Mac users help me!

[Anonymous]

I am getting a constant message that my startup disk is full. I have an imac with 232 GB capacity.

If my iphoto is only using 22GB then why is my startup disk almost full and only 240mb available on hard drive?!?!?!

I don't have any movies and only use the computer for internet (no downloads) and iphoto.

Help!!!

[Anonymous]

You need to find out what is being used as your startup disk.

Open System Preferences in your dock and choose "Startup Disk" in the System row at the botom. It will show you what system is being used to start up your Mac and where it is located. If it is not the system folder located on your harddrive, but on a DVD or external disk, that might be your problem. Choose the sytem on your harddrive as your startup disk.

If this is not your problem, click once on the icon of your harddrive and "Get Info" (under the File menu) on it. It will tell you the capacity of your disk and how much is currently being used.

[Anonymous]

It is possible that the startup volume is only a fraction of your total hard drive space, and the rest of the drive is either unallocated or formatted as a second drive. If so, that could be corrected with Disk Utility. But do yourself a favor and make a backup.

It is also possible that you are accidentally booting from an attached USB drive? PP's comment above should address that. But beware if this has gone on a long time, you may have installed many updates and apps on the wrong drive, as well as data.

[Anonymous]

... earlier point should read "as a second drive volume".

[Anonymous]

OP- I don't have the external drive connected ever except when I back things up, and there are no cds in...

I got info on my hard drive and it says capacity is 232 GB and only 240 MB left...

[Anonymous]

I was having a similar issue. I used MacJanitor and Omnisweep and together they helped some. I was able to see what was taking up so much space and I deleted anything I wasn't using.

[zumbamama]

Are you saving your photos to the startup disk? If so, move them somewhere else on your hard drive and restart. Or burn them to CD, delete the files off your computer and restart.

Are there any files lingering in the trash that need to be force-deleted? (sometimes files get stuck when you try to delete them, and holding down the option key when you empty the trash can help delete it permanently.)

You could also try emptying your cache, restart, and see if that makes any difference.

Have you run any maintenance programs since you bought it? A Disk First Aid, Onyx or the ones that PP said? The start up disk may be in need of repair.

My tech guys have advised me to go here before: www.Versiontracker.com. Search/download DeLocalizer, a utility program that finds and finds and clears unneeded foreign language, error messages, duplicate files, etc. that can take up significant space.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm...the only time mine ever says that is when I need to delete images from my computer. Once I delete them, I am good to go! Do you have music or videos that could be taking up space?

[Anonymous]

230 Gig of data can't be explained by extra photos.

Are you absolutely sure the volume says 230 gig and not just the physical disk? To find out, select your drive volume and hit Apple Key and I.

If it really is partitioned for 230 Gig, then the data has to be used somewhere. Are you running file sharing programs like Bit Torrent?

Anyway, try using a disk usage tool like this:
http://www.derlien.com/
http://jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/