huge backups section changed to other

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huge backups section changed to other

Hey,

I have a macbook pro with retina display and noticed that my backups section shows that it had about 80gb in it (when entering about this mac, more info and then storage).

When looking online i saw that going into system preferences and then time machine then turning it off will help delete them, as i do backup to an external disk anyway and always have.

Since doing so it has minimized the backups section of the storage but it added it onto my other section, which was about 40-50gb and now sits at 130gb which is over half my storage...when i dont have many files at all, as i have only just got the mac.

I have restared the mac etc and have backed up to the drive to :/ nothing is working

Hope you can help!

Will

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jun 16, 2013 10:58 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 16, 2013 11:39 AM in response to willpound

First, there is ordinarily no reason to delete local snapshots. They're deleted automatically when disk space is low.

If local snapshots are appearing in the "Other" category, it may be because the Spotligh index is corrupt.

Rebuild the Spotlight index. If you try to search now from the magnifying-glass icon in the top right corner of the display, a pulsing dot will appear in the icon. When the dot disappears, the indexing is complete.

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Answer 2

willpound Author

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Jun 16, 2013 12:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

just done it and the dot has stopped pulsating, however now the amount hasnt gone down and is all classed as 'other'

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jun 16, 2013 1:00 PM in response to willpound

Have you tried a restart since you reindexed?

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Answer 4

AnaMusic

Level 9

57,562 points

Jun 16, 2013 1:01 PM in response to willpound

willpound wrote:

just done it and the dot has stopped pulsating, however now the amount hasnt gone down and is all classed as 'other

See Here > The Storage Display

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 16, 2013 1:02 PM in response to willpound

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:

syslog -k Sender mdworker -o -k Sender mds | grep -v boxd | tail | open -f -a TextEdit

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.

A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Post the contents of that window, if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

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Answer 6

willpound Author

Level 1

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Jun 16, 2013 3:15 PM in response to Linc Davis

is this what your after? 🙂

--- last message repeated 1 time ---

Jun 16 20:07:53 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1056] <Error>: iCal.mdimporter: could not parse ICS file: /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/OutlookCore.framework/Versions/14/Resources/en.lproj/Timezones.ics

Jun 16 20:08:18 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1009] <Notice>: zip importer encountered an error (-1) scanning "/Users/William/Documents/Memory Stick - School/School Work/Photoshop brushes/anodyne_stock_cracks.zip".

Jun 16 20:08:18 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1009] <Notice>: zip importer encountered an error (-1) scanning "/Users/William/Documents/Memory Stick - School/School Work/Photoshop brushes/assassin_brush_set_by_shiftyj.zip".

Jun 16 20:08:18 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1009] <Notice>: zip importer encountered an error (-1) scanning "/Users/William/Documents/Memory Stick - School/School Work/Photoshop brushes/BloodBrushes4_by_KeReN_R2.zip".

Jun 16 20:08:18 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1009] <Notice>: zip importer encountered an error (-1) scanning "/Users/William/Documents/Memory Stick - School/School Work/Photoshop brushes/gRUNg_BRUSHEs_by_KeReN_R.zip".

Jun 16 20:10:29 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1009] <Error>: (Normal) Import: import uti:com.adobe.pdf plugin:/Library/Spotlight/PDF.mdimporter exceeded cpu use limits (12) after 15993 milliseconds - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 1122631

Jun 16 20:12:32 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1261] <Notice>: zip importer encountered an error (3) scanning "/Users/William/Documents/Vuze Downloads/The Sims 3.zip".

Jun 16 20:12:34 Williams-15-Retina-MacBook-Pro.local mdworker[1261] <Error>: Unexpected EOF, returning last token as fallback

--- last message repeated 1 time ---

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 16, 2013 3:23 PM in response to willpound

Take these steps to delete the Spotlight index completely. It will be recreated automatically.

Back up all data.

If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out these instructions.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:

sudo mdutil -E /

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. Confirm. You don't need to post the warning.

If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Log in as one and start over.

You should see a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) below what you pasted. You can then quit Terminal.

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