Hi, I have been searching around the internet for advice with this issue and I have seen this thread: http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=35239 but I wanted to make another thread to bring up this problem again and I wasn't sure whether I should use an old pre-existing one or not.
My friend is having an issue with his macbook pro right now after using ccleaner to clear his free space (he used the 7 wipe option I think it was, if that matters). What it did was was the consensus of the other thread, that it filled up his harddrive so that no space was left and now he cannot download anything right now.
I was wondering if anyone has some way to either automatically delete this giant junk file/folder (like using the disk utility or ccleaner again-spooked it could compound the problem though), knows how I can find it manually without using an external program since he can't download anything nor has a way of getting the program onto a flashdrive from another computer at the moment, or knows some common locations where the file/folder is located and what names it will have.
Hopefully there's a couple more people who are experienced with mac who can help compared with the last thread!
On Windows we'd say like SuperFast's post above to just delete that/those huge files in the root of the drive, and/or to once again run Wipe Free Space and this time be patient and let it finish and it should remove all those files.
Of course this is on Windows, so I haven't the foggiest idea if this info is also true on a Mac. If only we had some Mac guru's that used CCleaner to help on the forums!
Thanks again for the posts everyone. It's unfortunate that there's no mac users around who know where such a file is at when they are running ccleaner or disk utility. I'll just have to keep trying different methods in the mean time
It's a reoccurring issue with people posting about it if Wipe Free Space was cancelled, which I suppose would kind of be common with huge capacity hard disks and people not knowing how long it was going to take before enabling Wipe Free Space. Would be nice if CCleaner could target those files when ran again to automatically remove them.
One thing for sure to pass along to your friend is that Wipe Free Space doesn't really need to be used, think of it more like being there if the computer was going to be sold which would make a very valid reason to use it to remove already deleted private data.
I may be missing the point here, but isn't the answer, or at least a clue, in 'I had this issue and found the "rouge" temporary file in the trash.' in the linked Piriform thread, and also in Hazel's link?
(Later edit - to avoid confusion the verbatim quote above should of course read 'rogue'.)
That's true, but I told him to check the trash and he said nothing was there. Maybe it is a hidden file and he needs to empty it? I'll tell him to try that when I get the chance.
Maybe I'm not understanding, but I just ran "Erase Free Space" using the 7-pass erase. It took about 11 hours, and I do not find that any additional space was taken up as a result. If I understand some ofthe above postings, are some people finding that using this feature of the CCleaner results in additonal space being filled on their drive?
Your choice of course echoes890, but 7 passes is probably overkill, and for the longevity of your drive, something I wouldn't want to do on a regular basis.
This loss of drive space is usually attributed to the Wipe Free Space run not being completed for whatever reason, therefore the large temp file/files created to overwrite free space aren't deleted.
With the Windows version, CCleaner uses it's own algorithm and WFS always cleans up after itself if interrupted before completeion.
CCleaner for Mac runs the OS.X built in mechanism, and sadly, unless things have changed very recently, this doesn't clean up after itself so if it's interrupted or doesn't complete for any reason, the temp file is left behind, and apparently deposited in trash.
Thanks for posting that echoes890, and welcome to the forum.
After 2 WEEKS i kill CCleaner and hope i can cleanup some files with terminal....but there are now files. But my drobo disc is now full....cool, i have more then 1,5 lost on my drobo....and the only chance is to format?? Is this possible?
No information about where are the file....no info about the time that CCleaner needs....for Windows a great tool, for Mac DON'T USE IT!!!!
After Restart my Macmini the Drobo is gone....i had 25GB of free space, before i reboot....but now the drive is....?! and the data can't access..... For my, CCleaner is the worst software i ever use in my 7 years of Mac!!!!! i will change my review to absolutly DON'T USE CCleaner!!!
