Task: Checking Free Hard Drive Space

One consideration when installing software is how much hard drive space you have. Unlike RAM which we will discuss in a moment, memory on your hard drive is long- term storage. That is, when your Mac turns off, information such as the programs you've installed, and the files created with them, stay there.

To check your available hard drive space in Mac OS X, follow these steps:

1. Go to the main hard drive icon on your Mac in the upper-right corner of your screen, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, and single-click the icon.

2. Select the Get Info option as shown in Figure 6.6. The Hard Disk Info window (see Figure 6.7) will appear and display information about your hard drive, including the amount of free space you have.

   Figure 6.6. The Get Info option gives you the low-down.

   

   Figure 6.7. The Info window.

   

A hard drive icon might not necessarily be named hard drive because you can change the name of your hard drive. To do so, click once on the letters beneath the icon; let go of the mouse button but hold the mouse pointer in position. When the text becomes selected, you can just type in the new name.

Besides the room taken up by applications, digital media (such as music, photographs, and video) take up a lot of space. If you find yourself running low on storage, you can invest in an external drive. We'll discuss the options further in Chapter 7, "Choosing Peripheral Devices."