My computer probably had only about 115 GB free before upgrading, but after the update, I have almost 170 GB free. Anybody have any logical explanation for this? I haven't deleted anything at all.
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Did anyone else just get a bunch of free space?
- Thread starter NHDrumline17
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I noticed a significant reduction, but not nearly the kind of space you're talking about. More like 5-10 GB.
Any explanation as to why this happened? Could it be that I just had that many corrupted library/system files? My installation progress bar got up all the way, but then restarted midway through. Either way, I'm extremely happy.
I watched the install log roll and noticed similar stuff. It showed that there would be 14GB more free space AFTER the installation and I was kinda wondering.
Now it seems the real extra free space I got was around 5GB. Still good stuff for SSD users like me!
Now it seems the real extra free space I got was around 5GB. Still good stuff for SSD users like me!
It's possible that the ML installer script deleted any system update and patch files from whatever version of OS X you were running prior, as there would be no reason to keep these around on a new version of OS X.
Not unprecedented. Leopard--> Snow Leopard had massive OS footprint reductions. Would not be surprised that Lion--> Mountain Lion has massive OS footprint reductions. The second generation cats are highly optimized.
That was not my intention. It's only plausible to your question. How would you get freed space if you did a fresh install? That was what I was trying to figure out. Plus, it was directed towards you for clarification.
Now I understand where you're coming from. I'm sorry if I came off as rude.
I did not do a clean install at all. I just did the main upgrade path.
No biggie. I was thinking about doing the same that's all. Anyways, you got a ton of free space.
Hmmm... Well im just about to upgrade so I will take screenshots before and after and post them.
I lost about 2GB worth of space (would have been around 4GB if I hadn't run the Monolingual app)
I can't believe the OP gained space! I wish this was the case for me
I can't believe the OP gained space
! I wish this was the case for me 
Probably just local TM backups.
Snow Leopard does not support 32-Bit and 64-Bit PowerPC-processors, and Mountain Lion does not support 32-Bit processors, which means that the Mach-O files contain a lot less code.
Where do I go to check this?
I just go to the apple logo, about this mac, more info, then the storage tab to check my overall. Mac disk space.
Where do I go to check this?
Check under /var/log, either install.log (or install.log.0.bz2 if it has already turned over). Find the file and double click to show it in console.
Search "free space", and you should see the sections when the OS X installer was estimating disk space.
Mine looked like this:
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space before: 21.67 GB
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space after : 36.51 GB
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space diff : 14.85 GB
Definitely 14GB extra free space. I got 5GB afterwards. Not that much but still too good to be true
Edit:
I think the 14GB contains 5GB of real extra free space, plus the "Install OS X" app (which was deleted after installation) and the actual install data extracted from the app, 4.05GB*2, so the number (5GB) is still accurate.
Check under /var/log, either install.log (or install.log.0.bz2 if it has already turned over). Find the file and double click to show it in console.
Search "free space", and you should see the sections when the OS X installer was estimating disk space.
Mine looked like this:
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space before: 21.67 GB
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space after : 36.51 GB
Jul 25 09:05:59 localhost OSInstaller[338]: System Reaper: free space diff : 14.85 GB
Definitely 14GB extra free space. I got 5GB afterwards. Not that much but still too good to be true
Edit:
I think the 14GB contains 5GB of real extra free space, plus the "Install OS X" app (which was deleted after installation) and the actual install data extracted from the app, 4.05GB*2, so the number (5GB) is still accurate.
I updated as well, I got 14,88 GB free space diff. I'm guessing no one gets less with an update. Because seeing how anal I am with not installing software just to try it and delete files from programs I don't use, also having local TM backups turned off, I just don't see how it could be any other way...
Just posted on the ML thread, I only have a basic 2010 2gb, so free space had dropped down to 3.5gb as I have Parallels and Windows on, but not much else.
Cleaned out everything that I could and also used Mackeeper, but no go, however I just installed ML and it has jumped up to 11gb, so good result.
tut
Cleaned out everything that I could and also used Mackeeper, but no go, however I just installed ML and it has jumped up to 11gb, so good result.
tut