Help! iMac newbie needs info on freeing up disk space

Question

Help! iMac newbie needs info on freeing up disk space

I play a lot of games on Facebook. After playing a new game I got this message/alert on my computer that my OSX start up disk had no room for application memory. It keeps trying to force quit my browser and Finder and moves so slow and freezes that I think I broke it! I've only had this iMac since January.

My computer is an iMac, (iMac8,1), 20 inch, early 2008, with a 2.66 GHz intel Core2 Duo Processor, 4 GB Memory 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, MAC OSX Lion 10.7.4

I checked my computer and these are the results:

System Memory: 4 GB

Free: 2.40 GB

Wired: 310.7 MB

Active: 1.03 GB

Inactive: 267.1 MB

Used: 1.60 BG

VM: 150.95 GB

Pages in: 316.7 MG (0 bytes/sec)

Pages out: 0 bytes (0 bytes/sec)

Swap used: 0 bytes

Disk Usage: 319.21 GB

Space utilized: 29.5 GB (29,498,609,664 bytes)

Free Space: 289.71 GB (289,714,561,024 bytes)

So why does it keep telling me I have no room for application memory when I do? I did a disk utility and verified and repaired, but it said my SUID files had been modified and would not be repaired? I bought this second hand so IDK what that means. This is my first iMac/Apple product, so I know absolutely nothing about where to look or how to do anything...on a PC it was easy, just do a disk clean up and boom you freed up disk space. So how do I free up disk space so I won't keep getting this message?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Aug 22, 2012 3:30 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Aug 22, 2012 3:34 PM in response to patience21964

I did a disk utility and verified and repaired, but it said my SUID files had been modified and would not be repaired?

As long as the report ends up with 'Permissions repair complete' then, as far as permissions go, you are fine. You can ignore the various statements in the report:

Permissions you can ignore on 10.5 onwards:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448

I play a lot of games on Facebook. After playing a new game I got this message/alert on my computer that my OSX start up disk had no room for application memory.

Rebooting your Mac will free up the RAM.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Aug 22, 2012 3:35 PM in response to patience21964

The alert relates to your RAM not your hard drive. Disk space is storage, not memory. Memory is RAM. According to the alert you don't have sufficient RAM installed for whatever game you are trying to play.

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Answer 3

Aug 23, 2012 4:26 AM in response to Klaus1

I did reboot and after a few minutes it said the same thing, So I uninstalled all the languages that I didn't need or use and sent Google Chrome to the trash can. It seems fine now, but it was saying that the OSX start up disk had no avaliable space for application memory. It said to remove files from disk and to close all unused files and programs. So hopefully everything is okay for now, is it possible to install more RAM on this computer? I'm not used to not having a separate tower, so I have no clue where to look...does my iMac have plug n play slots like a PC or does it require servicing to add RAM?

Thanks for your reply.

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Answer 4

Aug 23, 2012 4:31 AM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the tip Kappy. I had already played the game and when I went to play another of my usual games that's when I got that message. At the time I was using Google Chrome, so I cleared the cache and cookies, etc. however that didn't help. I did remove Google Chrome and the installed languages that I didn't use and it seems fine now. I rebooted also. Now I guess I have to familarize myself with Safari...have no idea how to clear cookies and cache on it...life was easy for me on the PC as I am certified in MicroSoft, however my daughter gave me this iMac as a gift and I am trying to survive the switch and I know absolutely nothing about where to find anything! LOL

Once again thanks for the reply.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Aug 23, 2012 5:33 AM in response to patience21964

I bought this second hand...

The warning messages refer to disk space, not RAM, but they're apparently false.

If you haven't already done so, you should back up your data, boot into Recovery, erase the startup volume, reinstall OS X, and then restore your data in Setup Assistant. For details on the latter, see here:

Using Setup Assistant

If the machine didn't ship with Lion, and you didn't install it under your own Apple ID, then your copy is unlicensed and you won't be able to reinstall. In that case you need the original discs that came with the machine, or a retail Snow Leopard disc (if newer.)

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