Missing Hard Drive Space

[highdough]

I seem to be strangely running out of hard drive space and started deleting things but still was running out of room. Then I ran a couple of programs (Disk Inventory X and OmnidiskSweeper) and they say I am only using 135 GB, but my 250 GB drive has only 20 GBs left. My math may be a little rusty, but that doesn't add up to me. I've run Disk Utility and it seems to be fine.

Please help! Thanks.

 

[appleguy123]

I'm not very learned in this area, but when you say deleting, are you actually emptying the trash? If you don't the extra space won't show in the finder.
Have you tried rebooting?

 

[diazj3]

If you have indeed emptied your trash bin, then there should be some hidden elements in the hd. Try using Whatsize in admin mode to find them. Sometimes the /Volumes folder keeps a ghost copy of an interrupted backup done with SuperDuper or CCC - this happened to me recently on a MacMini. Once located, it was easy to delete the ghost backup and reclaim the space.

cheers!

 

[highdough]

Yes, I've emptied the trash, but I think it's more than that because the space seems to shrink without me actually downloading anything. There is something very strange going on. I'd delete a big file, which would open up space, but then after a while my available space would decrease again for no reason.

Does it sound like Whatsize will help me? I downloaded it but it appears I have to pay to really use it. I don't want to pay if it's not going to work and then have to go out and pay for something else.

I've scoured the internet and can't seem to find a solution that works.

 

[highdough]

Have you tried rebooting?

Unfortunately this isn't a new problem. I've noticed it slowly happening over the last couple of weeks (I turn my computer off every night), but just recently realized something was very wrong.

 

[diazj3]

Does it sound like Whatsize will help me? I downloaded it but it appears I have to pay to really use it. I don't want to pay if it's not going to work and then have to go out and pay for something else.

I've scoured the internet and can't seem to find a solution that works.

I'm not entirely sure of the terms of the trail license for WhatSize... if it's a time period trail, or if it's open ended trail with some of its features blocked - in this case, admin mode.

Whatsize is IMO a wonderful tool - the best in the market, so it's well worth the $13 (and btw, I don't work for them). But if you don't want to spend some money on it, just look for a tool that gives you the option on measuring hidden files at the root level.

Try GrandPerspective and DiskWave - they are both freeware too. DiskWave is very similar to Whatsize, so I would go with it first.

EDIT: DiskWave does have the option of showing hidden files and folders at root level... just open the app's preferences and check the "Show invisible files" box. I bet your problem comes from the /Volumes folder.

Cheers!

 

[highdough]

diazj3, thanks, but I may not need it.

I've done some digging in Terminal, and discovered that something called /.Spotlight-V100 is using 78 GB. I gather it's the directory that Spotlight uses, but it seems that 78 GB is a tad big (sarcasm). This seems like it would be the space that I'm missing. Anyone have any idea how I can fix that?

 

[diazj3]

diazj3, thanks, but I may not need it.

I've done some digging in Terminal, and discovered that something called /.Spotlight-V100 is using 78 GB. I gather it's the directory that Spotlight uses, but it seems that 78 GB is a tad big (sarcasm). This seems like it would be the space that I'm missing. Anyone have any idea how I can fix that?

happy to help... all those tools are for locating where the wasted space is. Now that you know it, reclaim it. In this case, the first thing to do is purging the spotlight index.

Use Onyx to clear all caches and a general cleanup. Or you can
1. Open Spotlight preferences and add your hard drives to the privacy list.
2. Close the system preference. Wait a second or two.
3. Open Spotlight preferences and remove your hard drive from the privacy list.

DO NOT try to delete the Spotlight-V100 directly. Onyx is free and the best tool for easy maintenance. The real question here is, why is that file getting so big. Check your spotlight settings.

cheers!

 

[highdough]

happy to help... all those tools are for locating where the wasted space is. Now that you know it, reclaim it. In this case, the first thing to do is purging the spotlight index.

Use Onyx to clear all caches and a general cleanup. Or you can
1. Open Spotlight preferences and add your hard drives to the privacy list.
2. Close the system preference. Wait a second or two.
3. Open Spotlight preferences and remove your hard drive from the privacy list.

DO NOT try to delete the Spotlight-V100 directly. Onyx is free and the best tool for easy maintenance. The real question here is, why is that file getting so big. Check your spotlight settings.

cheers!

Whew, that did it. A world of thanks. It's now down to 11 MB, which seems much more reasonable, to me.

As for Spotlight, there doesn't seem to be any settings that control anything like the size of it. My space is not mysteriously disappearing, anymore, so hopefully it won't reoccur. It's definitely something I'll keep an eye on, though.

Thanks again.