"Your start up disc is almost full"

MacBlonde wrote:
"Your start up disc is almost full"

a) What does that mean?

It means you are running out of space on your hard drive.

b) What are my options?

Delete a bunch of stuff, move a bunch of stuff to an external drive (your iTunes library, for example), or upgrade to a larger internal hard drive.

c) I have an external hard-drive already... is it possible to buy extra INTERNAL space?

Yes. You can buy a larger hard drive--up to 1 TB, it seems now--and install it. If you are moderately tech savvy and willing to invest in some tools, you can do it yourself with the help of the google. If you are willing to pay for someone else to do it, an Apple-authorized repair place or an Apple Store will do it for you.

There are also procedures you can use to clone or transfer your data from the old small hard drive to the larger new one.

Hi MacBlonde,

welcome to the forum.

look for the large files: typical ones are music files (especially cd's you have possibly in iMusic); large photo libraries (a 7-Mpx photo is worth 3 MB), and videos. But of course it depends on your use of your MB.

If you need help finding the large files, post back, people will help you.

Thomas

MacBlonde wrote:
Thanks Jay!
How much would a larger hard drive cost?

I don't know what they run in the UK. 500 GB drives run between $70 and $100 US, and of course you can pay more for larger capacity.

I imagine it would probably be better for me to have it done professionally.

Here is a list of Apple-authorized (or authorised!) service providers near London.

Would love to learn how to locate big files! Heeeeeelp!

One easy way is to open the Finder window, and select your home folder from the choices on the left (has an icon that looks like a house). At the top of the window, select list view (the button with four horizontal lines) and then do Command-J to bring up view options. Check the box near the bottom that says Calculate All Sizes (and make sure the one at the top that says Size is checked, as well). You can then sort your list by size.

Your biggest folders are likely to be movies, photos, and music. If you navigate within those folders, you ought to be able to see which sub-folders and files are the largest.

Don't delete anything you don't have a back-up of or think you'll ever need in the future.

You can also download and run a program called "Disk Inventory X" that can help you identify everything on your hard drive.

And you may want to try a program called "Monolingual" that can delete some system files--like other languages--that you will never use. This won't get you a ton of space, but it will help. Both of those can be downloaded from the Apple downloads section or someplace like versiontracker.com . Good luck!

hi again

what's wrong with your reply? its fine!

here is a way to find big files and large directories:
1. open the application "Terminal" (you find that in Applications->Utilities)
2. Type "du -h -d 1" (without quotation marks! it means: disk usage, human readable, 1 layer deep)
3. you will get a list with sizes and directory (or file) names. large sizes have a capital "G". (medium size is "M", 1000M = 1 G, small is "k". 1000k = 1 M)
4. spot the one with the largest number before the "G". suppose, the line says:
" 25G ./Pictures"
5. then type "cd Pictures" (or whatever other name was connected to the largest G-number)
6. type again "du -h -d 1"
7. and so on.


This gives you a feeling where the large files (or collections of files) are.
you might want to back them up on a CD or DVD, or on an external drive, or you might want to discard them .

Many people have many, many pictures or music files, and are not aware of how much disk space they need for this. Just try to keep an eye on this, and this procedure allows to do it!

By the way, it is a good idea to have a backup of your valuable files (music, photos, ...) on an external medium. in case your hard disk breaks down, you still have a copy. (i keep two copies of my important stuff, and make regular backups).

Hope this helps - and is not too difficult.

Post back in case of questions

Thomas

Most Apple Stores do not upgrade hard drives, they will only perform repairs. You will have to go to an AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) to have this done. The hard drives in aluminum MacBooks have a special shielding on them, so I wouldn't recommend using just any hard drive. An AASP can order you a bigger drive directly from Apple. If you had a white or black MacBook, I would say order the drive from macbookupgrades.com or TechRestore and do it yourself. By the way, you should always have at least 10% of your hard drive free at all times. If you're a novice, don't mess around with terminal - you can cause irreparable damage to your data if you don't know what you're doing.

hello

Great to hear that we are brilliant!! I should post more often in this forum, it's such a sweet sound!!! Nobody else gives me ever this compliment!!!

Thankyou, MB (MacBlonde)

Thomas