memory issues... possible virus? could really use some help!

[thisisnotjustin]

Hey, so my mac book is pretty old, and I knew the day would come when it would just give up... I guess that time has come, but I'd like to save it if I can.
I've had issues with it for awhile, the most constant is that keychain doesn't work at all. ever. I constantly get prompts telling me it isn't able to store passwords while in safari... stuff like that.
That was annoying, but I could live with it, I guess... but now I can't really run anything. I've tried using file vault to clear up space, and I've deleted so many programs... and even all my music (which wasn't much, but it was about 20 gigs) and for some reason, I still have zero free space. No matter what I delete, it doesn't seem to register... it's at the point where if I have more than 4 tabs open in safari, it freezes and I have to manually restart my computer.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is it just time to let it rest in peace? I'd love any suggestions or anything. thanks for reading.

 

[gsahli]

Caution - don't delete anything that isn't in your User folder - that often results in reinstalling OS X!!

Ya, it sounds like you don't have any drive free space!!!
Free space is used at random by OS X, and it is necessary any time you change web pages, save files, make changes to files in a program, etc.

So, you need to figure out if something is taking away your free space. The most common problem is when there is an error on the computer that keeps writing an error message to a "log" file or files.
Use the Console Utility to read all the logs and note if any one has repeating error messages - like 5 messages per minute or more (could easily be > 10 per second!). Tell us what you find.

Get the free maintenance program Onyx and run all the cleanup routines:
Titanium's Software • View forum - Downloads and Histories

 

[thisisnotjustin]

Caution - don't delete anything that isn't in your User folder - that often results in reinstalling OS X!!

Ya, it sounds like you don't have any drive free space!!!
Free space is used at random by OS X, and it is necessary any time you change web pages, save files, make changes to files in a program, etc.

So, you need to figure out if something is taking away your free space. The most common problem is when there is an error on the computer that keeps writing an error message to a "log" file or files.
Use the Console Utility to read all the logs and note if any one has repeating error messages - like 5 messages per minute or more (could easily be > 10 per second!). Tell us what you find.

Get the free maintenance program Onyx and run all the cleanup routines:
Titanium's Software • View forum - Downloads and Histories

thanks for replying! I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, to be honest...
I know that periodically safari will send me a prompt telling me keychain couldn't save any passwords or something (I can't recall the exact words) and that if I have more than one program running my computer will tell me I need to quit a program because I don't have enough space.
I just don't understand why I don't have enough space, because I've deleted so many files to make room... and when I check my harddrive it says I have zero memory available....

 

[RavingMac]

Dumb question, but did you empty the trash after deleting the files. If not you don't gain back free space.

 

[gsahli]

Don't confuse memory and hard drive space - you'll make us all scratch our heads at once...
Memory is RAM. storage space and hard drive space (same) are on the hard drive.

You need to try the Console Utility, or, start with Onyx.

 

[thisisnotjustin]

I ran disk utility and got this:

Verifying volume “computer”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
%)
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume Bit Map needs minor repair
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume free block count
Invalid volume free block count
(It should be 15226 instead of 15221)",2)

Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume computer needs to be repaired.

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair

sorry, I'm really not that computer savvy when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[thisisnotjustin]

yeah, the trash is empty

 

[thisisnotjustin]

Well I guess I deleted my user folder because now I can't log in at all help

 

[gsahli]

If you don't want to use Onyx, here are three methods to repair the hard drive:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Best - boot from install DVD
Easiest - Safe Boot

 

[thisisnotjustin]

If you don't want to use Onyx, here are three methods to repair the hard drive:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Best - boot from install DVD
Easiest - Safe Boot

How do you safe boot? I don't have the install DVD but even if I did, my cd drive hasn't worked in three years it's had a lot of problems...

 

[osxx]

Safe Boot = Hold down the shift key while powering up.

 

[thisisnotjustin]

Safe Boot = Hold down the shift key while powering up.

It doesn't make a difference, it won't recognize the user when I type in my password