[RobOnTheCape]

I have an imac running 10.3.3, but have had this problem before. If I delete a file or app I sometimes notice that my hard drive space will actually decrease once the files have been emptied from the trash.

Any ideas as to the problem?

Thanks

[Developer]

Originally posted by RobOnTheCape:
I have an imac running 10.3.3, but have had this problem before. If I delete a file or app I sometimes notice that my hard drive space will actually decrease once the files have been emptied from the trash.

Any ideas as to the problem?

Free disk space can be reduced by virtual memory and temporary files over time. The Finder often doesn't notice this, but updates its display for free space when you empty the trash. So sometimes it can appear that less space is free after deleting a file. After a reboot everything is in order again.

[Powaqqatsi]

Your swapspace usage probably increased before you deleted the app and the finder didn't update the freespace indication. This has something to do with the polling (is that the term ?), the thing that forces you to click your desktop to update it ans to be able to see new files on it. If polling would be activated, it wouldn't be necessary to click the desktop. The Finder updates the free space everytime you empty your trash. If my explenation sucks right now, I'll have another go some other time. I'm too tired to form decent sentences.

EDIT: yeah developer beat me to it

[RobOnTheCape]

Thanks for the answers. Was just looking to hear something like this as opposed to "sounds like a bug...".

Take care

[Big Mac]

Yeah, I discovered this Finder limitation as well; I posted a similar thread. If you're interested, one of the respondents provided the tip that the terminal command "df -h" will provide an accurate reading of hard drive space.

[typoon]

Run DiskWarrior. It usually fixes things like this.

[absmiths]

I always resort to df when I really need to know exactly how much space I have. Although at times it reports weird things, too, like 105% space used . . .