VirtualBox uninstalled but Disk Space not restored

[beit]

Hi guys,
I have a strange problem, I have tryed to install XP on virtualbox in an external drive. At the beginning everything seems ok, but one day I wrongly open virtualbox without my external HD attached and strangely it was working. Window but up without problem.
For this I tryed to uninstall it to see if some space on the internal HD would be free.
Now I had virtualbox uninstalled but still have 20GB in the internal HD that I don't know where they are....can someone help me?

[baf]

Start looking in Library/VirtualBox/ under your home dir.

[beit]

there was a folder with one xml and two other file, I deleted but still nothing


in every case thx for the reply

[tkwm]

May be, may be,
you
1. Are using FileVault
2. Never turn the computer off, but put it to sleep
3. All the time use the same user-account

Then the deleted hd-space only will be released if you log off and on again or restart your Mac.

May be it helps to do a save start so that several caches will be emptied. To do so press the shift button and hold it while your computer (re)starts until you see your normal user-login. The startup will last significant longer and your Macs fans may begin to howl, but this is normal.

You also can obtain a tool like Onyx that allows you to let the finder display hidden files and then again have a look onto your hd.

Oh and a last thing comes to my mind: Have you also emptied the trash?

[beit]

ehehe you joke with me

the trash is empty, I'm not using filevault.....the fact I never swith off the pc is true, I put offen to sleep, but when I have trouble a reboot is a must.
To empty all the cache I utilize the script from mac, the periodic the daily the weekly and monthly. Those must do what does the safe login, I'm right?
I will try now in every case.

Yeah I'm using all the time the same profile because I'm the only one who use this computer...how many do you use?
Thx a lot

[tkwm]

No joke. Some month ago my sister-in-law phoned me, that she has deleted some files on an usb-stick but still there was no place on the stick. She has not emptied the trash.

If you are not using filevault the empty space will be released directly.

I'm using 4 different profiles on my mac,
1 Adminaccount
1 normal account without adminrights for daily work
1 further adminaccount, for the case that the first become struggeled, what already happened one time with a Creative Suite update
1 account without adminrights if guests will use my mac.
You should try Onyx, so that you can see the hidden files.
Onyx is free and also can execute some other maintenance-tasks.