Trying to free up space on my Macbook

[sg]

I'm trying to delete unwanted files and so in Finder I have typed the word 'you', just to see what happens and there are over 6,000 files from all over the place, especially emails and iTunes . So, if I want to move these to the trash and then Secure Empty Trash, will this at the same time delete the emails and the songs? Will it free up space on my HD?

Is this a good idea?

many thanks

[ChuckFickens]

I'm not a mac user, but as a general rule you can adjust the view you are using to view any list of files to include details such as file size, you can then see the exact size of any file in your "list".

You may find a lot of them are very small, in which case they are probably just shortcuts to that file and not the file itself and deleting them will only clear the size of the shortcut.

If the file size shows as a larger size then yes, deleting it will clear the space equal to the size of the file.

I'm not sure you are going about this the correct way though. looking for things with random words and then deleting them is kinda risky to say the least!! Look for things that are large such as, music, videos and pictures by type and then either delete them, or back them up to CD and then delete them.

[Count-A-Strong]

Why have you chosen the word 'you'? Have you considered buying N external
drive and putting all your photos on it. Choosing a Word seemingly at random can delete
system files and cause all
sorts of problems.

[ChuckFickens]

Have you seen they are talking about you CAS :)

http://www.theanswerb...y/Question903130.html

[Count-A-Strong]

Fame at last! Cheers chuck.

[sg]

Thanks,

To be honest that was the first word that came to mind, I don't want to get rid of everything that contains that word. Another thing I typed was http and obviously that has many thousands of results - scrolling down to pick at random - Chuckle Brothers (??). When I clicked on that it took me to a page which I frankly needn't see again, so as you say the file size is probably tiny and won't save me much space.

I have backed up my photos and take care with music, but thanks to you both for mentioning that. Having done that I am still left with only 7GB left. I happened upon this idea when looking for something else in Finder and then thought well this might be the answer, get rid of the myriad of small files and leave the stuff I need. I have deleted a few song 'files' that I knew I could bare to lose and the songs still play in iTunes, so that's what made me wonder about the consequences of moving all thse to trash.
Many thanks for your replies...

[ChuckFickens]

Typing HTTP will just give you a list of web pages you have visited and take you to them when you click on it, they are not stored on your computer at all.

You need to look at large files, these are, in order, Videos, music, Pictures. if you need to clear space then delete those, that said......7GB left out of how much? but whatever, it's not a critical amount of space to have left and if you really want to keep all the media files on your computer don't worry about it until it gets under 1GB.

[Milvus]

SG how full is your drive?
Before you start deleting files find out what files are taking up what space. This will give you options that have the most effect. Don't delete files unless you know what they do.
Go to www.omnigroup.com and download Omni Disk Sweeper. This is a free programme that will run through your disk and provide you a list of files and their sizes. This will help in you decisions about what is worth deleting