1/2 of the hard drive

amk404 · #1 October 17th, 2009, 03:57 PM

Since I bought my MacBook, which is 111.47 gigs, it has consistently showed available space as if it were approximately 1/2 of the size

In September, I could count up 51 gigs of data, & I had 3+ gigs available. Verified my count with Disk Inventory counted 51 gigs, & similar result with the utility they used at the Apple Store. (51x2+3x2=108G)

Today:
Disk Inventory shows 50.3 G, & I have 4.09 G available,
(so not precisely 1/2 but close: 50.3x2+4.09x2=108.78)

What Size shows 52.3G: (52.3x2+4.09x2=112.78 G)

I've checked for partitions.

Doing a full backup to my external via SuperDuper it is copying around 100 gigs (not done yet so can't see), as if I have more to backup than 51 gigs.

Apple Store genius bar said it's a software problem with the operating system & I have to wipe completely & reinstall (hence the full bootable backup - just in case). Thought I would check here for any other options. It is still under warranty.

amk404 · #2 October 17th, 2009, 03:58 PM

& if it is a software problem how do I wipe completely enough to eliminate, & yet keep the data that I want?

amk404 · #3 October 17th, 2009, 04:16 PM

Oh - got it resolved with telephone tech support. I had 2 logins active, with the other being the login to the old macbook. I never moved those files over - left them on my backup drive, just accessed them from a USB connection.
Or so I thought!
Deleted that user profile, & have the balance of my hard drive back.
Leaving this posted as there seem to be a fair amount of people looking for problems with hard drive space, & all 3 programs (the Apple Store, Disk Inventory & What Size) didn't show that the extra user ID was using any significant amount of space.