Start up disk is full

C

cshironaka

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At work I am using a Mac os 10.3.9 and I have been getting a message telling me that the start up disk is full. Usually when I delete messages from the mailbox it gives me most of my memory back, but this time it didn't. I called my server and they deleted the messages from there, but that didn't do anything either. I have about 88 MB in my memory. Does anyone know what I can do to gain the memory back? I have went and repaired permissions, but that didn't do anything for it. I am not very computer literate and right now I am at home and do not have access to the computer. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
 
Wow! If your startup disk is full, then deleting email messages will not help you much unless you received scanned images of pages from the Gutenberg Bible. Your best best is to buy an external hard drive and to move your excess files to the new drive. You get the biggest bang for the buck by moving video files. Garageband support files also take up a lot of space.

The reason that this is important is that MacOS X's virtual memory system wants 10% of your startup drive's capacity available as free space. If your internal drive is small (<100 GB), then you need to replace it with a larger drive if you don't want this to be a recurring issue.
 
It would appear to me that you are confusing computer memory with disk space.
Download this free app..."GrandPerSpective"
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19515/grandperspective
it will let you see graphically what size all your files are and how much DISK space they are using, then you can decide just what you can delete to liberate some disk space.
These files can be manipulated from within GrandPerSpectives interface
Also remember to dump the trash when you are done.
 
I have not been able to download anything on that computer since the disk space is full, jbarley. We had this happen once before and when the emails were deleted our MB went up to GB (there were around 2800 emails on this account). I have deleted all the pictures and documents that I can. Another message that we get says something about our scratch disk being full. Is there a difference between start up disk and scratch disk?

I really don't know much about computers other than to turn them on and off so please forgive any confusion that I may make because of my lack of knowledge.

Thanks
 
cshironaka said:
I have not been able to download anything on that computer since the disk space is full, jbarley. We had this happen once before and when the emails were deleted our MB went up to GB (there were around 2800 emails on this account). ...
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The 2800 emails are most likely not your problem. If you have a lot of videos stored on your boot drive, then they contribute largely to your problem. If you have a lot of files to be removed or several large files that you want to keep, then you need to do what I told you. Get an external drive and move your large files to take drive. If you have a SuperDrive with the ability to write to DVD±R discs, you may use the optical discs as temporary storage. Moving files is not complete until you delete the files that you have moved. This means that you must empty your Trash.

Your computer will not operate properly until you take action.

One more thing: Your computer uses disc space as program memory. This is called virtual memory.
 
Yep -- I concur with MisterMe. The only way to free up space on your hard drive is to remove things from your hard drive... just like a glass that is too full of water -- the only way to make more space in the glass is to remove some water. Same with your hard drive: if it's full, you must remove some stuff. What "stuff" that may be is up to you -- large video files, pictures, music, documents, downloaded programs, etc.
 
Another problem we have with mail is that it duplicates the mail that is already in the mailbox and then also we get 10-15 inbox messages that have no subject or sender at a time. For example, when I came to work this morning I had 80 some emails in the inbox, I now have 205 and 99% of those are duplicates. Does anyone have any ideas about this.

To respond to the last two comments, we do not have any videos or large files on this computer. The computer is used for a small weekly newspaper and I delete pictures and documents and empty the trash every week to make room for the new pictures and documents. As I stated before, we have had this problem once before and when we deleted the emails and emptied the trash we had no problems with the startup disk being full. I can't remember if we did anything else or not.

I appreciate all the feedback!!
 
jbarley, I just downloaded Grand Perspective and I don't know what to do with info I have in front of me. On the graph that I have in front of me there is a huge green space that when I click on it this is what it says on the bottom: 1.20 GB Users/johnsonpioneer/Library/Mail/POP-rondaf@pld.com/INBOX.mbox. When it takes me to my mailbox, two windows open up and the top one is in read only and it says I have 436 messages, in the other window it says I have 216 messages in the inbox (this one is in Read Only also).
 
1.2 GB of mails isn't the main thing - there has to be other stuff in it. What is the total disk size on your Mac? The recommendation is to keep always at least 15 % free, no matter what size. So for a 100 GB that would translate to 15 GB free etc.
Do you have lots of downloads, videos etc? Get an external drive and move the files you don't need constant access to there. Or depending on the Mac model and disk size, getting a bigger hard drive will most likely make sense too.
Freeing 1.2 GB from mails will not do the magic here.
 
This is the info from the computer that I am using.

Machine Model: Power Macintosh G3 Series
CPU Type: PowerPC 750 (2.2)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 350 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 320 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 1.1.1f1

The hard drive is around 5 GB I think.

We don't have any big things downloaded on this computer. We download pictures and scan documents, but every week I delete and empty trash.

Thanks!
 
cshironaka said:
This is the info from the computer that I am using. ...

The hard drive is around 5 GB I think. ...
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OK. Your boot drive has a total capacity of 5 GB. This is less than the capacity of most new iPhones. It is inadequate for MacOS X and grossly inadequate for any version past MacOS X 10.2.

Quite frankly, I don't understand the point of your most recent post. You have already been told that you need a higher capacity hard drive. Your new post reinforces the advice given to you by Giaguara and me.

You can back-up the entire contents of your internal drive to a single [8 GB] USB thumb drive. Do so. Take your computer to a local Mac technician or to a friend with a proven track record working with Macs. Have him to replace your 5 GB drive with one that is at least 100 GB. Then move the contents of your old drive to your new one.

