PLEASE HELP!!! external hard drive "zero bytes free".... can't empty trash

Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
ok so let me start by saying that i have very basic knowledge of computers. in a car reference, i know how to drive, shift, downshift, etc. however, i don't know how to change my Macbook pro's oil. so i haven't done so since 2010.

But to get to my main issue, just today i transferred a few movies and music from a friends hard drive to mine leaving about 200gb free on my 1tb hard drive. suddenly it says that it has "zero bytes free". my first response was to delete a ton of stuff. i deleted whole series of a couple of shows, tons of unused music, and plenty of already watched movies. all to no avail. so i read on some forums that i need to empty my trash with my hard drive plugged in. so i proceeded to do so. the counter climbs till it says that i have 14,000 items to delete. which is a preposterous number. i probably have at max 1,000 items in there. so i leave it plugged in and deleting FOR 6 HOURS. only to see that it stopped at 11,000(roughly) and says

"The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items."

which makes me pretty effectively angry because i am the only user of this comp and thus have all the permissions you can possibly have on this machine. PLEASE HELP!!!

so in conclusion i have 200GB missing, and trash that i can't empty. what am i missing?
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
622
Reaction score
13
Points
18
Location
Charlotte, NC
Your Mac's Specs
mid-2010 Mac Mini OS 10.12.6 Sierra, 2.66 GHz C2D, 8GB RAM, 30 in. Cinema Display
Hopefully it's not your Time Machine backup that's missing.
 
Joined
May 29, 2011
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Points
6
What version of the OS are you running? To find out, click on Apple Logo at top left of screen, then on About This Mac. e.g. my Version is 10.8.2 (called Mountain Lion).

1) Emtpy Trash
2) Clone your disk to a USB drive. I use Carbon Copy Cloner

Then I would recommend that you run Disk Utility (Press Command+Space then type DISK. Press enter to run).

Select your disk and click Verify Permissions or Repair Permissions.
Ditto Verify/Repair Disk
Restart

Let us know how you go :)
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Also use cloning software, SuperDuper is personal preference. Registered version uses Smart Backup to do a weekly update of the clone, copying anything that has changed on your drive. Only downside is no Recovery Partition which is no problem if you have the Lion/Mountain Lion operating system on a USB thumb drive. If using Snow Leopard and have the disc, no such problem.

And a huge plus is the external clone, either software, is bootable in the case of emergency.
 
Joined
May 29, 2011
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Points
6
FYI: Carbon Copy Cloner supports cloning the Recovery Partition as well. (I have no commercial interest in CCC). Either way, a clone is an essential backup.
 
C

chas_m

Guest
I think the problem is likely stemming from a confusion between the amount of free space on the BOOT drive and the amount of free space on the EXTERNAL drive.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top