Startup disc full??

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I keep getting the message "startup disc full, delete some files".

Where is the "startup disc", how do I access it please to delete said files?

I have just deleted 20Gb of photos but that made no difference!
 

pigoo3

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I keep getting the message "startup disc full, delete some files".

Where is the "startup disc", how do I access it please to delete said files?

I have just deleted 20Gb of photos but that made no difference!
It would probably help to know the exact computer model you have, it's exact specs, and if you have any external hard drive(s) attached to it.

As far as the 20gig of deleted files...did you actually empty the trash can...or just sent files to the trash?

- Nick
 
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It would probably help to know the exact computer model you have, it's exact specs, and if you have any external hard drive(s) attached to it.

As far as the 20gig of deleted files...did you actually empty the trash can...or just sent files to the trash?

- Nick

So sorry - MacBook Air! Silly me!
 

vansmith

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pigoo3's note about the Trash is an important one - the disk will still appear full if the Trash hasn't been emptied.

For 99% of users, the start up disk is the main drive. In other words, it's nothing unique (it's not a special place).
 
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Many thanks guys! I emptied the trash yesterday but this morning I still got the message "start-up disc full??

How do I check exactly how much hard disc I have available? Having deleted so many pictures I have no idea what is filling up the disc!
 
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Go to the View menu in the finder and select "show status bar". This will show available space at the bottom of the screen.

It's also worth it to close applications and restart the computer. This will shrink the swap files used for virtual memory, freeing up anywhere from one to several gigabytes of space.
 
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Go to the View menu in the finder and select "show status bar". This will show available space at the bottom of the screen.

It's also worth it to close applications and restart the computer. This will shrink the swap files used for virtual memory, freeing up anywhere from one to several gigabytes of space.

Thanks for the help Scott. I don't have a "show status bar" in the View drop down menu. There is a "hide menu bar" but it's grey and not usable??

I did however re start the computer yesterday after emptying the trash and I haven't seen the message so far - ;) - so fingers crossed.
 

vansmith

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Right click your hard drive (Macintosh HD) and choose Get Info. The window that appears will give you the capacity of your drive and how much space is available. You should aim to have at least 15% free space at all times (10% at a minimum).
 
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Right click your hard drive (Macintosh HD) and choose Get Info. The window that appears will give you the capacity of your drive and how much space is available. You should aim to have at least 15% free space at all times (10% at a minimum).

Thanks vansmith, done it! 60.32Gb HD, 1.05Gb free. So where has it all gone? I just deleted around 20Gb of photos, emptied the trash and re started the computer and I've only got 1Gb???
Where's the 20 I just freed up gone??
 

Slydude

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@cheddar-caveman are you by chance running Lion and have been using Time machine? If so you may be seeing some of your drive space consumed by Time Machine backups that have been stored on the internal drive when it cannot locate your external drive. OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs.

These locally stored backup files are supposed to be cleared out as drive space gets low but it's possible that may not be happening.
 

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