There is nothing more to be said until you get this done.
 
MisterMe,

Thanks for your response. I really feel that you are talking down to me and I don't appreciate that. We don't have a local computer tech that deals with Mac computers, if there were I would not have tried to get answers from a forum. The nearest Mac tech is 100 miles away and that is not stretching the truth one bit. I'm sorry that you feel that I have not taken your advice from the very beginning, but it isn't as simple as you make it sound given that I am not in a place that has someone versed in Mac computers. No one in this small community uses Macs and I have no friend that is a proven mac almost tech. Please be considerate to those of us that are not versed in computers and were hoping for a different answer.

To the others that have responded to this post, I appreciate you and your responses and thank you for your consideration to a person that is not at all computer minded.
 
Then get an external HD like was already mentioned. Everybody has said everything that can be done. What else could you possibly be looking for? The only other option after you clear out some space is to do an archive & install. Then go into the options an deselect everything but the essential system software. After this is done get rid of the previous system folder an then maybe you will only have essential system files taking up 1 GB of hard drive space.
 
I will tell the owner of the business what you have suggested. You asked what else I could be possibly looking for, what I was looking for was to be able to clear something off this computer without having to get another hard drive of some sort. As I stated before this has happened once before and once we cleaned off the emails, we gained most of our space back. I was hoping that someone would be able to tell me what I could do to do that again, but apparently there isn't a way or someone would have suggested it.

Thanks!
 
On a 5GB drive, 1.3GB of emails is a significant amount. You mentioned that emails were the culprit before, and they may just be so again.

Do exactly what you did before -- clear the 1.3GB of emails off the machine. You can do this via Mail, or, as I think you mentioned before, contact the ISP and have them remove the emails from the server.

I gotta stick my hand up in the air and vote for an external hard drive and/or a larger internal drive, too. Managing free disk space is the user's responsibility -- you cannot simply let a drive fill up to the point of being completely full. This is not the responsibility of the computer, nor the operating system. It is solely up to the user or users of the computer to ensure that things run smoothly, and that entails drive maintenance. Someone needs to keep an eye on the disk space from time to time, possibly performing maintenance and/or backing up unwanted/unneeded files to a different location...

...otherwise, we'll just keep this thread active and see you back here in a few when your drive fills up again.
 
Well, most operating systems do let you know when you've reached a critical low. However, it is up to the user to do the work of clearing out the space. I know that Windows will do what it can to assist, as does the latest Ubuntu (not sure about other Linux distros), but it can only do so much. I haven't played with anything beyond Tiger to any extent, so I don't know if those also do what they can to assist in freeing up space. Hoping to change that little problem soon, though... ;)
 
Thanks ElDiablo and nixgeek, I appreciate your responses and your consideration to a computer dummy such as I. We try to stay up with getting rid of emails as they come in, but we receive 30-50 emails a day and my employer is the one that must delete the ones that we don't need. We are a small weekly newspaper that receives many emails containing information that we use in it and she makes the decision for that. We have talked at length about getting new computers, but right now she is just getting caught up from the economic down turn. Upgrading to a new hard drive sounds like the best option, but until she is able to purchase one and get it here I will keep trying to clean this one up so that I can perform the tasks that I need to to be able to get the paper done in the best quality we can. Thank you all for your help!!
 
cshironaka said:
... We try to stay up with getting rid of emails as they come in, but we receive 30-50 emails a day and my employer is the one that must delete the ones that we don't need. We are a small weekly newspaper that receives many emails containing information that we use in it and she makes the decision for that. ...
Click to expand...
If you are running a newspaper or any business for that matter, then you should not delete your email messages before you archive them. As I told you before, you can backup the entire contents of your hard drive on a single 8 GB USB thumb drive. You can buy them at almost any Walmart, Radio Shack, or Office Depot. Office Depot sells them for $25.00. DVD-R is not quite as convenient, but your archiving options are a lot cheaper if you have a SuperDrive. A spindle of 100 DVD-Rs is available at Office Depot for $20.00. With a capacity of 4.7 GB, each will back-up the entire contents of your hard drive or alternately scads of email.

In previous post, I suggested that you get a Mac technician to replace your 5 GB hard drive with a 100+ GB drive. A Mac technician is preferable but not necessary. Your Mac uses the same SATA drives that Wintel PCs use. Any competent computer-savvy person including the neighborhood computer nerd should be able to replace your hard drive.

There is an old saying: "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." Other members of this forum and I have lighted the candle for you. It is up to you now to use the light to get your work done.
 
Thanks MisterMe, for lighting that candle. I have talked with my employer and she is open to your and the others suggestions. I am hoping to have a hot rod of a computer soon when we get the new hard drive!!
 
MisterMe said:
In previous post, I suggested that you get a Mac technician to replace your 5 GB hard drive with a 100+ GB drive. A Mac technician is preferable but not necessary. Your Mac uses the same SATA drives that Wintel PCs use. Any competent computer-savvy person including the neighborhood computer nerd should be able to replace your hard drive.
Click to expand...
I may be wrong here and if so anyone can feel free to correct me.
I suspect that any Mac computer that originally came with a 5GB drive would not have a SATA disk interface.
Trivial maybe, but necessary information in order to get the job done.
 
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