Cleaning MBA SSD

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I'm using a 64 GB MBA and recently purchased Daisy Disk from the Apple Store to free space on the SSD. I've noticed that Daisy Disk will only find and delete my own files----items that are within the system it will not delete. I know there are some folders and files that shouldn't be touched, but there is a folder containing close to 5 GBs of small "keychain" files, which I can't seem to delete. Do I really need these files? I observed on the Daisy Disk video that if you buy from DD directly you can enter yourself as the administrator, but you don't have that option with the Apple Store version----is this a factor? Thanks for your help once again.
 
bobtomay

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Am finding it almost impossible to believe you can have 5 GB of Keychain files.

However, if you want to delete Keychain info, open up Keychain Access (Applications / Utilites) and remove any old logins, passwords and secure notes you no longer want. If you don't know what it is - don't delete it.
 
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bobtomay said:
Am finding it almost impossible to believe you can have 5 GB of Keychain files.

The folder is named: MacintoshHD/Users/User/Library/Keychains and is 4.5 GB in size, Shouldn't Daisy Disk remove these files? When I move the folder to the collector it will not delete any of the files.
Click to expand...
 
chscag

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I'm also finding it hard to believe your keychains folder could be 5 GB? I have a ton of stuff in mine and it's only 23 KB in size. Also, the folder has read and write permissions by the user which means it can be deleted.
 
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chscag said:
I'm also finding it hard to believe your keychains folder could be 5 GB? I have a ton of stuff in mine and it's only 23 KB in size. Also, the folder has read and write permissions by the user which means it can be deleted.
Click to expand...

The folder is named MacintoshHD/Users/User/Library/Keychains and is 4.5 GB in size. Does this information give you any clue?
 
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Nope. Mine is in the exact same location as yours and as I stated above it's only 23 KB is size. A keychain file of 4.5 GB is too large to be correct. Something is not right. When you look at the file in the Finder is it the same size?
 
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chscag said:
Nope. Mine is in the exact same location as yours and as I stated above it's only 23 KB is size. A keychain file of 4.5 GB is too large to be correct. Something is not right. When you look at the file in the Finder is it the same size?
Click to expand...

Under Applications/Utilites/Keychain Access the folder is only 17.6 MB. Any ideas? Or am I looking at two different folders?
 
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That's about right, mine is 14.3 MB. And yes, it's two different folders.
 
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chscag said:
That's about right, mine is 14.3 MB. And yes, it's two different folders.
Click to expand...

Problem solved----I was able to get a free upgrade to the stand-alone version of Daisy Disk, which allow me to delete folders and files as the administrator. The 4.5 GB keychain folder is gone. I can understand why Apple would offer a watered-down version of DD so that you don't inadvertently delete critical folders and files, but then again any of the available free software would do the same thing as a watered-down DD. Anyway, thanks for your help. If you don't see me on this site in the future you know I went too far with DD and my MBA is FUBAR!
 
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Glad you were able to get cleaned up a bit. You might consider replacing the SSD in your MacBook Air for a larger unit. If I'm not mistaken, OWC makes replacements for that model: SSD for MacBook Air 2010 - OWC Aura Pro Sandforce Driven

For anyone else reading this thread, while Daisy Disk is fairly decent, there are a number of other utilities that perform the same function, many of them free/less expensive...

My personal favorite is WhatSize, though there are other freeware options such as GrandPerspective, OmniDiskSweeper and Disk Inventory X.
 
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cwa107 said:
Glad you were able to get cleaned up a bit. You might consider replacing the SSD in your MacBook Air for a larger unit. If I'm not mistaken, OWC makes replacements for that model: SSD for MacBook Air 2010 - OWC Aura Pro Sandforce Driven

For anyone else reading this thread, while Daisy Disk is fairly decent, there are a number of other utilities that perform the same function, many of them free/less expensive...

My personal favorite is WhatSize, though there are other freeware options such as GrandPerspective, OmniDiskSweeper and Disk Inventory X.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am looking into installing a larger SSD. Thanks for providing a list of similar software, but after my experience with the Apple Store version of DD, does the other software allow the user to delete as the administrator?
 

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