URGENT: HD Space missing!

[shorty116]

I'm on a G5 (Dual 2Ghz) running 10.4.8. My HD Space is coming to an end. The HD should have 148 Gigs and i used "WhatSize" to find my largest files. WhatSize tells me that i have like 46 Gigs on disk and i'm pretty sure this is correct, WhatSize (as well as the finder) state also that 146 Gigs are used! sounds a little confusing, so here is a summary:

HD: 148 Gigs
Finder says: 146 Gigs are used
WhatSize finds files for: 46 Gigs (definetly correct)

So where are the missing 100 Gigabyte?
What else could i check?

 

[iMeowbot]

Have you used the Verify Disk option in Disk Utility to see if something has gone wrong?

 

[thewhitehart]

Get Omni Disk Sweeper. It will sort the hard drive out by listing largest files first. I had this same problem of disappearing space. A faulty file called "windowserverlast.log" or something was eating up all my space, in the "var" directory.

If you see a giant file several gigabytes big, it's fairly safe to delete it, especially if it's a log. When I say several gigabytes, I mean more than ten or so...be careful what you delete!

 

[R.R.Mac]

my freind gets that problem all the time with his memory stick! i just erase it and it works again. I agree with the omni disk sweeper program i had it ages ago and it worked on mine.

 

[Deputy-Dawg]

Try booting into save mode

Before you do anything else that is either expensive, time consumeing, or dangerous your problem my be nothing more than a stuck .tmp file whis is normally invisible in any event. To remove the stuck file simply boot in to the safe mode,

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393

Then reboot into normal mode and check your trash. You will likely see a folder named "Recovered files" or some such. It is save to delete this file and you will recover your disk space.

 

[yellow]

So where are the missing 100 Gigabyte?
What else could i check?

Open Terminal.app, type in (and be patient, you will have to wait for a very long time for it to finish):

sudo du -h -d1 /

Hit Rerturn and type in your admin password when prompted. Once it finishes, it will show you the size of all root directories. We'll go from there.