Bunch of questions about partitions/formats.

[Ansemrp]

Hi guys, Got a few questions, I'll explain my situation.

So I decided to install XP on my MacBook. Just bought it new in June of 2008.
Got my XP Disk, (Pretty sure it's at least SP2), started up Boot Camp, allocated 32 GB to the partition I was gonna use for Windows. From what I saw when I was in setting up the install destinations from the disk, it looked like Boot camp formatted the partition it created in FAT32. I would have preferred NTFS but I figured I would just go with Boot Camps judgement on it.
Left the format the way it was, copied all the files, but every time I tried to boot from that partition I got "Disk Error". So I figured I would instead just select to format in FAT32 when asked even though it already was. That worked. However, of the 32 GB I gave to Windows, just installing the OS alone took up 24 of them. So I figured I did messed something up when I chose to format it again. So I wiped it clean. Now I am wondering what the best thing to do is. I think I am just gonna give all my HD space to Mac OS, and try creating a partition in NTFS from Windows setup on the disk.

My questions are:
1. Can you select formatting methods in boot camp other than FAT? and also:
2. Windows is having trouble making sense of my hardware. It sees it there but doesn't know what it is, and because of that problem I can't get a network connection going in order to get some drivers if any even exist for this issue (I assume they do). Anyone know what I should do about that?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[chscag]

You say that when you installed Windows XP alone it used 24 Gb? Not even Vista takes up that much space. Something went very wrong with the installation.

Run the Boot Camp assistant again from OS X and select "restore". That will restore the entire hard drive to OS X. From there you can start over.

Select FAT-32 or NTFS when you create the partition with Boot Camp. Later when you reboot using your XP SP2 Full install CD and Windows begins the installation, be sure to follow directions and select the Boot Camp partition when asked. Then complete the format. (Be sure to read the entire Boot Camp instructions before you begin)

After Windows is installed, insert your Leopard Disk One and install the necessary drivers so that Windows can "see" your hardware. Again, read the Boot Camp instructions so that you understand the entire procedure before you begin.

Regards.

 

[tsvb]

You can format the drive to NTFS if you'd like during the Windows set up.