I started running CC Erase Free Space on my Mac three days ago now... I expected several hours, but not several days!? It does not show any progress and says I cannot close it down until it has finished.... I don't want to keep my Mac on for this long and want to know how far along the process it is. I cannot force quit on the application so looks like I will have to restart my computer..? I am worried that if I force it to shut down I won't be able to find this temporary folder and my Mac will be rammed, or will loose some data. Can any one suggest anything, or do I just have to risk it for a biscuit??
You'll no doubt have read the post a little way above ...
CCleaner for Mac runs the OS.X built in mechanism, and sadly, unless things have changed very recently, this doesn't clean up after itself so if it's interrupted or doesn't complete for any reason, the temp file is left behind, and apparently deposited in trash.
Because CCleaner is running the Macs own built in utility, you may get more definitive advice on the Mac forums as to the best course of action to take if that utility doesn't appear to be running as it should.
At some time in the future CCleaner may be able to do something if this built in Mac utility is interrupted for any reason, possibly in way of deleting the created temp folder/files, but as of now CCleaner simply runs that utility and nothing else.
There was some discussion on this particular subject here ...
If it was my Mac, I would terminate the process as 3 days is an awful long time unless you have mega sized drives or are running an extreme secure overwrite option like 35 passes.
The issue you will need to fix is to find the location of the folder/files used to overwrite your free space.
Hope that helps, but if you can't find a fix at the Mac forums, please come back and we'll do our best here, although I think 99% of the guys here have Windows computers.
Thank you very much for your reply and your help DennisD. I greatly appreciate it.
I stopped CC and decided to find out how to do it on my Mac myself....! Luckily with result. I thought I'd share it with all the Mac users who are lost looking for some answers....
If you click on your "Finder" and go to "Applications".
In there I found a folder called "Utility" and in there you will find the programme/application "Disk Utility". (Or you could search your Mac for "Disk Utility" and save yourself the hassle.... -Bring up "Finder" and in the top right corner you can type in "Disk Utility" in the search bar.)
Open Disk Utility.
On the left hand side you click on your Mackintosh HD.
On the right hand side there are four different tabs, "First Aid" "Erase" "RAID" and "Restore".
Click "Erase" and it will give you the option to erase free space.
It took an hour or two and kept me updated the whole time. Job done!
Thank you very much for that update, and I'm sure it will be of help to other Mac users.
I've never heard mention from any of the users having problems running that utility via CCleaner about them being kept updated during the process.
I have to say it as I see it, and based upon your first post above ...
It does not show any progress and says I cannot close it down until it has finished....
... using CCleaner to Wipe Free Space seems to be a less informative, and therefore more daunting, process than running the "Disk Utility - Erase" feature directly.
My advice if someone has an issue while running "CCleaner Wipe Free Space" would be to terminate it, and then run the Disk Utility direct. If it completes and then doesn't return the free space, then do the same thing. Run the "Disk Utility - Erase".
At least then you should have some visual indication as to what is happening.
That would have to be my advice until the CCleaner devs provide the same level of updated progress information while using CCleaner to do the job.
If any other Mac users could comment on this, that would also be of great help to others.
For Mac users additional advice would be to run Time Machine backup before doing anything then you can restore if need be. Second the Disk Utility for wiping free space is just as good really and like with Outlook for Mac whose sync is a 3rd party 'bridge' which doesn't work well at all. Most programs that mimic Windows PC applications find they have to use a 'bridge' to some Apple proprietary software/hardware... which is not a knock on CCCleaner - it's just the way it is. Third in Finder to find hidden files click on GO while holding down the Option key (Lion and MLion) to see the Library and then be oh so careful. Really if you can boot then use Disk Utilities, under apps, to 'verify' the disk (could take a long time), start with the partition and if that's okay go on to the actual hard drive. If it finds errors then follow the instructions to boot to Recovery mode choose Disk Utilities from there and run repair. Use Disk Utilities to verify and repair 'permissions' which are often the real culprit. There are also utilities in the Mac app store like Daisy Disk, or others that would most likely find the large hidden 'temp' files for you. Another option is at http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/ which can search for invisibles and sizes, etc.
I use both Windows PC's and Mac/iphone besides curling.