The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved...

hjolli wrote:
"The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved" This is the error i am getting when trying to install BootCamp, could someone give me a step by step tutorial on what to do... I'm just not getting this, all help is well appreciated.

Welcome to Apple Discussions:

This usually means that your "free" space is not free, but sparsely populated by files. BootCampAsst.app needs to find a contiguous space and it cannot.

The answer is quite easy and common.
You need to "defragment" your disk (not your files -only the disk itself).

Use SuperDuper! or CCC to clone Leopard. Use the file-file clone, not the block clone.
Test the clone to be sure it's working. Then erase your HD and clone the system back.
BootCampAsst.app will not complain when you rerun it.

The only solution that has worked for me was to clean install the entire disk e.g. Leopard Twice!
The first time didn't work and I thought I would never get windows back on my imac.
But a recent clean install did the trick.

Make sure you make a time machine back up on an external drive before your clean install.

Ps Archive and install doesn't format the drive as one.

I have the same problem, Except I do not have my Leopard disk (left it at school for the break). How can I do this without loosing my operating system?

Hi, my error message was
"The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition."

do you have any idea on how to solve this?

need to add on that i've just formatted boot camp and its journaled,but with 3 partitions.i've no idea how its able to get this far.
PLS HELp!!

Backup whatever you have in whatever partitions to another hard drive.

Then erase/reformat your internal drive to wipe out any and all partitions. Followed by restore of OS X.

Boot Camp is only FAT.
OS X is Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

3 partitions is not supported by Boot Camp utility.

I have been having the same error as the OP, and yet I am amazed that there is no ability to defrag. If wjbdows can do it, then why not Mac OS? Is it something to do with HSF? I don't have an external drive that I can back up to, and so I might be tempted to call in my ACPP, with some particulaly sarcy comments on the way. Mac OS beats windows in every other way, and yet something as simple as this requires a complete reformat! Fix it Apple! Now! Is there seriously no Defrag tools on the Internet? Or I am goingto get an apple tech guy too my house to lend me a HDD!

Oops old thread.... Doh!