thomasag

Q: Startup Disk Full....Suprise!

My startup disk is full yet again.....looked for new solutions and have found the same ones that have always been on here, so I kinda got mad. I know you guys are trying to help, but this is a fundamental problem that is unnecessarily difficult to solve. I argue that it is never solved, actually, but that people just give up and sell their macs.....Ill throw my comment out here in a separate thread. I was pretty peeved a few minutes ago, but ill post it, unedited, just the same. I hope someone can help (or should I take it to the genius bar?). Heres what I wrote:

 

Hi, everyone...

This may be kind of a dumb question since these devices are soooo incredibly amazing, but, if I dont plan on spending money and time every few months 'discovering' where 59.65GB of storage space has gone on a computer that has only 60gb of space that I have no movies on, no data on, etc., should I just sell this laptop and get a $300 pc laptop for my classes? and I dont mean to be sarcastic, really, I dont, but I LITERALLY cant AFFORD to spend this much time in the middle of EVERY SEMESTER following the directions on these boards in order to extract a few GB of space, then, eventually (after several days) end up COMPLETELY REINSTALLING os10, just to start-the-heck over.

I just dont know what to do, man, I am so incredibly ******. I have a huge, cheap dumb non-apple laptop from walmart that I dont even think I paid 200 bucks for, and Ive never had to remove HIDDEN files from it. If i could bring 900pound laptops that dont fit in my book-bag to school, then I would, at this point....every single day people complain about this issue on the forums and the same solutions come up...we do them, and the same problems persist.

yeah, if I had money to buy more and more and more and more memory all the time, then, sure, I wouldnt have an issue, but, come on......I get the reasoning for ease of use, quick retrieval of files, blah, blah,blah....but does everyone need these features??? I need to do assignments...I need to save books on my HD, I need to take online tests and quizzes....thats about it...I dont want my youtube to be faster, I dont want my movies to stream at lightning speed in hd, I dont need my facebook to sync with my phone and my laptop, .....

disk cleaners=band aid

uninstall=incomplete solution, ie, a joke

searching for duplicate 'photos'= yeah, right

searching for duplicate movies=if you watch movies while studying, youre a 'tard

 

BTW, I would love, love, loooove it if I was, like, some ****** who was, constantly corrupting his laptop with crappy files and spam, and whatever else....., or, like, a nuclear physicist overclocking the crap out of my computer with complex algorythms and saving and deleting them all over my HD.....or some Kim Kardashian wannabee with selfies , tweets,and justin beiber videos all over my poor macbook......I WISH one of these was the case, because at LEAST then, I could blame something for this ! Im a less than interesting dude with no life who does his homework and thats it......***

 

AAAAAARRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i feel a little better now

 

<Edited by Host>

macbook air, Mac OS X (10.5.7), null

Posted on May 21, 2016 2:19 PM

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Q: Startup Disk Full....Suprise!

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  • by thomasag,

    thomasag thomasag May 21, 2016 2:27 PM in response to thomasag
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 21, 2016 2:27 PM in response to thomasag

    If anyone is interested...

    Screen Shot 2016-05-21 at 3.26.32 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-05-21 at 3.18.14 PM.png

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 21, 2016 4:02 PM in response to thomasag
    Level 9 (52,064 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 21, 2016 4:02 PM in response to thomasag

    Go back to Linc Davis' post and follow his instructions.  Specifically download and run OmniDiskSweeper and Grand Perspective.  Both will show all of you files and their sizes.  Do not forget to empty trash.

     

    Ciao.

  • by thomasag,

    thomasag thomasag May 21, 2016 4:47 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 21, 2016 4:47 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    yeah, i hear ya, been there b4....thats why I posted "looked for new solutions and have found the same ones that have always been on here,"

    1. have omnisweep

    2. of course, my trash is empty

    3. had 15mb of duplicates, yay

    4. an OS that initiates multi-layered redundant backups for ease of use is ********, IMO.  And, no, I dont use time machine or any other voluntary backup systems


    thank you for the reply though. Ill use a super old pc laptop until I have more free time to waste cleaning up this mess

  • by dwb,Helpful

    dwb dwb May 23, 2016 8:13 AM in response to thomasag
    Level 7 (24,053 points)
    Notebooks
    May 23, 2016 8:13 AM in response to thomasag

    This is an uncomfortable truth that you won’t want to hear but this is it: you have a 64GB hard drive which, once the operating system has been installed and over provisioning is taken into account, will have about 45GB of free space. This is before you install any of your own programs, add your own data, and begin using the computer. In other words, space is incredibly tight and it takes discipline to keep a computer with such a small drive happy unless all the user does is surf and use email. Seeing that you are a college student I expect you are dumping lots of data onto the computer each semester, maybe installing software for your courses, etc. I’m not surprised that you can’t go 2 semesters without having to weed out data.

