itzlilpo

Q: brand new imac hard drive says its full and need to delete for space

Hi, I recently converted to Apple and purchased the new MacBook and iMac 27" - the desktop is fully maxed out (32gb ram, 3tb drive, etc.) - there was not another option i could have selected when purchasing. Anyway, I've had it for about two weeks now and out of the blue I had a message that said the disk space was full and to free up space (from Messages while running an AIM account). I've only loaded this cpu with a few programs - mainly adobe related (photoshop, lightroom, bridge, and creative cloud) and office (excel, word, etc.). I am running OS X Yosemite (version 10.10.4). After seeing this message I went to Finder and realized there is less than 3GB available from 3TB!!!! I searched for files larger than 1GB - and came across some folders: one was from Outlook and my email account was over 20GB - no biggie but i deleted it anyway. Another was from a few folders that showed up in the 'Pictures" which were labeled certain dates (dates the pictures were taken) although i never setup any backup or to copy photos to my hard drive so no idea how those got there... no biggie, deleted those.... i deleted over 30GB of random files and my available space went from 3GB to 7GB.... then within minutes, it showed back under 3GB again and i didn't do anything at all, literally. The computer is lagging hardcore - if i goto the apple and select 'about this mac' it literally takes over a minute for it to pop up. This machine is brand spankin' new and decked out with all the bells and whistles. It was running like a champ when i first got it. I am typing from my macbook since there is no issues with it. Anyway, i also downloaded OmniDiskSweeper to scan the HD and show me where large files are.... so i can account for about 50-60gb or so worth of files but where is the rest of the memory? lol. My friend had a similar issue and said it was his Adobe suite so i uninstalled all adobe related software and same thing - nothing happens and i'm under 3GB of available space. i am not running time machine or anything to backup files etc. This makes no sense - i can't find any files through the finder or the omni software. When i look at 'about this mac' and click storage it says most of all of the space is labeled as 'other'. I really don't want to wipe the computer and start from scratch from a factory reset but i may have to do so before throwing this off my balcony which is 14 stories up i spent $4k and want a working computer. This makes no sense!!! Please someone help!!!!!!!! I can barely use any programs... and now that i am typing this it dropped to 1.44GB available and haven't touched it - it changes as i leave it alone just to watch. please apple, make this work! i don't want to go back to a windows machine and i was loving the products..

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Sep 14, 2015 8:45 PM

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Q: brand new imac hard drive says its full and need to delete for space

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  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Sep 14, 2015 8:53 PM in response to itzlilpo
    Level 9 (50,072 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2015 8:53 PM in response to itzlilpo

    Open Activity Monitor and sort CPU and Memory tabs by their respective columns.

    look for something using a lot of CPU or RAM.

     

    Also open Console and select All Messages. Look for anything repeating the same message over and over.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 14, 2015 10:23 PM in response to itzlilpo
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Sep 14, 2015 10:23 PM in response to itzlilpo

    Start up in safe mode.

    ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.

    Back up all data now.

    Install the app in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.

    Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

    security execute-with-privileges /A*/OmniDiskSweeper.app/*/M*/* 2>&-

    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password.

    The application window will open behind other open windows. When you scan a volume, the window will eventually show all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.

    I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.

    When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 15, 2015 1:27 PM in response to itzlilpo
    Level 9 (71,210 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 15, 2015 1:27 PM in response to itzlilpo
  • by greg sahli,

    greg sahli greg sahli Sep 15, 2015 1:42 PM in response to itzlilpo
    Level 7 (25,395 points)
    Sep 15, 2015 1:42 PM in response to itzlilpo

    Not clear if it's the Macbook or iMac having this problem? Nevermind - I see iMac in the title...

    If so, I think Eric's idea(s) will do it.

    (If it's the macbook, then a possibility is that you have Time Machine running, and it is storing temporary, "Local Snapshot" backups until you attach an external backup drive.)

    Read:

    About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support