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Level 1

74 points

250 GB MBP HD full up with no user documents (75 GB "backups")! Parallels, Virtual Box or Mavericks?

hi all,

i have a mid-2009 MBP and have moved ALL my user documents to my Mac Pro because the Hard Drive seems like it is full up. TechToolsPro keeps giving me a less than 15% available hard drive error. i am running Parallels with an install of Windows 7 and i recently downloaded Virtual Box to text it out. i have BOTH these softwares on my Mac Pro.

i am trying to run WhatSize and OmniDiskSweeper to figure out what is going on but i am seeing 75 GB of "Backups" for starters on the MBP and i am only seeing 0KB of backups on the Mac Pro.

since i have both Parallels and Virtual Box installed on the Mac Pro and since i only USE the Parallels on the Mac Pro (and only rarely use the Parallels on the MBP) i am at a total loss as to whether this is a Mavericks issue or a Parallels issue or a Virtual Box issue. i have tried to uninstall VB but so far i am not having any luck in getting this done.

anyone have any ideas?

TIA

mac book pro:

mac pro:

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Feb 14, 2014 9:26 AM

Best reply

Eric Root

Level 10

684,045 points

Posted on Feb 14, 2014 10:45 AM

The backups are most likely local snapshots if you are using Time Machine.

Local Snapshots - About

Local Snapshots on Portable Macs

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20 replies

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Feb 14, 2014 3:31 PM in response to Kurt Lang

ah. OK. thanks for everything.

apparently if i get into terminal i can turn off this other backup.

right now i am plugged into the Time Capsule with an ethernet connection to my MBP. not exactly sure what i should do now. wondering if i should turn off WiFi and/or run a TM backup and this will kill this 75 GB (75 GB?) of data or if there is something else i need to do.

i guess i will read james' great info and see if i can free up some space.

that work he did sure is a standard for admirable set of community help documentation. not to mention his work on the list in answering posts...

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Feb 14, 2014 3:37 PM in response to hotwheels22

You said it..... the timing was also unfortunate (as that always seems to be), as I was involved in testing (with him and a couple of others) various scenarios of several OS versions on getting a comprehensive guide added to his website regarding clean installs, selling/buying a used Mac, etc, etc. We never did get that finished, I'm sad to say, but I learned a lot which helps me help others.

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Feb 14, 2014 3:51 PM in response to babowa

oh man. feels like a real loss even being casually involved with his work and amazing assistance...

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Feb 15, 2014 2:26 PM in response to hotwheels22

thanks a ton to all on this thread.

for those suffering through this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5905601?answerId=24878591022#24878591022

In Terminal:

sudo tmutil disablelocal

Turn off local Time Machine snapshots and trigger automatic cleanup of accumulated local snapshot data. Requires root privileges.

(use sudo tmutil enablelocal to turn back on)

this got rid of my 75 GB backup file (!!) and now i am going to move my data back to my laptop...

not sure if there is an apple tech article to link to regarding this issue but it would be good to post if there is one.

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Feb 15, 2014 2:36 PM in response to hotwheels22

for those that may be having a problem uninstalling Virtual Box -

the lowdown is to re-install Virtual Box so that you have the uninstall tool which i was missing and then if you are getting an error double clicking on the uninstall icon you use CTRL and click Open. this will get you over the unidentified developer error.

this will send you to a terminal looking interface where you have to enter "Yes" and then your user password.

then i just dragged the icon off the dock and i think i am uninstalled with VB.

250 GB MBP HD full up with no user documents (75 GB "backups")! Parallels, Virtual Box or Mavericks?