OmniDisk Sweeper

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Level 1

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OmniDisk Sweeper

This is going to sound like a stupid question...but when I use OmniDiscSweeper...do I typically use (Sweep Selected Drive and/or File/Size Home Folder) on my HOME? Or the Macintosh HD? They both appear to have similar stuff as far as I can tell first glance--so what then is the difference as far as using ODS?

FYI: I have FireVault turned on and since my available space is only 3.25GB, I've been told I cannot remove it at this time without causing possible damage.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), iLife '08, Miscrosoft for Mac '08, Sony DSC-W230, Sanyo VPC-TH1

Posted on Feb 4, 2010 6:55 AM

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Answer 1

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jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Feb 4, 2010 8:59 AM in response to dgc0225

Hi again,

do I typically use (Sweep Selected Drive and/or File/Size Home Folder) on my HOME? Or the Macintosh HD?

I have FireVault turned on

When you use a program such as OmniDiskSweeper you are usually trying to find files or folders that are taking up large amounts of disk space, and such files or folders could either be in your own user account or elsewhere on your HD. When you are logged into a normal account you just need to look at Macintosh HD, as this will automatically look at both places. When you are logged into a FileVault account you should look in each place separately.

The reason is that when you are logged into a FileVault account, you will not be able to see the unencrypted contents of your user account when you sweep Macintosh HD. FileVault accounts are special - the "home" contents are not kept in an ordinary folder within /Users, but rather in a special encrypted "disk image" file named "yourname.sparsebundle." You will not be able to see its unencrypted contents by looking at that file directly after sweeping Macintosh HD - all you will see are many numbered "bands". What happens when you log into a FileVault account is that the "yourname.sparsebundle" file gets mounted as if it were a separate disk drive named 'yourname", and this mounted volume acts as if it were your home folder. If you look at OmniDriveSweeper's Drive List window, you will see a FileVault icon there, just as if it were a separate disk drive. To see inside your user account, you can either choose the FileVault "drive" from the drive list, or else use File Menu> Size Home Folder - the resulting search window should be the same.
====

As an aside, programs such as OmniDiskSweeper are sometimes touted as being able to show "everything" on your HD. In fact, OmniDiskSweeper cannot see inside folders that the account running it does not have permission to enter. So if there is a second user account which has huge files in its Movies folder, running OmniDiskSweeper from the first user's account will not see them and will not detect their size, even if the first user is an admin account. OmniDiskSweeper will see "everything" only if run from the "root" account, which is not usually enabled.

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Answer 2

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Feb 4, 2010 3:57 PM in response to dgc0225

My only options when I first open the Disk List window are:
My Home 3.2 GB free, 461.9 GB used, 465.1 GB total
Macintosh HD 3.3 GB free, 229.1 GB used, 232.6 GB total (and lastly)
Network

I ran OmniDiskSweeper on a test FileVault account named "fv" in my system, and the Drive LIst did show a FileVault icon of that name, along with my other physical disk drives:
!http://i47.tinypic.com/2uhtmon.jpg!

I don't know why it is instead called "My Home" in your own Drive List, but it does seem to refer to the same thing.

There is an apparent problem with the reported sizes for the "used" space and "total" space of the FileVault Home as compared to the booted HD - obviously you cannot really be using 465GB of space in your Home when the total size of Macintosh HD is only 232GB. I think this may come about because a sparsebundle's "potential" volume capacity can be much larger than the actual space that the file is occupying at a given time, and the 461GB "used" number may just be a calculated number obtained by subtracting the (accurate) free space from the "potential" capacity of the image file. At any rate, the "used" value of 461GB for Home is clearly not accurate. However the individual large Desktop and Movies folder sizes you reported earlier probably ARE accurate.

In your particular situation, OmniDiskSweeper did not find any apparent large "hidden" folders or files, and the large Movies and Desktop folders it did find should also be directly accessible in Finder. You should be able to just click your Home icon in the Finder sidebar, and directly check the sizes of those folders and their contents.

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2010 7:37 AM in response to dgc0225

It depends upon your situation. If you are the main or only user of the computer and have administrator privileges then you can modify any part of the system. If you're just one user of many and don't have admin. status then there's no point in assessing the usage of areas you can't clean up. Even if you are an admin you may not feel comfortable with altering system level files (and a good thing too) so there's no real point in including them.

Just a general tip, the things that really eat up space are media files, especially video. One short video can use up the space of tens of music files, or a whole doctoral thesis of text.

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Answer 4

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Feb 4, 2010 6:35 PM in response to dgc0225

I think it is very unlikely that your problems are due to a virus.

With regard to the apparent size discrepancies in the reports of the FileVault Home compared to the startup drive, I see the same thing in my own test FileVault account.

The "network" icon in the ODS drive list can be ignored.

As was mentioned in the other thread, I think that continuing to use your computer with a nearly full disk is quite risky, particularly since your stuff is within a FileVault account and is not yet backed up. I wouldn't do anything at all with your computer until your backup drive arrives and you are able to safely transfer your stuff over.

