you never answered that question that I saw. If you're not an admin, then ODS and WhatSize will not display the fully correct data.

[reginaoak]

I went into the admin account and did the "terminal" and the "ODS" Please see attached.

When I was in the admin account the hard drive had the same information regarding how much space I had available.

[WildCowboy]

My eyes are bugging out from all of this, but it looks like you have multiple user folders (cindy and cynthia) in the Trash of the admin account. Is this correct? Do you want to get rid of them? Then empty the trash...

[plinden]

Looking at your Terminal.pdf, there seems to be a lot of files in admin's .Trash folder. what do you get when you empty the admin account's Trash? Edit: WildCowBoy got there first.

[yellow]

Ack! Did you not use the -d1 flag?

Anyway, I think WildCowboy (and plinden) has your answer..

[reginaoak]

Now that I am home I would have to wait till tomorrow to check it out. (I was working on my work computer)

It is hard to believe that this admin account is holding 20GB of trash since today is the first time I actually went in after I started working there but I will definitely check it out.

Thank you so much...

[reginaoak]

I am so embarrassed....
:)
Yes, there was a good 9GB in the admin trash. It was before my time so I never thought to come in here to check..

Thank you so so much.

Now it says my hard drive capacity us 57.26GB
And I am using 40.07GB
(When I add up everything 24.36 GB)
I am still around 15GB short but someone did say it doesn't add up eactly. I am totally satisfied with my extra 9GB.
:)

Yellow, you did mention that you do not recommend "Norton". Can I ask you what product is good? I know my coworker once in while runs Norton on all the computers .

Thank you again for all your help!

[slooksterPSV]

I am so embarrassed....
:)
Yes, there was a good 9GB in the admin trash. It was before my time so I never thought to come in here to check..

Thank you so so much.

Now it says my hard drive capacity us 57.26GB
And I am using 40.07GB
(When I add up everything 24.36 GB)
I am still around 15GB short but someone did say it doesn't add up eactly. I am totally satisfied with my extra 9GB.
:)

Yellow, you did mention that you do not recommend "Norton". Can I ask you what product is good? I know my coworker once in while runs Norton on all the computers .

Thank you again for all your help!

NO Norton crashes Macs like heck. I'm serious, most people have issues with Norton and their other products. You may want to try repairing the hard drive, running a program like Onyx, erasing your free space then restart. I was playing around with the erase free space function and I lost 4GB. I had to restart to reclaim it. I know some companies just put their computers to sleep, sometimes not. Anyways, try those two/3/4 things.

[Church]

Hey, I just tested out WhatSize. It's pretty good! It only freed up about 0.5GB for me though, since I would like to keep all of the other stuff that is taking up a lot of space.

Oh, yeah. So now I have 5.88GB available on my 40GB hard drive (It was as low as 1.67GB until I deleted Quake 3 :'( ). Curse you 3GB of free music from SXSW! :D (If I had an iPod, I could free up 6GB worth of songs) :(

BTW, I'm making a movie, and that's taking up 11GB right now, and that's why I'm trying to free up space. Oh well, to the guy that was having problems, reginaoak, good luck!

[yellow]

I'd suggest running OSD or WhatSize when logged in as the admin user. You should get a proper idea of where everything is then.

Yellow, you did mention that you do not recommend "Norton". Can I ask you what product is good? I know my coworker once in while runs Norton on all the computers .

If it's for disk repair, then good 3rd party utils are Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro.

Please don't allow your co-worker to run Norton Util (system works, whatever) on there anymore. Symantec has dropped all OS X support except for their Anti-Virus apps, mainly because their utilities were ****** and caused far more problems than they solved.

[plinden]

Now it says my hard drive capacity us 57.26GB
And I am using 40.07GB
(When I add up everything 24.36 GB)
I am still around 15GB short but someone did say it doesn't add up eactly. I am totally satisfied with my extra 9GB.

Hmm, 15GB missing is still a large discrepancy. Anything else in the admin account? And yeah, maybe checking after a restart might show up something.

[reginaoak]

With my computer is restarted the info I have is:
57.26GB Capacity
17.06GB available
40.2GB Used

Attached is also a screenshot of ODS on my account and also the admin account.

Do you see anything I can delete?

Yellow, thank you for the info on "Disk Warrior" and "Tech Tool Pro"