How to Prepare for 10.10

[jjjoseph]

I want to upgrade my system to 10.10. I have a MacPro 5,1 with 24 megs RAM, NViDIA 680. I just want to play with the latest..

My biggest issue is my BOOTCAMP partition, I use for games and other programs, but it took DAYS to setup, and if I loose that partition i am going to loose my mind.

HAS EVERYONE who upgraded to 10.10 lost their bootcamp?
Is their a way to AVOID loosing my bootcamp?

Should I wait until APPLE reales a fix so you don't loose bootcamp?

My bootcamp is on a Separate SSD drive in my tower..

Anyway, thanks..

 

[DeltaMac]

You have an easy solution…. (assuming that you have Windows and all of your Windows apps/docs only on that SSD)
When you are ready to upgrade to Yosemite - disconnect (remove) the bootcamp drive completely.
Upgrade to Yosemite with your bootcamp drive not connected at all.
When Yosemite is installed, and all current updates complete, reconnect the boot camp drive. - and you should be able to use that as if nothing has happened to your OS X software.

 

[jjjoseph]

Hey DeltaMac, thanks! One question, if I do a CLEAN install do I loose the ability to re-connect to that BOOTCAMP partition? I am thinking about doing a complete re-format of the HD. Is their a way to force OS X to re-find a BOOTCAMP partition?

Thanks.

 

[DeltaMac]

The most common form of bootcamp install is using a separate partition on the same hard drive used to boot to OS X.
The problem with upgrading to Yosemite on THAT common boot camp, is that the Yosemite install can reset the various boot blocks. Not a big deal if you only have OS X - but a real (but fixable) issue with the bootblacks used for the Windows partition.
You, on the other hand, with a completely independent device for Windows may have no such problem.
If you leave the windows drive in place, I'm NOT sure that the Yosemite will modify that volume, or not.
If you, as a precaution, remove your completely separate hard drive (which takes only seconds) before upgrading to Yosemite, then the boot blocks for the Windows partition can't change at all.
After the Yosemite upgrade, just insert your Bootcamp drive again, and you should see the Windows boot choice in the Option bootpicker screen, as you should expect.