Best Way to clean up my Hard drive

[Wrao]

So, My hard drive has slowly started to get more and more cluttered, it happens in such small increments that I rarely notice and then I wind up with a huge pile of crap and clutter I could do without.

In this age of modern marvels and computer wizardry, is there no set of tools, tips, ideas..etc. to help someone clean up their Hard drive quickly and efficiently?

Or, do I just gotta grit my teeth and start going through every folder and picking and choosing what stays and what goes by hand.

I guess what I want is like a list of all my files, preferably from selected folders, that I can use to trash things with.

So, what do you guys do when it's time for some clean up.

(I'm not reformatting, so don't bother trying to be funny;)

[HOM]

I use Omni DiskSweeper (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/). It's great for cleaning out some space.

[FFL]

I generally sort the hard drive in list view by size and turn on calculate folder size and look for the biggest files, and start paring down from there.

[alcimedes]

i've noticed a lot of times i'll have the same damn document in 4 different places.

is there something that checks files by byte or something to catch duplicates on your drives? that would probably save me gigs.

[HOM]

i've noticed a lot of times i'll have the same damn document in 4 different places.

is there something that checks files by byte or something to catch duplicates on your drives? that would probably save me gigs.
VersionTracker (http://versiontracker.com/php/search.php?mode=basic&action=search&str=duplicate&plt%5B%5D=macosx&x=13&y=8) lists a bunch of programs that claim to to just that. Don't know if any work, but it's a start. :)

[InactionMan]

There's a program called Disk Inventory X that shows a graphical breakdown of what kind of files you have and what is taking up all the space. It may give you a good idea of where all the HD space has gone.

Linkage to MacUpdate (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14393)

[HoTT RoDeR]

I keep one main folder for all my new apps, documents, pictures, etc. I call it Downloads and store in my home folder. I save everything there. All my downloaded apps, music, digital camera pics or other things go there. If I download something I know I want or where it should go then I put it in its proper place. Then when my drive gets near full I start to go through the clutter but at least its in one place not spread out all over. That would also make it easier to get rid of duplicates. I have found that it greatly cuts down on organizing and monthly maintenance time, not to mention you have not "clutter" all over the drive. Especially if some of it is clutter you don't want other to see over your shoulder. ;)

[Luca]

I don't really have much of a strategy for cleaning out my drive other than just going through and looking at each file to see if I want to keep it or delete it. I might have 100 miscellaneous funny/interesting/weird movies but I realize that there are a dozen or so I don't like.

The other thing is my desktop... it gets cluttered. Not too bad though. I know someone who never moves anything from his desktop until it's completely filled all the way with miscellaneous files, then he throws them all in a "Temp" folder along with five or six other Temp folders, and starts over again. It's like waiting until every square inch of surfaces in your house/room is covered, then throwing everything into a big garbage bag and throwing it in the corner. Really, really stupid if you ask me, but I guess that's his way of doing things (he uses Windows... go figure).

So I'd say use something like Omni DiskSweeper to search for things that are taking up a lot of space, and just go through whichever folders have lots of files in them and delete a bunch that you don't want anymore. Maybe try to categorize them so you have 5-10 folders and only a few items in each folder, instead of a hundred items in a single folder.

[SilentEchoes]

I generally use some kind of ADD drug, Preferably adderall as I have a prescription to it.

Really though I generally do it all by hand. I am not a big fan of pirating software ESPECIALLY not from small time dev houses and I cant bring myself to spend money on a piece of software that runs around and deletes other pieces of software for me when its just as easy for me to do it myself.

I find if you keep your HD organized enough (I have OCD pretty bad so thats generally not a problem) then all the junk tends to pile up in one place and its pretty easy to swoop in and pull a spiderman on its ass.

[Eugene]

I can hardly resist linking murbot's thread.

[VOX BARBARA]

So, My hard drive has slowly started to get more and more cluttered, it happens in such small increments that I rarely notice and then I wind up with a huge pile of crap and clutter I could do without.
(...)
So, what do you guys do when it's time for some clean up.(...);)

in general, what about devoted project folders to put in your stuff right from scratch? Though, you pretty much avoid clutter of any sort of. I know, that assumes some ... er ... minor discipline. ;)


Regarding the duplicated documents issue: i think a finder search would be a nice feature in an upcoming Macos X Release. It should be a finder build in feature. The finder searches for (real) duplicates and gives you some options what to do with them (delete, move, keep all etc.)

what do you think?