Start-up disk is nearly full--please delete some files.

[Deep13]

What does that mean? I didn't know I had a start-up disk. Isn't that the floppy containing the program needed to run an Apple IIc from the 1980s?

Anyway, I deleted a bunch of TV shows, songs, and photos and it still says that. WTF? Apparently, this problem is interfering with making CDRs for data and with i-Tunes.

What am I doing wrong? Help me Mac Users Group, you're my only hope.

Oh, it's the kind of i-Mac with the dome CPU and the flat screen on an adjustable neck. It came out a few years ago. It is OS X "tiger" if I remember right. (I never had this problem with OS 9.2).

[moggie]

1. Your startup disk is the disk you boot from

Unless you've done something strange, it'll be the internal disk. 80 GB on the iLamp, if I recall. When was the last time you emptied the trash?

To see how much space you have, right-click on the disk on the desktop (likely to be called 'Macintosh HD') and select 'get info'. If you're one of those one-button oddballs, click and do command-I.

Help me Mac Users Group, you're my only hope

No, not really. Late one night, Deep13 was walking down the street when he came across a man on hands and knees, searching the pavement. "What's wrong?", asked Deep13, being a helpful sort of chap. "I've lost my car keys!", said the man, in some desperation. "I can't get home without them!". So Deep13 helped him search. Ten minutes later, still out of luck, our hero asked "where exactly where you when you dropped them?". "About thirty yards down the road", said the guy. "I'm searching here because there's a street light".

Much as I like DU, it's not the best place for Mac technical questions, since Macs are pretty tangential to the place. The best forums for Mac questions are those where the most Mac users congregate. Apple's own 'discussions' site is the obvious example.

Oh, it's the kind of i-Mac with the dome CPU and the flat screen on an adjustable neck. It came out a few years ago. It is OS X "tiger" if I remember right

iMac G4 - that was my first Mac. Nice machine. They shipped with at least two versions of OS X in their lifetime. If you're not sure, click on the Apple menu and select 'about this Mac'. It'll tell you the OS version:

10.2 = Jaguar
10.3 = Panther
10.4 = Tiger
10.5 = Leopard (but there's no way you could have this without knowing you have it!)

[Bongo Prophet]

2. Even macs can get a full hard drive ;)

If you threw a bunch of files in the trash, you must empty that trash before you get your space back.

Do this in any of these ways:

hold down mouse button on the trash icon in the dock - a popup option will include "empty trash" (select that. success.)
OR
click on the desktop and then use keys "command-shift-delete"
ok there are other ways, but this is enough.

If you haven't rebooted for a few weeks or longer, the disk cache can get pretty full -especiallly if you have little actual RAM.
Rebooting (total restart) can get you back several gigs of space.

Then consider burning some backups and deleting some cruft.
Good luck!