Recently, i've been having some big problems with my Macbook Pro. I've been getting warning messages about the "start up disk" memory being low, and warning me to clear space. So I deleted about 20 GB worth of photos and music. Within a week I got the same message again. Keep in mind I had not downloaded anything in that time frame. I've been thinking of just wiping the computer and backing up my files on an External. Would this be the best course of action to fixing my computer? Thanks in advance for your help!
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Major Problem with 2010 MBP
- Thread starter TexasFight1012
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Did you empty your trash?
I had a problem with an old Powerbook years ago doing the same thing. Even thought I made space I would get the warning. Problem was even though you aren't supposed to have to defrag your hard drive for some reasons I didn't have large enough sectors and I couldn't really do anything. I used idefrag and it solved the problem.
But seriously, just in case because some people don't get it, you need to empty the trash to free up the space. I know it sounds obvious to most but not everyone understands this simple concept.
I had a problem with an old Powerbook years ago doing the same thing. Even thought I made space I would get the warning. Problem was even though you aren't supposed to have to defrag your hard drive for some reasons I didn't have large enough sectors and I couldn't really do anything. I used idefrag and it solved the problem.
But seriously, just in case because some people don't get it, you need to empty the trash to free up the space. I know it sounds obvious to most but not everyone understands this simple concept.
Try going into disk utility > highlight your startup disk > verify disk then repair disk if necessary.
You could also try verifying and repairing permissions to see if that helps.
If these steps don't help, a wipe and restore may be the best course of action.
Incidentally, how much free space do you have left on your drive?
You could also try verifying and repairing permissions to see if that helps.
If these steps don't help, a wipe and restore may be the best course of action.
Incidentally, how much free space do you have left on your drive?
I have a 250 GB hard drive, and it claims that I have about 50 MB left. There is no way that I've used up close to that amount of memory. The only third party programs I have installed are Microsoft Office, Skype, and VLC video player. I have about 9 GB of music on Itunes and about 5 GB of photos on iPhoto. I don't see where all this memory is being used up.
I tried your first two suggestions, and the repairing permissions tool is running now. Hopefully that will help. Thanks for all your helpfulness thus far.
You are correct... based on what you are saying you have installed you should be nowhere near 200GB... If I was you i would download a hard drive utility that graphically displays disk usage like GrandPerspective and see what is using up your space:
The big rectangle in the middle of the pic is my Win7 VM...
Thanks! Once my graph is made after the files are done being scanned, I should be able to delete what is using up the space relatively easily, correct?
Thank you so much!
Apparently, that huge square was every AOL messages from my mailbox, starting from email's in 2005!
Apparently, that huge square was every AOL messages from my mailbox, starting from email's in 2005!
Definitely get something that shows what's where. The other "solutions" are just stabs in the dark; you need to find out what's grabbing space.
Some applications can go logging crazy, and create logs that swell out of control. An older version of TechTool Pro had this problem, for example.
Others have had issues with local TM backups, versions, temp files, etc.
You could try DaisyDisk; it's another good utility for this.
Rob
Some applications can go logging crazy, and create logs that swell out of control. An older version of TechTool Pro had this problem, for example.
Others have had issues with local TM backups, versions, temp files, etc.
You could try DaisyDisk; it's another good utility for this.
Rob