why does hd space disappear so quickly in X?

spookyspooky
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi,



I have a g4 400 which had OSX 10.1 on it and since then I have upgraded to jagwire 10.2.3, itunes 3, imovie 3 and iphoto2. each time I update I find that a large amount of the hd seems to disappear - certainly greater than the new features in any of the updates. when you update from say 10.2.2 to 10.2.3 does this just add files to your system? I thought that some of the updates replaced parts of the system for fixed or enhanced bits.

maybe I'm just being over sensitive. Its not a problem for me but I' kinda like to know what the deal is. having come from 9 where each system update didn't seem to snatch 200MB from the hd I find it a bit dissconcerting. I would have hoped apple would be concentrating on performance rather than stuffing more features on.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    off/langoff/lang Posts: 98member
    One thing to notice about disk space and OSx is when downloading things. They tend to be in compressed disk images which when uncompressed produce several intermediate files, all of which stick around, and take up disk space.



    Right now, for example, I have 3.36GB in my trash, much of which are just disk images and such...
  • Reply 2 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    never noticed this problem ... and I do every update that comes down the pipe.



    currently Jag is running on an old iMac with only a 6 Gig HD. not a lot of movies stored on it, but it does have all the iApps loaded up and I've never noticed the HD losing ground.



    As mentioned above ... empty your trash every now and then. Or clear out old "download stuff. ... something is taking up your space that doesn;t need to be there.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Hm, does the swap file count as being occupied disk space in the Finder's calculations?



    I imaing ethat could make disk space appear to fluctuate quite a bit.



    [ 02-05-2003: Message edited by: BuonRotto ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 5
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    Swap space is included.



    Use <a href="http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/"; target="_blank">Omni Disk Sweeper</a> to find out where all your space is running off to. I promise, it's a small download.



  • Reply 5 of 5
    jaskejaske Posts: 73member
    There are many ways to manually reclaim space. For example, you can delete documentation files, never-viewed screen savers, user pictures, etc.



    One of my favorites: many of the latest Apple downloads have included support for many languages, "artificially" increasing their size (remember when you could download an english or french version of an app). You can reclaim space by deleting these files. The easiest method is to bring-up the "get-info" window for an app (iCal, for example) and click the languages tab. You then highlight the languages you don't use (and please, keep those that you do) and then click remove. You will be asked if you are sure that you want to do this (click yes) and the file will be in your trash can. One thing, after clicking yes, the language will still be listed under get info. After you close the window it will disappear.



    And, another big space waster: installed programs you never use. Delete them. Seriously, Do you need BBedit if you hardly use it and Textedit does the job? What about folks with every mac browser. I can understand Safari, IE and Chimera, but more than three . . . unless you have the space that's a waste. Do you play Chess, or use that clock? Or the terrible "new" calculator? Delete them. Be brave and reclaim space.



    [ 02-06-2003: Message edited by: jaske ]</p>
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