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Markusjd

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2019
15
0
Hi all

I have a 2011 iMac, running Sierra.

I can not disable Legacy File Vault because I do not have enough memory - which means all my software and compatibility is compromised and not updated.

Can I force LFV to switch off? I have struggled with this (well ignored it) for years

Thanks

Mark
 
Can't think of any way to force it. It needs the swap space to disable encryption.

Some options:
- Clear all browser caches. If synced to iCloud, sign out then delete any synced data which remains as it'll come back when icloud is turned back on. Same goes with any e-mail accounts connected via iMAP or Exchange. As with Google Drive, Onedrive, &c. Basically if it is on the cloud. Turn off the service and delete the local content. Some of which may be in your ~/library/ folder.
- Check iTunes for any old backups of iOS devices then delete them.
- Temporarily move files to an external drive. Then delete them from the internal.
- Turn on file sharing and temporarily move the files to another computer.
- Temporarily move them to a cloud storage service. If you aren't signed up for one. I'm sure at least one of the major ones has a free trial with 1TB storage for a week to a month.
- Delete files, turn off Filevault and restore from backup.
- Wipe drive, clean install the latest supported OS (or use the Dosdude1 patch for an even newer OS), restore from backup.
 
Thanks. It says I need another 250gB of space, not sure I can clear that much even with the steps you mention.

Perhaps I should move everything to cloud, wipe it and start again, what a massive pain this is, and what a FU by Apple!
 
What do you use for backups?

If it's an external disk, then it should have enough space for at least one complete copy of all your data. So copy your data there, do the disable, then copy it back.

If you do backups to a local network storage (NAS), or a cloud host, then you should be able to copy files to that host.

If you're not doing backups at all, then you really should be, so investing in a 1 or 2 TB external drive now would both solve the immediate problem, and give you the disk you need for future backups. They're not that expensive, especially when compared to loss of data.
 
Thanks. It says I need another 250gB of space, not sure I can clear that much even with the steps you mention.

Perhaps I should move everything to cloud, wipe it and start again, what a massive pain this is, and what a FU by Apple!

Don't you have backups? You really should. You're betting 100's of GB of data on the reliability of a nine year old computer. Even on a brand new computer that isn't a great bet. At the age of your computer sudden HDD failure is alarmingly high. HDD failure is usually sudden, not a gradual decline.

If you only have one backup. There's still some concern of backup failure during the restore. It could have bad sectors. Especially if it's as old as the computer. I'd certainly get the data on the cloud or a second backup.

Apple changed the way Filevault worked. Rather than encrypting single user folders.
 
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