hard drive warning message

Hi, this is my first post, and I am relatively new to Macs...I have a bunch of photos and videos on my MacBook Pro, and I'm now getting a message telling me my hard drive is almost full. Is there a quick and easy way to scan my drive and select files, programs, etc. for deletion so I can re-gain some drive space? Thanks in advance!

There are lots of utilities that can do things like this. I use Disk Inventory X because it's free, and I've heard good things about , but I haven't tried it out yet. I'm sure there are others out there, but I like Disk Inventory X because it's really easy to figure out and it gives you a graphical representation of your hard drive. If you run into any problems, feel free to PM me or post back here with questions.

Cheers.

Thanks Corbab!

Thank you Corbab, I will give Disk Inventory X a try!

disastercomm said:

Hi, this is my first post, and I am relatively new to Macs...I have a bunch of photos and videos on my MacBook Pro, and I'm now getting a message telling me my hard drive is almost full. Is there a quick and easy way to scan my drive and select files, programs, etc. for deletion so I can re-gain some drive space? Thanks in advance!

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I agree with trying Disk Inventory X since it's free. However, the better solution to your disk being full is to simply purchase a larger faster hard drive. At today's prices for large fast hard drives, there should never be a reason to run out of disk space. Even a large external hard drive would be better. Why delete files when it would be easier to move them?

Regards.

What size of hard drive do you have now? I thought the MBPs shipped with at least 160 GB, but I guess I can see filling that up rather quickly. I agree with chscag, however, that a new internal or even an external drive is a better idea than deleting files and waiting for some more to come along and deleting them too.

Here is a 500 GB 7200 RPM (will make a noticeable difference in speed) hard drive for 90 bucks: Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

You can use this guide to show you how to put it in step by step after selecting your exact computer: MacBook Pro Repair - iFixit

You can use software called "Super Duper" to make an exact copy of your hard drive on to the new one.. if you so choose.

Disk Inventory X is fine, I also like another free one called Grand Perspective. Unlike some others, I don't think endlessly upgrading to the next largest hard drive size is a viable long-term solution. The real solution is a modicum of file management.

For example: I have two iTunes libraries. A large one that's stored on an external drive, and a subset of my favourite tunes that's actually on the boot drive of my laptop. When I'm on the go, I don't need every song I own with me at all times, so I use the subset. When I'm home, I option-click and choose the larger library and have everything available to me. Saves a TON of HD space on my 320GB laptop boot drive.

You can do the same thing for photo libraries (if you use iPhoto), and movies. There's no need to carry everything with you all the time.