delete files with disk utility?

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Level 1

5 points

delete files with disk utility?

Hi,
My son ran out of space on his MacBook HD and in trying to free up space deleted some critical file. Now the MB won't boot from the HD. It will boot from the Snow Leopard install disk, but there's not enough room on the HD to re-install! I used Disk Utility to create a disk image of his Pictures folder on a flash drive (for back up) but I can't figure out how to delete the original folder from the HD, to create space. Can that be done from the install disk, or do we have to get an external hard drive and create a boot disk on that? Thanks in advance!

Mac Book, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Oct 23, 2010 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Oct 23, 2010 7:15 AM in response to Will Clarke

You can run Terminal from the install DVD's Utilities menu and do it from there, but that's not a very friendly method if you've never used Terminal before. Mis-typing a command in this situation could irreversibly delete the wrong stuff. If the MB has a firewire port and you have access to another Mac, a friendlier way would be to boot the MB into [FireWire Target Disk mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661], connect it to the other Mac, and do the deletion from there.

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Answer 2

Will Clarke Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 23, 2010 5:53 PM in response to jsd2

Thank you! I've never used Terminal so that will probably be the last resort. I looked at the link about Firewire Taget Mode and it sounds pretty straightforward. It also looks like my old clamshell iBook with OS 10.3 on it could serve as the host. I don't think I will mark the questioned as "answered" yet, just in case someone else has another suggestion, but thanks again.

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Answer 3

jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Oct 23, 2010 7:43 PM in response to Will Clarke

It also looks like my old clamshell iBook with OS 10.3 on it could serve as the host

Unfortunately, that won't work due to a technical glitch. Intel Macs such as your son's MacBook use a HD "partition scheme" that OS X 10.3 doesn't know about - Intel Macs did not exist prior to the release of OS X 10.4. The FireWire TDM support article I cited earlier to contains the following:
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If you attempt to mount an Intel-based Mac in target disk mode on a Macintosh running Mac OS X v10.3.9 or earlier, you'll see an alert message.
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It then gives a further link to this article:
[Intel-based Macs: 'You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read' alert message|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2528], which states:
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Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier cannot mount volumes from an Intel-based Mac in Target Disk Mode.
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Can you perhaps get access to a Mac that is running OS X 10.4 or later?

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Answer 4

Will Clarke Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 24, 2010 9:14 PM in response to jsd2

Oops, I guess I didn't read the article carefully enough, thanks for catching that. I'll try to borrow a newer Mac.

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Answer 5

Whitecity

Level 2

344 points

Oct 24, 2010 9:26 PM in response to Will Clarke

You might want to juts put a bigger hard disc in the computer. They are cheap and this is easy, then you can reinstall the os.

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Answer 6

Will Clarke Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 26, 2010 4:42 AM in response to Whitecity

Thanks for the suggestion. We'd then have the issue of transferring files from the old hard drive, but maybe that's not a big deal. However, in the course of investigating how to install a larger drive I came across info that made me think I might be able to install the Mac OS on a flash drive - which I did! So now the MacBook will boot from the flash drive and we can access the files on the hard drive. I think now we just have to create some space on it and re-install the OS. Thanks to both of you for the help!

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