In Windows you’re free to easily find out how much disk space is left using Windows Explorer.
The total disk space and how much space is free is displayed for each unit connected to your machine.
However, how do you do this on an Ubuntu machine?
The first program is System Monitor.
To access this program, tap the top button on the Unity bar.
Enter “system monitor” in the Search box.
As you jot down, matching items display under Applications.
When System Monitor displays, go for the icon.
This information is useful, but what if you want more detailed information?
The next tool we’ll discuss will provide a more detailed view of your hard disk.
When it opens, you’ll see all Devices and locations on the initial screen.
Clicking on a unit or location will provide more detail about that item.
This message displays because you opened Disk Usage Analyzer without root, or administrative, privileges.
tap the X button in the upper-left corner of the window to end the program.
To trigger the program with root privileges, you need a small program called “gksu”.
To install gksu, press Ctrl + Alt + T to open a Terminal window.
pop in the following at the prompt and press Enter.
The progress of the installation displays and then a message displays saying how much disk space will be used.
When asked if you want to continue, bang out a “y” and press Enter.
On the right side of the window is a rings chart representing the usage of the hard disk.
In the bottom-right corner of the window are two buttons.
The left button is selected by default when this window opens, displaying the rings chart.
nudge the right button to display a treemap chart.
The following is an example of a treemap chart.
It looks similar to a Windows program, calledSpaceSniffer, that analyzes your disk space usage.
nudge the X in the upper-left corner of the window to close Disk Usage Analyzer.
