mystery /core folder

[ergosteur]

I received an error today saying that my startup disk was almost full. I knew that I hadn't downloaded much lately or done any video/photo editing, so I downloaded Disk Inventory X to see what was taking up space.

 

I found a folder, /cores, on my startup disk that was taking up about 80GB of space with files called core.xxxx (where xxxx is a number between 5000 and 7000).

 

Does anyone know what could have created these? I deleted them and hope it was safe to do so.

matthieu-yiptongs-p5w-dh-deluxe:~ matt$ cd /cores
matthieu-yiptongs-p5w-dh-deluxe:cores matt$ ls
core.5127	core.5290	core.5490	core.5657	core.5819	core.5969	core.6123
core.5132	core.5297	core.5493	core.5659	core.5821	core.5971	core.6125
core.5134	core.5308	core.5496	core.5662	core.5823	core.5973	core.6128
core.5138	core.5310	core.5498	core.5665	core.5826	core.5976	core.6130
core.5142	core.5312	core.5500	core.5667	core.5829	core.5978	core.6133
core.5144	core.5315	core.5503	core.5670	core.5835	core.5980	core.6135
core.5146	core.5317	core.5505	core.5672	core.5837	core.5982	core.6137
core.5149	core.5319	core.5507	core.5674	core.5840	core.5988	core.6140
core.5154	core.5322	core.5510	core.5677	core.5842	core.5990	core.6142
core.5156	core.5324	core.5512	core.5681	core.5844	core.5992	core.6144
core.5158	core.5327	core.5514	core.5683	core.5847	core.5997	core.6147
core.5161	core.5329	core.5518	core.5686	core.5850	core.5999	core.6150
core.5164	core.5331	core.5520	core.5689	core.5853	core.6001	core.6153
core.5166	core.5333	core.5522	core.5691	core.5855	core.6004	core.6155
core.5168	core.5336	core.5525	core.5693	core.5857	core.6006	core.6158
core.5170	core.5338	core.5527	core.5696	core.5860	core.6008	core.6160
core.5173	core.5340	core.5529	core.5698	core.5862	core.6012	core.6162
core.5176	core.5343	core.5534	core.5700	core.5864	core.6014	core.6166
core.5178	core.5345	core.5536	core.5703	core.5867	core.6016	core.6168
core.5180	core.5349	core.5539	core.5708	core.5869	core.6019	core.6170
core.5184	core.5351	core.5542	core.5710	core.5871	core.6021	core.6176
core.5186	core.5353	core.5546	core.5713	core.5873	core.6023	core.6178
core.5188	core.5362	core.5548	core.5715	core.5876	core.6029	core.6184
core.5190	core.5364	core.5550	core.5717	core.5878	core.6031	core.6187
core.5193	core.5366	core.5553	core.5721	core.5880	core.6033	core.6191
core.5195	core.5370	core.5559	core.5723	core.5883	core.6035	core.6193
core.5197	core.5374	core.5561	core.5725	core.5885	core.6038	core.6196
core.5199	core.5376	core.5565	core.5728	core.5887	core.6040	core.6200
core.5202	core.5381	core.5571	core.5731	core.5890	core.6042	core.6205
core.5204	core.5384	core.5574	core.5733	core.5892	core.6046	core.6207
core.5207	core.5392	core.5576	core.5736	core.5894	core.6049	core.6214
core.5209	core.5396	core.5579	core.5741	core.5896	core.6051	core.6216
core.5211	core.5400	core.5584	core.5743	core.5901	core.6053	core.6219
core.5213	core.5403	core.5587	core.5748	core.5904	core.6056	core.6221
core.5216	core.5406	core.5590	core.5752	core.5906	core.6058	core.6223
core.5218	core.5414	core.5592	core.5755	core.5908	core.6060	core.6226
core.5220	core.5416	core.5594	core.5758	core.5911	core.6063	core.6228
core.5223	core.5419	core.5597	core.5760	core.5914	core.6065	core.6230
core.5227	core.5427	core.5599	core.5763	core.5916	core.6067	core.6235
core.5231	core.5432	core.5601	core.5766	core.5918	core.6070	core.6237
core.5234	core.5434	core.5604	core.5768	core.5920	core.6072	core.6239
core.5236	core.5437	core.5606	core.5771	core.5923	core.6075	core.6246
core.5238	core.5439	core.5608	core.5774	core.5925	core.6077	core.6248
core.5241	core.5441	core.5614	core.5776	core.5928	core.6079	core.6250
core.5243	core.5444	core.5616	core.5778	core.5930	core.6081	core.6253
core.5245	core.5447	core.5618	core.5781	core.5932	core.6084	core.6255
core.5248	core.5451	core.5621	core.5783	core.5936	core.6086	core.6257
core.5250	core.5453	core.5624	core.5785	core.5938	core.6088	core.6261
core.5252	core.5456	core.5626	core.5789	core.5940	core.6093	core.6263
core.5255	core.5459	core.5628	core.5791	core.5943	core.6096	core.6265
core.5257	core.5461	core.5631	core.5793	core.5945	core.6099	core.6269
core.5259	core.5463	core.5633	core.5796	core.5947	core.6102	core.6272
core.5261	core.5466	core.5635	core.5798	core.5950	core.6104	core.6274
core.5265	core.5469	core.5638	core.5800	core.5952	core.6106	core.6281
core.5267	core.5471	core.5643	core.5803	core.5954	core.6109	core.6288
core.5271	core.5474	core.5645	core.5805	core.5957	core.6111	core.6291
core.5274	core.5476	core.5648	core.5807	core.5959	core.6114
core.5280	core.5478	core.5650	core.5811	core.5961	core.6116
core.5282	core.5486	core.5652	core.5814	core.5964	core.6119
core.5288	core.5488	core.5655	core.5816	core.5967	core.6121

[ntsmkfob]

They are dumps, so something is crashing on a regular basis. You can delete them, but you need to examine one to see what is crashing.