Massive .sparsebundle file on computer

[Jake45]

In the past couple of months my computer has been running a little weird and I keep running out of space on the HD. Couldn't really understand which file was taking up so much space so I downloaded Disk Inventory X and it came up with this:

With the blue being an 123.1 GB sparsebundle file named jake.sparsebundle
Its located at Macintosh HD/Users/.jake

Couple of questions. Firstly, what is this file? Have researched a little and it seems to be my Time Machine backup?
Secondly, and most importantly, how do I get rid of it and free space up on my computer without destroying data I may need?

I'm running a Macbook Pro OSX 10.6.4.

Thanks.

 

[maflynn]

Do you or another user have file vault enabled? Jake is the userid, is that yours?

I'd not delete it w/o knowing exactly what it is. Also make sure you have a backup prior to doing any disk clean up

 

[Jake45]

Do you or another user have file vault enabled? Jake is the userid, is that yours?

I'd not delete it w/o knowing exactly what it is. Also make sure you have a backup prior to doing any disk clean up

Yeah jake is my userid. My Filevault is on - if I try to turn it off it says it needs 99GB of extra space to be able to do so.

I just did a backup onto an external HD

 

[gnasher729]

Secondly, and most importantly, how do I get rid of it and free space up on my computer without destroying data I may need?

That file contains your home directory in encrypted form. So you are asking "how can I get rid of all the data on my computer without destroying data that I may need.".

So this application has done nothing for you except making you worry about nothing.

 

[Jake45]

That file contains your home directory in encrypted form. So you are asking "how can I get rid of all the data on my computer without destroying data that I may need.".

So this application has done nothing for you except making you worry about nothing.

Alright... so what do I do?
Can't delete it the file, can't turn off filevault because I need a bunch of space which I can only get from deleting the file.

 

[maflynn]

You looking at it incorrectly. The sparsefile for intents and purposes is your hard drive in a logical sense. It contains your files. You cannot delete that as you'll delete all of your data.

If you're running low on space, either upgrade to a larger HD or remove some unneeded files. You cannot mess with the sparse files.

As an FYI, if you're interested in removing filevault you need to make sure you have lots of free space because OSX needs the extraspace to remove FV, without it you cannot undo it.

 

[Jake45]

You looking at it incorrectly. The sparsefile for intents and purposes is your hard drive in a logical sense. It contains your files. You cannot delete that as you'll delete all of your data.

If you're running low on space, either upgrade to a larger HD or remove some unneeded files. You cannot mess with the sparse files.

As an FYI, if you're interested in removing filevault you need to make sure you have lots of free space because OSX needs the extraspace to remove FV, without it you cannot undo it.

I see what you are saying, but what I am having trouble understanding is how I can even have a folder which has 123gb. I don't have any games, just a couple movies, my school work, some pictures, and a bit of music -- but nowhere near 123gb. What is making it so damn big?

 

[maflynn]

I can't answer that, you need to look at your home folder to see what files are being stored there. File Vault is only for your home folder. Why is it so big is a question that I think only you can figure you why since its on your computer.

 

[balamw]

I have no direct experience with FileVault, but shouldn't the contents of the sparsebundle be available as a regular folder somewhere else in /Volumes?
For example if I create an encrypted sparsebundle and mount it I can then run Disk Inventory X on its contents as a separate drive as /Volume/Mountpoint.

Probably just running DIX on /Users/jake would be appropriate.

B

 

[Jake45]

Ah right all makes sense now, was confused with the size of the sparsebundle folder.

Deleting a bunch of stuff now. Problem is last time i deleted things it filled 10gb straight up again within a week without downloading anything

 

[redsteven]

Looks like maybe Disk Inventory X isn't able to separate the stuff in your home folder out to show you which individual files/folders are big.


So I recommend doing it the old fashioned way.
1. Open up your home folder in a Finder window
2. Make sure you're in List mode (View menu --> as List)
3. Go to View Option (View menu --> Show View Options)
4. Make sure you've selected to show the "Size" column, and that "Calculate all sizes" is checked (otherwise it won't calculate size of your folders).

Now sort by size and see what's taking up so much space.