External hard drive says it's full but it's not

[roostercharmer]

I hope this is in the right place to ask this question. I have an external hard drive 250 GB that I reformatted and partitioned so I could use 150 gig on a Mac and the rest on a PC (NTSF). I was trying to transfer some very large movie files onto the mac portion of my external hard drive from a mac computer, and it worked fine for a while, but then a screen popped up that told me I didn't have any space left when I know I did. I tried deleting about 10 gigs and when I looked it still had the same amount of space listed, like I hadn't deleted anything.

It's not a matter of file size, as I successfully transferred a 60 GB file.

I need help! I might be able to poke around and figure something out if I was on a PC, but I'm not a Mac user except at school, where we use only Macs. They confuse me to be honest, so your help would be appreciated.

 

[old-wiz]

did you remember to empty the trash?

 

[roostercharmer]

did you remember to empty the trash?

Trash? Is there trash on an external hard drive for macs? I put the files directly into the trash on the actual mac computer, if that's what you're asking.

 

[reubs]

Even though it;s in the trash on your desktop, it's still technically stored on your external. Empty the trash, and then you'll regain that storage space.

 

[old-wiz]

When you plug in, for example, an external flash drive, and send a file to the trash, the space is not released until you empty the trash. This is the way the file system works. I remember when flash drives first came out and I tried to empty it I still didn't see the space returned, then it dawned on me that I had to empty the trash.

The "trash" icon on the dock is for every volume local to the system.

 

[Mallin90]

What if I accidentally put my external hard drive files in the trash.

My external harddrive is empty..but "full"

I cant restore them onto my computer beacause my computer doesnt have enough space.
I cant restore them onto the external harddrive because it doesnt have space and is "full"


ideas?

 

[eRondeau]

You're not getting it. Every external drive has its own hidden Trash storage. This is why when you delete a 5GB video file from an external drive, it deletes immediately -- it doesn't need ten minutes to move the 5GB file from the external drive back to your main drive. It's still taking up that 5GB on your external, UNTIL you plug it in, let it mount, and then Empty Trash.

So the bottom line: Connect your external drive, let it mount so it's recognized, and then Empty Trash.

 

[Mallin90]

You're not getting it. Every external drive has its own hidden Trash storage. This is why when you delete a 5GB video file from an external drive, it deletes immediately -- it doesn't need ten minutes to move the 5GB file from the external drive back to your main drive. It's still taking up that 5GB on your external, UNTIL you plug it in, let it mount, and then Empty Trash.

So the bottom line: Connect your external drive, let it mount so it's recognized, and then Empty Trash.

i WANT what i have put in the trash. so if i empty the trash. do i lose it forever?

i understand emptying trash will give me space.

 

[Mallin90]

i want it ON my external again.

and OUT of my trash.

 

[Cinder6]

If you empty the trash, you will gain space, but lose the files. If you restore the files, you will not gain space, but will keep the files.

 

[Keebla]

I need help

Today I use my HD in one of those internet cafes, which only use pc, I have formated my Hd into MS-Dos (FAT32). So it could be operated on a pc or on a mac.

However, after I've got home my 1T HD shows empty whereas I have used 995GB.

I need help, all my school stuffs, musics and movies are stored in it.

 

[eRondeau]

@Keebla: Don't panic and for heaven's sake don't reformat it! First question, was it left somewhere very cold, below freezing, like left in your car for a few hours? If so give it time to warm up to room temperature. Make sure you reboot your Mac if you just put it to sleep. If you've got another Mac or PC to try it, go ahead. Finally, does it sound like it's spooling-up normally? Can you hear the heads seeking across the platter?