     

    So I have 3 suggestions: 1) check out OWC about a larger drive. I do my best to talk people out of buying a computer with a 128GB drive, let alone a 64GB drive. 2) grab USB external drive - even better, if yours is a 13” MBA look for a low profile SD card. Use that for your data and music to take some pressure off the internal drive. Samsung makes a tiny external SSD and I’ve seen quite a few students carrying them around. 3) use your cheap PC and sell the Mac.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 22, 2016 2:43 PM in response to thomasag
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    May 22, 2016 2:43 PM in response to thomasag

    If you do start using Time Machine (via Time Capsule, when within range of your home base)

    the computer would not be as likely to commit as many backup files into the limited capacity

    of the smallish internal hard drive. These portables automatically save some backups to the

    same hard drive, but less so if you maintain an external backup.

     

    You could also connect external HDD by USB, for backup with Time Machine or other utility.

     

    Should you consider the necessity as stated earlier: Upgrade hard drive, for more capacity.

    Depending on the exact build model of MacBook Air you have, the upgrade options vary...

    • How to identify your MacBook Air - Apple Support

     

    Technologies available at the time of manufacture, have changed over time, so you may be

    in for a treat if you could upgrade the storage to a newer larger capacity flash drive. If the

    unit is older, an aftermarket replacement may be available from OWC macsales online.

    https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air  -- fair examples of upgrade potential

     

    Given more details, you could look into the iFixit.com repair guides for portable Macintosh

    to see your specific model build, and read what they say about replacing a drive. Some are

    not difficult; the macsale.com site also has free video on DIY for these tasks.

     

    An etrecheck report could help see the limits of hardware & software within your MB/Air model;

    to also show the build model specs not otherwise in your posts. http://etrecheck.com/#about

     

    The lack of additional unused drive capacity that could be automatically used as temp file

    swap space or virtual memory is almost non-existent in the configuration you have now.

    No wonder it is slow, and usually too full. The OS X which shipped new in that MB/Air was

    about the upper limit, with a few apps running... back in the day.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by dwb,Helpful

    dwb dwb May 23, 2016 8:13 AM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 7 (24,053 points)
    Notebooks
    May 23, 2016 8:13 AM in response to K Shaffer

    TimeMachine mobile backups aren't likely to be involved in this problem because when drive space gets tight older mobile backups are automatically deleted and when drive space drops to 5GB (or 10%) whichever is larger, all backups are deleted and mobile backups are terminated until space becomes available again.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 22, 2016 8:05 PM in response to dwb
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    May 22, 2016 8:05 PM in response to dwb

    Percentages-wise, all items add up when there admittedly have been no backups

    of any kind and no Time Machine, in use so far. To me the rest of the story needs

    to be addressed in order to avoid the kinds of stresses associated with the author's

    point of view. And a hardware investment of some kind or another is recommended.

     

    Anyway, the matter is now back in the other end of the court.

  • by thomasag,

    thomasag thomasag May 22, 2016 10:17 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 22, 2016 10:17 PM in response to dwb

    Thanks dwb, you read my mind...ive been considering the OWC option since the last time this happened.....

    I actually have two mac airs (an 08, and this one). The battery has swelled up a bit on the older one. I have a replacement battery, but havent installed it yet. After I do, I was considering selling both and getting a 'used' mid 2013 air...has more memory and more options for upgrades, correct?.....

    Im ignoring the 'not enough space' warnings until I have time to deal with it, torn between selling for a version with more oomph, or upgrading this one....

    thoughts??

  • by thomasag,

    thomasag thomasag May 22, 2016 10:19 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 22, 2016 10:19 PM in response to K Shaffer

    What if I run older software?

    Can I run OS 8, or lower?

