# HD space reading almost full, but its not!!



## fynn.lei2 (Mar 3, 2007)

so, over the past couple of weeks the free space on my hard drive has been disappearing. I have 60 gigs on my hard drive. Three days ago i had 4.78 free, and now I have 600 mb. I have been downloading large files, but i have my preferences set to download directly onto the external drive (I have a 250 gig external drive and most of my files have been moved to there). An analysis from Whatsize shows that i have used 35 gb, but my computer thinks that i have use 55. How does this make sense???
I have already repaired the permissions on my HD and done some cleaning with OnyX... so i am at a loss...
I am doing a scan with clamxav right now but it has not as yet come up with anything. 
My next plan is to move everything i want onto the external and do a complete reinstall, does this seem logical??? I don't really look forward to this!! 
I am hoping that there is some small application that will force my computer to re-read its used space... is there such a program?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated! 
thanks!


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

Do a bit more digging. Try JDiskReport:

http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Just curious... is this JDiskReport good, or,,,



> 1.2 How does it compare to its competitors?
> JDiskReport is a cross platform tool and free of charge. It focuses on understanding what's going on with your disk space. There are other tools that help with cleaning hard disks.
> JDiskReport does not [yet] show the free disk space; *consumes a lot of system resources: both memory and processor time; the hard disk access is slow; it has weak support for platform specific mechanisms*.


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

fynn.lei2 said:


> My next plan is to move everything i want onto the external and do a complete reinstall, does this seem logical???


No.

What program are you downloading with?
Is it possible the temporary download files still exist or that are in the trash waiting to be deleted?

Maybe start with a *sudo du -h -d1 -c /* in Terminal and we can see where the problem might be.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

MSM Hobbes said:


> Just curious... is this JDiskReport good, or,,,


Is it good? It identifies the top 50 or 100 files that are taking up the most space on your drive, like maybe that download of an ISO image that you forgot about, or the free iTunes TV show that you watched and no longer want. Then it's up to you to delete them. It's just another tool to help manage disk space, but the price is right.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> Is it good? It identifies the top 50 or 100 files that are taking up the most space on your drive, like maybe that download of an ISO image that you forgot about, or the free iTunes TV show that you watched and no longer want. Then it's up to you to delete them. It's just another tool to help manage disk space, but the price is right.


That's  - just struck me as a semi-slight concern reading,, "consumes a lot of system resources: both memory and processor time; the hard disk access is slow; it has weak support for platform specific mechanisms."


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

MSM Hobbes said:


> That's  - just struck me as a semi-slight concern reading,, "consumes a lot of system resources: both memory and processor time; the hard disk access is slow; it has weak support for platform specific mechanisms."


Where did that critical comment come from?


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> Where did that critical comment come from?


Ummmm,,, from the link that you provided...  

http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/faq.html


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## Pensacola Tiger (Apr 23, 2006)

MSM Hobbes said:


> Ummmm,,, from the link that you provided...
> 
> http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/faq.html


Well, duh... Who reads FAQs anyway?

I wonder how important the use of system resources is in a transient program that is run infrequently, and if slow disc access is a real issue. I know that it scans my 40 Gb drive in a about four minutes and that it has identified files that I no longer need or want but didn't know were still there.

In the context of the original poster, I'd think that a tool that identified the 50 largest files in the root and then in each directory would be useful to find out where the 'missing' space was going.

Anyway, give it a try and see if the flaws noted by the developer are significant to you.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> Well, duh... Who reads FAQs anyway?
> 
> I wonder how important the use of system resources is in a transient program that is run infrequently, and if slow disc access is a real issue. I know that it scans my 40 Gb drive in a about four minutes and that it has identified files that I no longer need or want but didn't know were still there.
> 
> ...


Sorry,  but before I d/l any s/w, I try to read/understand as much as I can about it. Call me maybe a bit on the tad side of somewhat cautious... esp. in regards to my Apples.  So, yea, I read the FAQ...  and then my curiousity arose to make sure that there wasn't something 'hidden' behind the curtain that could cause me to not be so happy. And, yea, it does appear to be a viable application - was just checking. Thanks!


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