disappearing HDD space

zombiecakes said:

What could be causing a massive temporary decrease in HDD space?

When I do a reboot I have around 10gbs left on the OSX partition, but after a few days I end up with 1gb. If I reboot then it goes back to 10.

I mostly just use Chrome, along with lightweight apps like QT, VLC, iTunes. Quitting those apps doesnt free up much space. I also sleep the computer a lot.

Is there a way to tell what app is using up so much space? Or is there a bug that isnt deleting temporary files until restart?

Click to expand...

How much RAM do you have? Do you have significant page outs? Do you use Time Machine for backups?

zombiecakes said:

What could be causing a massive temporary decrease in HDD space?

When I do a reboot I have around 10gbs left on the OSX partition, but after a few days I end up with 1gb. If I reboot then it goes back to 10.

I mostly just use Chrome, along with lightweight apps like QT, VLC, iTunes. Quitting those apps doesnt free up much space. I also sleep the computer a lot.

Is there a way to tell what app is using up so much space? Or is there a bug that isnt deleting temporary files until restart?

Click to expand...

I have the same issue. I think it is a bug in 10.8.3. Sometimes toggling the Time Machine backups on and off will give back a little bit of space since some of that is being used up in the local time machine backups, but there is still missing space beyond that that will only come back after a reboot. It's especially weird since I have 0 page outs (hence plenty of free RAM).

I've noticed it has to do with the VM size, it keeps swelling up and the HDD space shrinks proportionality. Upon reboot the VM is small again. So I guess there are some memory management issues.

zombiecakes said:

4gbs, no time machine, never checked page outs

Click to expand...

Next time you're running out of space, check to see if you have page outs.

I use Daisy Disk, which is a utility that gives a graphical depiction of space used on a drive, that I use in times where I need to see what is taking up disk space. It is a really quick and easy way of finding out how space on your hard drive is used. Disk Inventory X is free I think, and like Daisy Disk, is a visual way of depicting drive space usage (though not as pretty and interactive as DD).
Hope this helps in someway.

The problem of disappearing HDD space (only to return after reboot) seems to be fixed for me on 10.8.4, no more lost space after hours of usage and especially returning from sleep.