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Running out of disk space on a Mac?

Hi Dave, I run Pro Tools Digidesign 002 6.7. Have recently booted RAM from 512mgb to 1gig. The issue is CPU, as mid session I will get error message that I am running out of CPU. The problem is this; there are many duplicate files and folders which are playing havoc with the CPU. How do I find all these files and folders and remove them from the system?

I presume there is a download or product that finds these files and deletes them forever. I am very new to computers and after more than 30yrs as a musician I would like my system to run like my tiny old Sony walkman did for many years.

Boot up, catch the song idea and develop quickly and without any bother. I have a Mac G4 8oomhz, play many instuments straight into the system ( I don't use Midi) in my enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge have found that I don't need too much (STuff) to create and deliver my music. A couple of nice reverbs etc. I use disk utility to help, but this is not the complete or practical way to start/stop/start/f f f f-forgetit, lose the moment.

Can you help with ideas on removing all files etc that aren't needed? I am half way through my new album and am loosing the plot rapidly...just need to focus on the music...

Dave's Answer:

Ah yes, if only a computer was as easy to use as a Walkman (Walkman? Is that some sort of primitive iPod-like device? :-) but with greater complexity and sophistication comes, well, greater complexity.

When you say that you're getting an "out of CPU" message, I assume that you really mean that you're getting an error that you're running out of disk space instead. This is solvable. Here's what you need to do:

Go into the Finder and click on your hard disk icon. Now you should see all your top-level folders, like Applications, Library, System, Users, and similar. Choose View -> As List, then choose View -> Show View Options. It looks like this:

Mac OS X Show View Options in the Finder

Click on the box on the bottom labeled "Calculate all sizes" and go grab a Fosters or two. Your computer will now grind through and calculate the relative size of each folder, which means it has to calculate the sizes of the sub-folders, etc etc. Rather a lot of files!

When it's done, you'll see something like this:

Mac OS X Finder Showing Calculated Folder Sizes

Click on the column title "Size" and you can sort it from largest to smallest folder. Now, go into the really ridiculously big folders and repeat this sequence of steps, until you start to find folders full of files that you just don't need. Also check to see if you have lots of Applications installed that you don't use any more too: if you do, just delete them. Especially if they're from the Internet, you can always easily re-install them again (or even copy them to a CDROM or DVDROM for safekeeping).

Hope that helps! Good luck with your latest album!

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Comments

There also is a shell script for finding dublicate files: finddup (www.shelldorado.com).

Posted by: Greg at May 25, 2005 12:00 PM

There are (at least) two disk space tools you might want to try out: WhatSize (www.id-design.com) and Disk Inventory X (www.derlien.com). Good Luck!

Posted by: Tom at May 25, 2005 3:22 PM

He may actually be "out of CPU" if he loads too many plug-ins and his computer isn't fast enough to process all his tracks in real time. Get up to 16 tracks with separate fancy reverbs on all of them and you're likely to hit a wall...

Just a thought.

Posted by: Paul at May 25, 2005 10:07 PM

There is another great tool over at Omni Group, the Omni Disk Sweeper.

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/

Posted by: Gary W. Longsine at May 26, 2005 12:06 AM

Youpi Optimizer is an application which enables you to delete resources localized in unused languages, and then free disk space.

http://phupe.club.fr/english/YOIndex.html

Posted by: Graham Perrin at May 31, 2005 10:21 AM

Actually, the when the disk performance is reduced--whether by getting near full, or due to fragmentation--this shows up as a greater load on the CPU in DAW software.

The solution is not to record to the same volume that you are running the software from. This can be accomplished by adding a faster drive--internally on a SCSI or IDE bus, or externally on the FireWire bus--or by repartitioning the boot drive so that there is a second volume on which to record and edit audio files.

Posted by: Paul Henegan at June 1, 2005 6:14 PM

Wow! I just happened to be looking around for a way to free up space on my Mac (I had only 17 MB). I thought I had gotten rid of all my unneeded files, but I took your advice and I was able to free up an additional 650 MB! While that's not too much, it'll allow me to function for at least a little while longer. :-P

Posted by: Spencer at September 22, 2006 6:51 PM

Mere minute after I posted the above comment, I'm back down to 245 MB. D-:

I need a new computer. X-D

Posted by: Spencer at September 22, 2006 7:00 PM

my mac keeps telling me that my disk space is full and i cant save but i have 23 gigs free. how come?

Posted by: imogen Rodgers at April 18, 2007 5:25 AM

Not sure what to suggest, Imogen. How do you know you have 23G free, and what program is complaining you're out of space?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at April 19, 2007 11:56 AM

Hi, I am having a strange issue on my Mac-mini.
What happens is that, suddenly the disk space becomes around 1GB and the OS gives out message saying that "running out of disk space", but then after sometime, the disk space again automatically comes back to 14 to 16 GB.
I don't understand what is causing this issue?
I am using OS 10.5.4. on mac-mini.

Any advice?

Posted by: Hary at September 23, 2008 1:35 PM

thanks!

Posted by: andrew at November 9, 2008 12:52 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!