overnight i've gone from 9gb of free space to about 3 gb of free space on my Mac magically. I double checked that maybe my Mac had not updated the calculation of free disk properly and my I had used those invisible 6gb of space accidently. Anyway I have a 57gb Hard Drive. I calculated the space of the harddrive manually and found that I'm only using 37gb. leaving 20 gb free somewhere. i even left space for the actual os x which should be around 2gb.

Anyone know where my hard drive space can be magically disappearing to?

p.s. I've restarted many times, trash is empty, etc. to no avail.

4/2/2006 4:03:17 PM

It could either be the virtual memory pages, /tmp, or the log files.

try viewing the files by list, and tell it ti calculate folder sizes, and look at your root hard drive directory. You should be able to see where all the space it.

4/2/2006 4:12:58 PM

i'm not sure where to find either the virtual memory pages or log files, and is there a way to view all files by size? because I can't view foler size I can only view individual file sizes.

wouldn't reseting the computer affect virtual memory and reset it?

4/2/2006 4:22:49 PM

I can't remember the exact menu path, but basically, under the Finder go to View Options and check the box that says "Calculate Folder Sizes".

Something like that.

4/2/2006 4:34:38 PM

after having it calculate folder size
it's still adding up to only 37 gb,

i found the log files but don't know what to do with them

how do you tamper with virtual memory space?
could cache files be a problem?

4/2/2006 4:46:59 PM

might be a little help -- open the Terminal, and punch in

: find . -name "*" -size +1000000

that will print out a list of all files over 1GB in size -- you can toggle the size to fit your needs, and change directories as appropriate

you could also try rebuilding the directory structure with Alsoft DiskWarrior or some similar product

4/2/2006 4:48:08 PM

i guess the problem isn't what i can see. I've looked at all the files i have so far and nothing is out of place.
it's just retarded that i've lost so much hard drive space into thin air.

thanks for the help so far guys,
more suggestions would def. help!

4/2/2006 4:57:36 PM

Run some regular maintenance apps. I have run all of these, and they don't hurt anything. Just free up some space and reorganize / optimize.

Cache Out X:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14850

Delocalizer (remove all non-American English localization resources):
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13503

Youpi Optimizer (similar to Delocalizer):

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11174

DiskWarrior (costs money):
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19441

4/2/2006 5:38:24 PM

^how safe is delete caches from local/system domain, and purging current logs/deleting archived logs?

i did the other and it freed up some space, and I also did just some house cleaning and still nothing

57.27 gb harddrive, 32.2 gb used according to checking size of hard drive
leaving a supposed 25.07 gb free
finder says only 7.88 free

4/2/2006 6:08:53 PM

I've used Onyx to help clean up the computer

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20070

4/2/2006 6:26:04 PM

^^This is pretty basic, but have you restarted yet? I've done all that you mentioned with no ill effects.

4/2/2006 7:01:19 PM

Do you have fink installed?

Go to the terminal, type "cd /" then type "ls -al" and see if all the sizes match up there.

4/2/2006 7:27:59 PM

Get a program called Disk Inventory X. It will show you all files on your computer and how much space their taking up and where they are.

4/2/2006 7:38:41 PM

^
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22694

4/2/2006 7:40:48 PM

^, ^^

this is an awesome program and I think I've found the culprit.
yesterday i got a video from my digital camera off via ImageBrowser, and It said ImageBrowsers cache was about 16 gb. It's also in the /private/var/tmp file which I'm not sure how to get to or clear.

I opened ImageBrowser itself and tried to clear the cache from there but it didn't do anything.

any suggestions? and thanks again, this has been a pain.

p.s. i got to the tmp folder, is it safe to clear?

[Edited on April 2, 2006 at 8:49 PM. Reason : ps]

4/2/2006 8:46:08 PM

You can delete virtually any file from the Unix command line as a super user (root), but you have to be careful. There has only been one file in four years that I was unable to delete this way. It was very stubborn and corrupt. I booted into OS 9 (my computer is still old enough to do that), and deleted it that way. OS 9 is not bound by Unix rules.

What else is in the temp folder?

[Edited on April 2, 2006 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ]

4/2/2006 9:43:12 PM

i think i know the problem now

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/liveupdatebug.html

liveupdate runs on my computer and then just freezes, it downloads all these virus definitions and when i force quit it It doesn't clean them up. so they have accumulated over time, and i'm currently deleting them, all 12.5 gb of them.

4/2/2006 9:52:53 PM

How in the hell did it download 12.5 GB of virus definitions. Here's a tip: Norton Antivirus for Mac IS a virus. That program sucks royally. Until there is a real virus threat, uninstall it.

4/2/2006 10:00:56 PM

I appreciate all the help guys!!
^yeah maybe i'll have to uninstall it, it doesn't do anything but slow down the computer when things are mounted anyways.

i now have rightfully 25 gb free.

thanks again everyone!

4/2/2006 10:06:11 PM

Seriously. I uninstalled it several months ago. It currently has no function. It just runs a bunch of tasks in the background and slows everything down running pointless scans.

4/3/2006 1:05:31 AM

If you really want a virus scanner on your computer, try something like Virus Barrier X from Intego. They haven't been around too long but I've never seen them get a bad review so they must be doing something right. (Then again, when your competition is Norton, that's not too difficult)

4/3/2006 11:43:38 AM

But seriously, what viruses are you protecting against? I'm not suggesting a policy of blissful ignorance here, but until there's a real virus threat, why bother?

4/3/2006 12:29:01 PM

YOU NEED TO RUN BOOTSTRAP 6 ON YOUR PANTHER OS AS A SUPER USER

4/3/2006 2:36:45 PM