CCleaner Erase Free Space not responding

[mac_user887]

Hi,

 

About 20 hours ago I fiddled with CCleaner, been using it ever since I used Windows many years back and found the erase free space function which I've not noticed before.

 

Before clicking it, it did say the cleaning will take a few hours and cannot be stopped until it is completed. I thought it will be literally a few hours. 

 

Turns out I had to leave my mac on overnight because it has not finished yet after that "few hours" and when I woke up this morning, it says "Finished erase on disks0s2 Macintosh HD" but still won't let me close the program.

 

 

 

What is actually happening?

Do I have disk0s3, disk0s4 and so on? 

Unlike when I used windows, I've never partitioned my hard drive in mac hence I am not sure what is happening, or what disk0s2 even mean. 

 

Any advise on what should I do now? 

Should I just leave it or try to force quit or restart my mac?

 

I read around some other forums and one said the program ran for 30 hours and is not yet completed, some said when they aborted the program, they are left with a huge chunk of temporary files which are difficult to find. Some ran into problems with their disk space being gobbled up.

 

I did not have problem with my disk space, it is still the same like when I started launching this free space function.

 

I do not want to leave my mac on for 30 hours! 

 

Thanks a lot! 

[DennisD]

Hi mac_user, and welcome to the forum.

 

There aren't too many Mac using volunteers on this forum although we do have a few, and with any luck one of them will be along at sometime and they will respond if they have an answer for you.

 

I take it from your post that you do only have one drive, so I can see your concern re the mention of "disks0s2 Macintosh HD" and the apparent hang of the Wipe Free Space process when it appears to be finished.

 

I can't tell you what to do with any accuracy, but if it was me I would simply stop it if it's still running, and in case you don't get an answer from one of the members, I'll point I've pointed the devs to your topic and with any luck a response from them should be able to clarify things and put your mind at rest.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited May 10, 2014 by DennisD

[Guest MrV]

Hi mac_user.

 

Looking at the screenshot you have provided and what you explained, it appears that CCleaner has finished erasing free space. It is likely that something has caused CCleaner to deadlock or hang when about to exit the erase free space process.

 

I would attempt a force quit. When erasing free space temporary files are generated which would use up the disk space. As you stated it does not seem to be the case for you, this may well be as I mentioned earlier that CCleaner did finish the erasing free space and removed the generated temporary files and then got stuck right at the end.

 

Hope that sheds some light on the issue you faced.