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