lost drive space

Question

This is the get into -

And the finder view -

From a 2008 MacPro, running 10.5.8 Snow Leo. This wouldn't be an issue, except I was planning to update to an SSD. With only 60GB used, and much of it, I'm removing, a 120GB SSD for pretty cheap seemed a good way to boot this machine.

I'm used to the log files that need attention, or a reboot that clear caches that can get crazy. But, here we have 140GB that's missing.

To the question - how do I identify and remove the source of this phantom 140GB? Would a migration to a clean HD be a quick interim step? i.e. just find a blank 1TB drive, install clean OS, migrate? Or do I risk having that 140GB chunk migrate as well?

Edit - Disk Inventory X found this, instantly, a huge blue area - Now, how do I know what's safe to remove? Note - I'm not obsessing over ever last GB, it's just that a 3 to 1 filled/really used ratio seems pretty high.

The operating system contains multiple files and directories hidden from the Finder app. that is the source of some "missing space". — fd0, Apr 17 '16 at 13:11
There are hidden files/folders that by default are not shown in Finder. Use a program like Disk Inventory X to have a better look at what's really on the drive. You also can Google "show hidden files os x" to see how to show/hide the hidden files/folders in Finder. — user3439894, Apr 17 '16 at 13:11
@user3439894 - I edited per your advice. Disc Inventory showing large chunks of used space. — JTP - Apologise to Monica, Apr 17 '16 at 13:36
Have a look at: sleepimage – the Mac OS X sleepimage file explained — user3439894, Apr 17 '16 at 13:50
Hi Joe - This is a bit broad. 1) You only see files and folders from your user. It's entirely possible the files are allocated to another user on the machine. 2) You might need to restart and run Disk Utility to make sure the count is correct. 3) A tool like system information (see the linked questions) will show you what class of storage is taking your space. It's possible you have one honking file or some combination of many things. Hit me up in [chat] if we can help clarify a more narrow question here. — bmike, Apr 17 '16 at 14:22

lost drive space

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