I'm supposed to receive tomorrow my new iMac 27" with a 2TB HD. I guess that the OS X LS 10.6.6 will be pre installed on the HD but I would like to partition that drive to two partitions. One of 500GB that includes the OS and the second of about 1.5TB. I'll do it with "Disk Utility" but want to be sure that my OS will not be deleted after I partition and give the two parts of the disk new names.
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How to partition my new 2TB HD?
- Thread starter dilgit
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Why partition it? You going to put Windows on the other partition?
If you're really worried about Disk Utility fubar'ing your setup, why not just do a fresh install of SL when you get the new machine tomorrow, before any data has to go on the machine?
You're right. I forgot to mention that I'm going to install Windows 7 with Parallels. So what would be the recommemnded procedure for me? Also, I don't want to format and reinstall SL. Is it possible to partition so that SL stays on a 500GB partition and I have the rest 1.5TB free. How should I do it?
Again though, if you're doing the Win 7 install in Parallels, why do you need to partition your drive?
If you install Win7 via Boot Camp, the Boot Camp installer will automatically resize and repartition your drive.
If you really do need/want to partition your drive before hand, just reinstall SL. It's not that hard. Takes about 30-45 minutes. Not sure what your aversion to doing so is.
Why partition?
I have my iMac with a 50G for Windows & 600G for OS X.
I rarely use Bootcamp, just Parallels.
The only reason to partition is if you want a Windows partition.
I'm not sure there's any value to partitioning anymore except for above.
I have my iMac with a 50G for Windows & 600G for OS X.
I rarely use Bootcamp, just Parallels.
The only reason to partition is if you want a Windows partition.
I'm not sure there's any value to partitioning anymore except for above.
I have a 250G Time Machine partition for the SSD backup and a 750g Data partition.
If you partition, you can virtualise your Windows install, or boot straight in to it.
if you wish to install Windows 7 on a separate partition then just use Bootcamp Assistant (located in APPLICATIONS->UTILITIES). This will allow you to partition the drive into two partitions, of whatever size split you wish, without affecting the partition OSX is on.
I personally have my iMac drive partitioned with Window 7 purely for gaming but also have WMWare Fusion installed on the OSX side to allow me to run the partitioned Windows 7 installation as a virtual machine.
I personally have my iMac drive partitioned with Window 7 purely for gaming but also have WMWare Fusion installed on the OSX side to allow me to run the partitioned Windows 7 installation as a virtual machine.
yes - use bootcamp to partition once you set-up your machine
You can specify the size of the new partition by dragging it to make it the size you'd like. The primary partition is the one OS X stays on, the new one is for whatever you want it to be.
I installed Win 7 via bootcamp on my new iMac...something I had to figure out (it took a whole 3 seconds) was that Windows wanted to format the new partition before it installed it - watch the sizes...I went 250GB for Win 7 (1.75 TB for OS X) and there is another partition there of 200MB for SMART. Don't format the wrong one... select the one of the proper size and look to see MB vs GB vs TB
You DO NOT lose the original OS X installation when you do this process...BUT you must #1 have a CD, DVD or external HD for bootcamp needed files if installing Windows and #2 remember to select the OS X start-up in the Windows control panel if you want to run OS X on the new reboot (don't do that until all the Windows updates are complete though!)
You can specify the size of the new partition by dragging it to make it the size you'd like. The primary partition is the one OS X stays on, the new one is for whatever you want it to be.
I installed Win 7 via bootcamp on my new iMac...something I had to figure out (it took a whole 3 seconds) was that Windows wanted to format the new partition before it installed it - watch the sizes...I went 250GB for Win 7 (1.75 TB for OS X) and there is another partition there of 200MB for SMART. Don't format the wrong one... select the one of the proper size and look to see MB vs GB vs TB
You DO NOT lose the original OS X installation when you do this process...BUT you must #1 have a CD, DVD or external HD for bootcamp needed files if installing Windows and #2 remember to select the OS X start-up in the Windows control panel if you want to run OS X on the new reboot (don't do that until all the Windows updates are complete though!)
Snow Leopard should allow for on-the-fly partitioning and partition resizing. AFAIK, this is not just limited to the BootCamp Utility. But I don't have my main drive partitioned, so I have not used it.
As far as partitioning and then doing a fresh install of Snow Leopard. I would recommend that regardless of whether you plan to partition, BootCamp or whatever. I do that with any new Mac I get. The reason: the default install of OS X is somewhat bloated. You can cut out upwards of 6GB by removing the ability to change the OS language to one of 10 to 15 languages. You can also remove other components like additional language support for typing (with you OS still in English) in other languages. If you don't have a use for it, take it out. OS X also comes with support for almost every printer out there, making printers plug and play. You can either leave those, or just download and install the driver for your actual printer(s), which will give you the latest driver anyway. There is also X11, which you may or may not have a use for. It's almost always a good idea to wipe and do a clean install of the OS, tailoring it to your uses and needs.
