Full Hard Drive

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askelon

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#190964 18-Jan-2016 14:25

I have a mac here with a full hdd according to its error codes. Anyone got any suggestions on how to fix this? Im guessing a boot cd or something of some sort would be easiest so I can physically go and delete some stuff?

surfisup1000

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#1473851 18-Jan-2016 14:35

Not much info to go on.

What error codes, when do they appear, does it boot, what type of mac and OS version.

Lias

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#1473859 18-Jan-2016 14:49

Wipe it and install Windows :-P

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

jarledb

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#1473877 18-Jan-2016 15:05

Emptying trash can be a good first start. If you sync iOS devices on it, you probably can also get rid of big device backups from iTunes

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204215

A great tool to use to clean your Mac is Cleanmymac - you can try it for free and it will give you the chance to clean out old log files, language files you don't need, trash and other files.

A free tool that will allow you to see what is taking up a lot of space on your machine is GrandPerspective - it will allow you to go to the file or directory that takes up a lot of space in finder and from there delete the huge files.

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mindtpi99

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#1474028 18-Jan-2016 17:39

When you reboot it, if you have no space at all, delete the contents of these folders:

System/Library/Caches

Library/Caches

User Folder/Library/Caches

They're just cache files so it's safe to delete them and it might release a couple of Gbs. Then download GrandPerspective (free) and you can use this to visually inspect the data structure on the disk and delete files (if you are sure that you know what they are). You might find that it's something like error logs that have gone nuts and gotten up to Gbs in size

jarledb

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#1474048 18-Jan-2016 18:06

Lias: Wipe it and install Windows :-P

Hey @freitasm - can we have a "dislike" button and a threshold for when posts are hidden? ;)

askelon

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#1474051 18-Jan-2016 18:13

I think its running snow leopard. I think I will just reinstall it from scratch at this stage. Is there an official way to download the iso's? I couldnt find any other than the dodgy torrent ones for it. Pretty sure apple only had a link to rebuy them on CD.

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jarledb

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#1474089 18-Jan-2016 20:07

How old is your Mac? You really should update to the newest OS that is supported on your Mac.

wscalioni

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#1474350 19-Jan-2016 09:27

Another nice free option to check what is using most of your disk space is OmniDiskSweeper.

Willy Scalioni

jarledb

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#1474725 19-Jan-2016 15:35

wscalioni: Another nice free option to check what is using most of your disk space is OmniDiskSweeper.

OmniGroup makes great software. I am a big fan of their OmniFocus app, with sync between the Mac and iPad/iPhone. Its a great task/todo manager.

wscalioni

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#1474727 19-Jan-2016 15:41

jarledb:
wscalioni: Another nice free option to check what is using most of your disk space is OmniDiskSweeper.
OmniGroup makes great software. I am a big fan of their OmniFocus app, with sync between the Mac and iPad/iPhone. Its a great task/todo manager.

I love OmniFocus although it's too expensive. Perfect for Apple devices but it's not multi-platform. Todoist is serving me well.

Going a bit off-topic here though...

Willy Scalioni

BTR

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#1475313 20-Jan-2016 12:45

askelon: I think its running snow leopard. I think I will just reinstall it from scratch at this stage. Is there an official way to download the iso's? I couldnt find any other than the dodgy torrent ones for it. Pretty sure apple only had a link to rebuy them on CD.

Where are you located, someone near you maybe able to have a look and I've you a hand.