OS 10.4 - Mac HD space mysteriously being eaten up

cvarady · cvarady #1 (**permalink**)

01-30-2009, 07:39 AM

Not sure if this is the correct forum as I'm not sure if my problem is OS or software driven...

I have been constantly trying to free up space on my main hard drive. Yesterday I moved things around, emptied the trash and had at least 2GB free space. This morning I am back to almost zero even though I did not download anything! I have not added any new programs except Firefox as Safari was getting unstable. Yes, my iTunes Library is a hog and I'll move it soon but this problem seems almost like a virus? I've looked everywhere to find where the memory is being drained but no luck.

Any ideas or help will be appreciated. I know this post is vague but so is my problem.

Running an IntelMac 1.6 - OSX10.4

dbnoise · dbnoise #2 (**permalink**)

01-30-2009, 09:19 AM

Try out Baseline to see what is taking up space.

cvarady · cvarady #3 (**permalink**)

01-30-2009, 06:56 PM

Thanks, I just ran Baseline. The Find Duplicates was helpful as it freed some space up but the scan didn't show much except the obvious: Movies and Music are the main memory consumption.

I did notice before I emptied the trash with all my duplicates in, my MacHD was showing almost empty memory again even though there was 700MB free this morning. I swear there's soemthing consuming memory. Almost like a virus or worm.

Any good anti-virus freebies for Mac?

dbnoise · dbnoise #4 (**permalink**)

01-30-2009, 08:39 PM

Don't think it's a virus, but there's free software ClamXav.
Do you restart/turn off your computer often?

cvarady · cvarady #5 (**permalink**)

01-31-2009, 09:29 PM

No, I usually leave the computer on.

cradom · cradom #6 (**permalink**)

01-31-2009, 09:48 PM

Just a possibility...
Check the Console. Is something writing to the log?
I've installed things which wrote every little thing it did to the log.
Logs can get huge that way. Check all the logs.

cvarady · cvarady #7 (**permalink**)

01-31-2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks.

Logs? Where do I find them and can I just delete them w/o screwing up anything else?

cradom · cradom #8 (**permalink**)

02-01-2009, 09:21 AM

Go to Applications/Utilities and run Console.
Click on the Logs icon to see all the logs.
Yes, you can delete the logs in ~/Library/Logs (~ is your home folder) without messing anything up.
However they are there for a reason, to help with troubleshooting problems.
Might want to read them first.

cradom #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 14, 2004 Location: South-East Texas Posts: 1,806 Mac Specs: 21in Dual core 3 ghz iMac, 13in Macbook - Mountain Lion on both	01-31-2009, 09:48 PM Just a possibility... Check the Console. Is something writing to the log? I've installed things which wrote every little thing it did to the log. Logs can get huge that way. Check all the logs. Craig in Texas ---You did WHAT!? Close the Terminal and step away slowly.
	QUOTE Thanks

cradom #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 14, 2004 Location: South-East Texas Posts: 1,806 Mac Specs: 21in Dual core 3 ghz iMac, 13in Macbook - Mountain Lion on both	02-01-2009, 09:21 AM Go to Applications/Utilities and run Console. Click on the Logs icon to see all the logs. Yes, you can delete the logs in ~/Library/Logs (~ is your home folder) without messing anything up. However they are there for a reason, to help with troubleshooting problems. Might want to read them first. Craig in Texas ---You did WHAT!? Close the Terminal and step away slowly.
	QUOTE Thanks

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OS 10.4 - Mac HD space mysteriously being eaten up

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cvarady #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 29, 2009 Posts: 4	01-30-2009, 07:39 AM Not sure if this is the correct forum as I'm not sure if my problem is OS or software driven... I have been constantly trying to free up space on my main hard drive. Yesterday I moved things around, emptied the trash and had at least 2GB free space. This morning I am back to almost zero even though I did not download anything! I have not added any new programs except Firefox as Safari was getting unstable. Yes, my iTunes Library is a hog and I'll move it soon but this problem seems almost like a virus? I've looked everywhere to find where the memory is being drained but no luck. Any ideas or help will be appreciated. I know this post is vague but so is my problem. Running an IntelMac 1.6 - OSX10.4
	QUOTE Thanks

dbnoise #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 21, 2008 Posts: 314	01-30-2009, 09:19 AM Try out Baseline to see what is taking up space.
	QUOTE Thanks

dbnoise #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 21, 2008 Posts: 314	01-30-2009, 08:39 PM Don't think it's a virus, but there's free software ClamXav. Do you restart/turn off your computer often?
	QUOTE Thanks

cvarady #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 29, 2009 Posts: 4	01-31-2009, 09:29 PM No, I usually leave the computer on.
	QUOTE Thanks

cvarady #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 29, 2009 Posts: 4	01-31-2009, 10:14 PM Thanks. Logs? Where do I find them and can I just delete them w/o screwing up anything else?
	QUOTE Thanks

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