As far as partitioning and then doing a fresh install of Snow Leopard. I would recommend that regardless of whether you plan to partition, BootCamp or whatever. I do that with any new Mac I get. The reason: the default install of OS X is somewhat bloated. You can cut out upwards of 6GB by removing the ability to change the OS language to one of 10 to 15 languages. You can also remove other components like additional language support for typing (with you OS still in English) in other languages. If you don't have a use for it, take it out. OS X also comes with support for almost every printer out there, making printers plug and play. You can either leave those, or just download and install the driver for your actual printer(s), which will give you the latest driver anyway. There is also X11, which you may or may not have a use for. It's almost always a good idea to wipe and do a clean install of the OS, tailoring it to your uses and needs.
Thanks, but I have NO intention of using Bootcamp. After I split the HD I intend to install windows 7 with Parallels. NO BOOTCAMP. The question remains? Can I split the 2TB HD with disk utility without deleting Snow Leopard.
You can partition disk with disk utility without need to erase data. This is the case with recent Mac OS X such as 10.6.
Thank you! This is what I expected to hear. Now, after first boot I'm going to split my HD with disk utility, so that the part with Snow Leopard 10.6.6 gets about 500GB and the rest is free for my personal files. I understand that when I install windows 7 with Parallels, about 100GB out of them 500GB will go for win 7. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Am I missing something here? If you are only going to be running Windows using Parallels then you're running it purely as a VM so absolutely no need to partition your HDD - in actual fact why would you? Remember, running Windows as a VM, using a program such as Parallels, has it's limitations. Forget modern gaming in Windows via Parallels as it just won't be able to handle it, also the drivers that Parallels uses to "drive" Windows are quite "unique".
I don't even know wether partitioning you HDD and then attempting to install Windows 7 would even work without Boot Camp Assistant due to the processor Bios needing to be be changed. Maybe if you explain exactly what you are trying to achieve would shed some light on this.
In order to install windows, you still need to do bootcamp - bootcamp gives you all the drivers for the hardware in the iMac that Windows utilizes after you set it up - the bootcamp can be set to always boot into OS X once you get Windows installed and updated
I am doing it the same way that you intend - Parallels 6 in OS X - never booting into Windows and NEVER asking upon start-up what OS I want to boot into.
Basically, it goes like this:
1 - bootcamp to partition and burn files on a CD or DVD
2 - reboot with Windows CD
3 - install windows (with numerous reboots - do not hit "any" button to boot from CD on the reboots)
4 - use bootcamp CD/DVD to install drivers
5 - update Windows (a few reboots required)
6 - go to windows control panel and select bootcamp - select to always boot into OS X
7 - restart
8 - install Parallels
9 - never boot into Windows again!
Using bootcamp as your "Parallels" boot drive is the easiest way to keep Windows updated and running smoothly.
Win 7 does not take 100 gigs.
Im with spcdust -- what is it you are trying to do? You seem to be so fixated on partitioning with even mentioning why?
And with Parallels theres no *need* to, since Parallels doesnt care.
Win 7 does not take 100 gigs.
Im with spcdust -- what is it you are trying to do? You seem to be so fixated on partitioning with even mentioning why?
And with Parallels theres no *need* to, since Parallels doesnt care.
As has been said, you don't need to partition for parallels. If you plan on gaming in windows you will need to use bootcamp.
No need to put your files in a separate partition. Just keep it all in OSX and plug in an external and let time machine keep you backed up. Having a separate partition isn't going to protect you from hard drive failure.
I guess i'm with everyone else here and have to ask what are you trying to accomplish?
No need to put your files in a separate partition. Just keep it all in OSX and plug in an external and let time machine keep you backed up. Having a separate partition isn't going to protect you from hard drive failure.
I guess i'm with everyone else here and have to ask what are you trying to accomplish?
Thank you all. Let me try to explain. Forget windows. Let's assume I'm not installing windows at all. I just want to split my 2TB HD into two unequal parts, without deleting Snow Leopard. Is this possible or not? What I'm trying to do is to seperate the OS from my private files, so that if I'll have to reinstall Snow Leopard, I'll only have to format that partition while the other partition with my files will stay untouched.
This is entirely possible, but you'll probably have to fix permissions when you log into your new install of SL. This can be done either with Disk Utility, or you can run this from Terminal;
Code:
sudo diskutil repairpermissions /You may take a minor hit in performance too, as you'd be creating a uniform distance between the OS files and your personal files on the HDD platters, but it won't be that noticeable.