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Answer 5

dgc0225 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2010 12:47 PM in response to jsd2

Hi jsd2! 🙂

I had so many questions in my last forum it seemed a little more appropriate to move this one here.

I am the only user which is one of the reasons I wanted to track down where all my space was going. As Limnos and others in the past have told me videos take up alot of room but I just couldn't believe my "little" movies were taking so much space. (Although apparently they are).

After reading your post I had an ah-ha moment. Now that you have explained the FireVault to me, I understand now why I was receiving the .sparsebundles and bands when using ODS---that was confusing me.

But when I open ODS Drive List window, there is no "Fire Vault" icon there as you mention. Should this show up and populate as soon as I open ODS? Because if so, it doesn't. My only options when I first open the Disk List window are:
My Home 3.2 GB free, 461.9 GB used, 465.1 GB total
Macintosh HD 3.3 GB free, 229.1 GB used, 232.6 GB total (and lastly)
Network

I am the first and only user of the admin account and computer in general. I can certainly File Menu/Size Home Folder...but it sounds like I should be able to see the Fire Vault icon from the beginning?

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Answer 6

dgc0225 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2010 5:08 PM in response to jsd2

You know, I noticed an edit reply you put in another topic I had mentioning the size (regarding the same space issues) and I was going to respond to pick your brain but got sidetracked.

Is it possible I have a virus? I know people with Macs roll their eyes and scoff at the very mention of a virus on a Mac...but is it possible this can be the case? When I "Get Info" for my Home folder it shows me that my Capacity is 465.13 GB. Believe it or not, I've questioned this in my head for days but just figured the Home works differently than the HD and that this was "normal".

I mention virus because I had so much trouble on PC's with viruses that's why I came to a Mac to begin with. I think I am just really unlucky. I mean, it happens.

Before you shut me off at the word "virus" just hear me out...;-)

About 6 months into using my new Mac (also just 6 months ago) I would get this weird signout page when I logged off Hotmail in Safari. I wish I could do a screen shot now because reading it is not the same as seeing it for yourself but anyway--Well, everytime (even now) when I sign out I get this on a Window Live ID page:

*Sign out failed!*
*We could not sign you out because your browser seems to be blocking third party cookies.*

*Close all browser windows to sign out.*
*To prevent this error in the future, you must enable third party cookies by chaging your browser settings.*
* Need help signing out? Try Again Done"*

If you notice, "chaging" is spelled incorrectly (I assume should be change).
There is also a "Return to" link that didn't paste here. I once right clicked hoping to get perhaps a "Properties" option and try and get more info because it just didn't look right. It made a camera "click" sound and that was it.

I've tried using Disk Utility and nothing has fixed it. I contacted Windows Live per someones suggestion and they had no clue. Basically I just use Firefox now and now I still only have the issue in Safari. I've never clicked on the Try Again or Done option. Without the screen shot you can't tell but the "Need help signing out?" is a link as well and I have never clicked on it.

I know we have gotten WAY off track from ODS but I mention it only because it's one of those weird gliches and I didn't know if they were tied in somehow?

BTW what is the "Network" icon for in the opening Drive List window in ODS? Is this something I should occasionally sweep (or use size home folder)?

Thanks again jsd2

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Answer 7

Feb 4, 2010 5:38 PM in response to dgc0225

I get that sign out error all the time. Why? Hotmail is Microsoft. Microsoft wants me to use Explorer. Can't use Explorer on a PPC Mac. Ergo, I should dump my Mac and buy a PC so I can run Explorer so I don't get error messages from Hotmail. Um, no way. I just keep on using Firefox and ignore the message.

One remote possibility in your case. Some DNS (equivalent of a telephone directory for computers which really use number addresses instead of word URLs) have security issues. A compromised DNS may send you to a fake site. Put these numbers

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

in your network system preferences DNS server configuration for Open DNS which is reported to be secure and reliable.

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Answer 8

dgc0225 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 7, 2010 6:19 AM in response to jsd2

I agree jsd2. I am waiting to get the ext HD before I really venture out and try a lot of suggestions. My ext HD was shipped Thursday and I should have it by tomorrow. I ordered the +"1.0TB OWC Mercury SATA/USB2/FW800/FW400 1.0TB (1000GB) OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 'Quad Interface' 7200RPM 32MB Cache Solution with eSATA/FW800/FW400/USB2. Intech HD Speedtools, Prosoft Data Backup, and all connecting cables included. 3 year OWC Solution Warranty."+ No clue what half this stuff is, but hopefully it will give me the space I need and also help so my computer isn't so slow.

Good to know that it is unlikely I have another virus (like on my PC's in the past)

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Answer 9

dgc0225 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 7, 2010 6:24 AM in response to Limnos

Limnos--Well one of the things that was a red flag for me and I thought was odd was the typo. I thought if this was a legit screen from Microsoft they would at least spell correctly. Y'think?

Due to a very low space issue I don't want to make any changes until I get my ext HD (tomorrow???) but thank you for the post, I will look into that later.

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