Leopard to Snow Leopard, back to Leopard

[pinkcat]

Hi. Firstly I am sorry if this has been posted before, but I did have a look at the Snow Leopard FAQ & a browse through the current topics. And secondly, I am also sorry if I am not using appropriate computer language to describe certain things. I have a 17 inch Macbook Pro I bought in the middle of last year. Before Snow Leopard. So when Snow Leopard came along I went for the upgrade without looking around at compatibility issues with certain software. So after the upgrade, my EyeTV didn't work, and neither did my internet (I use the ones with the USB stick). So I couldn't even go online to get my EyeTV update. So in my (brief) panick I re-installed Leopard, which wasn't a great idea I guess, because all of a sudden my HD space went down to 50GB from my 500GB of storage. Now I know I didn't have the full 500GB since I did have some photos, music & videos on board. But surely 50GB remaining is quite ridiculous. I think it probably performed a Time Machine backup for me.

Anyway... that was awhile ago. And I was happy to carry on with what I had. But now I think I would like to try what Snow Leopard has to offer. But with only 18GB of space remaining, I think the best option might be to reformat and start over. What do you guys think? My other option is to try to delete as much as I can spare to make room for Snow Leopard. Sorry if this question is a silly one, but I have done a lot of things with my iPhone & with this Mac without thinking & asking first & I have always regretted it. Thanks for any help or suggestions you all can offer.

 

[vialli25]

You can download a program called WhatSize (do a Google search) that will help you find all that missing hard drive space.

If this is of no help though and you're still stuck, I'd just backup your important files manually to an external hard drive and then do a completely new install of Snow Leopard. i.e. Erase your startup disk completely and install a fresh copy of Snow Leopard.

 

[maflynn]

Actually I'd recommend omnidisk sweeper over whatsize. Omnidisksweeper is a better product and its free. Whatsize is shareware/crippleware so you have to spend some $$ to use it.

Personally, I'd back up your data, reformat your drive and reinstall the OS that you wish to use. Yeah, you'll need to reinstall your apps, but at this point there's probably a fair amount of garbage sitting on your hard drive and reformatting will start you off fresh.

Again this means you lose ALL of your data/programs so you need to make sure you have them backed up.

 

[pinkcat]

Thanks!!

Hey. Thanks for the quick replies. Much appreciated. I will get onto it. At least I can feel confident, like I know what I am doing Have a nice day all...

 

[interconnect]

what is taking up all your hdd space is irrelevent. if i were you, i would just back up all my documents, music, photos, etc. and wipe/format the hard drive and do a clean install of snow leopard. that's what i did and have not had a single problem.