    May not make a difference, but was just curious

  • by thomasag,

    thomasag thomasag May 22, 2016 10:22 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 22, 2016 10:22 PM in response to dwb

    I dont use Time Machine, DWB, you are correct...but, you bing up an interesting point....are you implying that Time Machine MAY possibly help my situation by only creating a single backup, instead of multiples (which I am assuming is happening now).

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 23, 2016 1:19 AM in response to thomasag
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    May 23, 2016 1:19 AM in response to thomasag

    There appears to be a need to write a few paragraphs to try & explain

    reasons why your computer cannot or will not run an older OS X than

    your Mac shipped with. -- Or what you may have to do if you did revert

    in the way of older applications, to run in an older original OS X.

     

    Some created content in newer software won't work in older versions.

    If you really wanted to go that far, to attempt to run an older OS X.

    And some are no longer available online to download.

     

    I'm having to guess, since you've not supplied details for me to do any

    more than I suggest, as plausible route to take to resolve the problem.

     

    You already do have several workable answers to the situation; any

    number of backup ideas, to include external storage options. The

    backup is the best safeguard, to include Time Machine and at least

    two external storage devices capable of restoring your Mac offline.

     

    • About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support

    • Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

     

    • Apple OS X and Time Machine Tips:

    http://www.pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

     

    However the better thing would be to learn how to handle hardware

    upgrades when you have equipment that still has that option, since a

    few of the better ideas can save you some time, and some money.

     

    If the computer had a firmware update, it may not be able to go back

    to an old original as-shipped OS X system. Some can be like that...

     

    Check out the SSD options from the link at macsales, see what matches.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb May 23, 2016 7:01 AM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 7 (24,053 points)
    Notebooks
    May 23, 2016 7:01 AM in response to K Shaffer

    TimeMachine snapshots, as Apple is now calling TM mobile backups, is dependent upon TimeMachine. If TM has never been set up then there are no TM snapshots. If TimeMachine was at one time set up but now turned off TM snapshots will eventually disappear. Regardless of this, when 80% of the hard drive is being used older snapshots will be deleted make room for new ones. When 90% of the drive is full (or when there is only 5GB left) all snapshots will be deleted and new ones will not be created. Given thomasag's description of his problem, TM snapshots are not part of his problem. Note: document versioning, which is supported by some but by no means all Mac programs, doesn't duplicate files either even though the interface might make it look that way. According to Apple's documentation, versioning of files saves file changes, not the entire file. Besides user created duplications, accidental or purposeful, the one place I can think of where actual duplication does occur is with Apple's digital photo curation software. When an edit is made the photo is duplicated so that the original is untouched. This can account for very large iPhoto and Photo libraries.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb May 23, 2016 7:20 AM in response to thomasag
    Level 7 (24,053 points)
    Notebooks
    May 23, 2016 7:20 AM in response to thomasag

    I'd certainly want to look at nothing older than the 2011 MBA - I think the 2011 model is the first that put all the pieces together correctly. I also think the 13" model is a better choice than the 11" model if for no other reason than the built in SD card reader I mentioned. When I moved from my 2009 MBP to this 2011 MBA I moved into a drive that was 1/3 the size of what I'd become used to - 256GB. By installing a 128GB SD card in the card reader (low profile so it doesn't hang out the side) I was able make everything I needed fit. Without that extra 128GB of space I'd have been forced to make one compromise or other - none of which I wanted to make.

     

    The 2013 model doesn't really have any more upgrade options than the 2012 or 2011 models but whatever choice you make I strongly recommend a 256GB drive as the smallest for a primary computer. If you are using BootCamp or virtualization to run Windows then 512GB is a better choice. With all my curriculum files, applications, and a small Win10 drive my 256GB drive has 40GB free space. That's pretty tight and without that SD card I couldn't do it. With you being a college student I understand how quickly 64GB fills up without a lot of discipline.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 24, 2016 3:00 AM in response to dwb
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    May 24, 2016 3:00 AM in response to dwb

    Given the solution has been presented and over-sampled more than once,

    another angle may be for the original thread author to have an Apple Store

    Genius run through it and spell out an obvious path. Or enlist the services

    of an AASP, and pay the tithe to have a larger/fast capacity SSD installed.

     

    The information presented is only as good as the reception; an antenna helps.

     

    Like many possibilities that may not be part of the described problem, you

    seem to have taken one-percent and ran with it. Be careful with scissors.