how much shall i partition macbook drive? 32gb option query

[bob2131]

hi, i plan to use bootcamp and windows xp.
the 32gb partition option, does this mean when i install apps into windows xp, i have a limit of 32gb??? or can i install programmes say up to 100gb????

my programme files folder in my pc is way over 50gb.

would i need to partition my mac drive to half half?
i have 250gb internal macbook drive.

basically i want to be able to install apps and data to use in windows xp apps, which would amount to well over 50gb.

what does the 32gb partition actually mean??? is this just for windows system files?? or for ALL things windows, eg, my documents, apps data etc.

thankyou.

wahts better? bootcamp or parrallels or VMWare fusion???

 

[YouArentJ]

i went with 40Gb for my partition.... Seems to work out well.

 

[bob2131]

i went with 40Gb for my partition.... Seems to work out well.

yeah but does that mean you cant install stuff and more stuff which goes over 40gb? or can you put in say 43gb of data/songs/documents into windows xp..........

so say if you do 40gb......7gb of that for windows xp........then the rest for installing other apps and data into windows ?

 

[xpipe]

When you partition a hard drive, that partition becomes like a separate hard drive. So if you do a 32 GB Boot Camp partition, then you've essentially got Windows on a 32GB hard drive. It would be like you went out and bought a PC with a 32GB hard drive. Everything would have to fit on that 32GB drive...the operating system, all your installed programs, and all your other files. It sounds like 32 won't be enough. So you need a bigger partition. Or an external drive for all your stuff (music, videos, etc.). I don't think it's optimal to store program files on an external (also, I think programs would have to be installed to the external, not moved after the fact, due to registry issues).

50GB is a lot of programs. Do you have a lot of games or something? If that's the case, Boot Camp is for you because you get the full on graphics experience. In the virtualization options you mentioned, graphics are lacking. You can have both Boot Camp and Fusion at the same time; a lot of people seem to do this. That's what I do. I usually have Fusion w/ Vista running so I can listen to music on Windows Media Player and for a few other things. If I want the full Vista experience with all the bells and whistles, I switch over to Boot Camp.

 

[bob2131]

When you partition a hard drive, that partition becomes like a separate hard drive. So if you do a 32 GB Boot Camp partition, then you've essentially got Windows on a 32GB hard drive. It would be like you went out and bought a PC with a 32GB hard drive. Everything would have to fit on that 32GB drive...the operating system, all your installed programs, and all your other files. It sounds like 32 won't be enough. So you need a bigger partition. Or an external drive for all your stuff (music, videos, etc.). I don't think it's optimal to store program files on an external (also, I think programs would have to be installed to the external, not moved after the fact, due to registry issues).

50GB is a lot of programs. Do you have a lot of games or something? If that's the case, Boot Camp is for you because you get the full on graphics experience. In the virtualization options you mentioned, graphics are lacking. You can have both Boot Camp and Fusion at the same time; a lot of people seem to do this. That's what I do. I usually have Fusion w/ Vista running so I can listen to music on Windows Media Player and for a few other things. If I want the full Vista experience with all the bells and whistles, I switch over to Boot Camp.

oh man thankyou so much.....it all becomes clearer.
i have a massive desktop pc, with 3 drives of data.
im not switcing everything over. just wanna install windows on macbook for specific music production applications. the size gets big because vstis etc and sound related files etc. im still thinking it all. because i need to do it right. good file structure etc. no mess. cause my pc career = messy, clutter everywhere. im just gonna do it a bit at a time...see how it goes with windows on my mac.

i need to back up first tho.
yeah my programme files folder on pc is like huge. vstis and related libraries.

bootcamp AND fusion?! lol
so windows would be installed just once on mac? or twice??
yeah i heard macs performance is less with fusion virtualisation method, as 2 op systems are running.....but with boot camp its like one or the other, so better performance, right?

regards