internal HD Full

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The info for my 120GB internal HD shows that it is already full. It says:
Capacity: 111.47 GB
Available: zero KB
Used: 111.47 GB on disk (119,690,149,888 bytes)

I deleted some files to have more HD available space but I can't empty the trash since the Finder "Empty Trash" is greyed and when I opened the Trash, there is no file in it.

I tried searching for this problem in the forum but found none. Has anyone experienced this? How can I empty the files I have deleted but don't appear in the Trash? Many thanks.
 
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i have no idea, i suggest apple support on this one
 
M

MacHeadCase

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If you're not afraid to go out and get elbowed on Boxing Day, go out and get yourself a big, huge external FireWire hard drive that is at least double the size of your internal hard drive. Move as much stuff as you can on it.

See if you can delete the originals on your internal hd after making sure the copies are good, of course.

If the Empty Trash command is still greyed out, you will have to do this via the Terminal and that's when I let others step in here.

Me no touch Terminal. :p
 
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I would say download main menu and use it to force delete the trash (as long as you are absolutely sure the stuff in the trash is safe to delete)

But you have no space to download to!! Unless you have a usb drive you can use instead.

That said, MacHeadCase has the only real sensible solution, buy an external and do some archiving

In an emergency you can use a termial command - again - be sure there is no system stuff in the trash

One solution is to apply write-permission to all files in the trash. Bit if you do not own some of the files you have to run as root. And if you run as root, you may as well simply delete the lot. So here goes.

% sudo rm -ri ~/.Trash

This will zap all files except those that are immutable or in use.

'sudo' executes the command as root and therefore overrides all permissions
'rm' removes files
'-r' does it recursively - ie to all nested files and directories
'-i' is confirm mode - you will be prompted for each file to delete, and I suggest to use this as a safety precaution. If you have many, many files tedium may set in, so you can replace the '-i' with '-f' (force).

source: http://www.osxfaq.com/Tutorials/LearningCenter/HowTo/Trash/page2.ws
 
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hagios1972
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If you're not afraid to go out and get elbowed on Boxing Day, go out and get yourself a big, huge external FireWire hard drive that is at least double the size of your internal hard drive. Move as much stuff as you can on it.

See if you can delete the originals on your internal hd after making sure the copies are good, of course.

If the Empty Trash command is still greyed out, you will have to do this via the Terminal and that's when I let others step in here.

Me no touch Terminal. :p

It is Boxing Day here in NZ and I now got a 360GB external HD. :Smirk:

I was about ready to buy SuperDuper online and do a clone of my internal HD, but lo and behold, a flashing question mark greeted me at start up. I will try to call Apple Care but your recommendations are much appreciated. :'(
 
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Oh dear, can you start up in safe mode (press shift on start up)
 
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hagios1972
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It is Boxing Day here in NZ and I now got a 360GB external HD. :Smirk:

I was about ready to buy SuperDuper online and do a clone of my internal HD, but lo and behold, a flashing question mark greeted me at start up. I will try to call Apple Care but your recommendations are much appreciated. :'(

Well, I called Apple Care in NZ and the guy that greeted me is in California. Here is what he had me do.
1. Start up with Installer Disk
2. Open Utilities > Disk Utility > Macintosh HD
3. Repair Disk

It turned out that my Macintosh HD is okay so repair is not necessary.

4. Continued with the installation
5. Under Installer Menu > Choose Macintosh HD
6. Restart

I asked what caused the flashing question mark and from what I gather on what he said - the MacBook cannot find the start up disk.

On the issue of deleted files not being in the Trash Can, he asked me to delete a file which I did and I was able to empty it. It worked this time. Hmmm, I wonder where the files I deleted yesterday went.

Well, this is my Boxing Day experience.:)
 
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MacHeadCase

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For sure having your internal HD this full makes your Mac go uhm bonkers a bit, me thinks. Tell him relief is on the way with the brand new external. :)
 
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We don't seem to push the 20% rule as near as much as under earlier OS.

Get over 80% HDD capacity and you get problems
 

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