Upon start up, I am prompted that the Startup disk is full and that I must deleted files. When i hit okay, the desktop background appears with no icons or ways to navigate around the computer
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
Is the menubar visible? Is the Dock visible? If the former, Select Finder->Preferences->General and ensure HDs is selected.
No Finder, no dock, no menubar. Only Google Chrome at start up tell me it didnt close correctly and that I can restore the the last papes open. when i press restore, the Chrome remains blank and the Apple "about this computer" icon remains. To which I can access System Preference, but thats it. If I exit Chrome, even the empty tool bar and apple goes away leaving the nebula background
It sounds to me like your drive is so full your computer has crashed. OSX is constantly writing files just to keep your computer running and other file creation by you is preventing this. Try shutting it down and restarting in Safe Mode.
Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X) - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564
Safe Boot takes longer than normal startup - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1884
This will delete caches and hopefully give your computer a chance to run normally for a short while. These caches will rebuild so you do not have much time! Immediately start deleting files or copying them to another drive. A few GB should work at first but ultimately you should be keeping at least 20GB free at all times, or even more.
If you have access to another Mac connect the two using Firewire Target Disk Mode, the instructions are at:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Then move large libraries such as your iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie libraries to an external HD. Once safely moved to the EHD with the EHD still in FWTDM remove the libraries from your iMac and then restart normally. OS X needs 10-15% of the complete HD available at all times, you have over filled your HD!!!!!! You can then access the libraries you have moved to the EHD by using the preferences for each of those apps and telling the app where the library is located.
If you do not have access to another Mac then take the machine to your local Apple Store or AASP along with a fresh EHD and they can help you solve the problem.
Safe Start worked perfectly!
full startup disk
