New HDD-Clone Mac HD-Can I start over with Boot Camp and Parallels?

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New HDD-Clone Mac HD-Can I start over with Boot Camp and Parallels?

I'm upgrading my HDD that has Leopard on it along with a Windows XP partition accessible via Boot Camp and Parallels. I've had an issue lately with getting to XP (either the VM works and Boot Camp doesn't or vice versa).

So I wanted to start fresh with Windows. Assuming I take care of getting my Windows data backed up, can I clone the Macintosh HD to the new drive, boot up on the new drive, and then set up BC and Parallels? Or will the fact that I have those installed right now make the cloned Macintosh HD and Parallels freak out if that partition doesn't exist?

I'd rather start new since I've been having problems but don't really know what to do.

Thanks-
John

MacBook Pro 2.4GHZ - 15.4" screen - 160GB HDD - 2GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on May 23, 2009 5:28 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

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May 23, 2009 5:38 PM in response to jb9573

To start fresh with Windows on the new drive you need to first partition the new drive entirely for OS X using Mac OS Extended, Journaled. Then create a new Boot Camp partition. Install Windows per directions.

After you reinstall Parallels you can have it configured to boot from the Windows system installed on your Boot Camp partition or you can install Windows separately in the VM. The latter would of course mean you would have two Windows systems - the one on Boot Camp and the one in the VM.

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Answer 2

jb9573 Author

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May 23, 2009 5:47 PM in response to Kappy

Taking a step back, I cloned Mac HD (using Carbon Copy Cloner) to a FW800 drive. Once I prove I can boot to it, (1) wouldn't I remove the old HDD and put the new one in my machine, then boot to the FW800 drive again? (2) Then clone back to the new, blank HDD (from Other World Computing, by the way)? (3) Or do I have to format first? (4) If I have to format, I can use Disk Utility when I boot from the FW800 drive and choose OS Extended (Journaled) to format the entire drive, correct?

(5) So then to create the Boot Camp partition, use the Boot Camp Assistant I presume? (6) Then Parallels setup? (7) Will Parallels think it's starting fresh (in other words will it not have any idea of the VM that was on the old machine/HDD)?

Tried to number the questions in case it's easier to answer them by number.

Thanks so much!

-John

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 23, 2009 10:42 PM in response to jb9573

Well you didn't give enough information to know where you were in the process.

If your external clone boots OK, then replace the old drive with the new one. Boot from the external drive. Prep the new drive as follows:

Extended Hard Drive Preparation

1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait the process has completed.

4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.

6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Restore your clone to the new drive. Open Startup Disk and select the new drive as the startup volume and click on the Restart button.

Once the computer has started successfully from the new drive open Boot Camp Assistant and create your Windows partition. Install Windows then restore you Windows data/files backup.

You will need to use the Parallels uninstaller to uninstall Parallels. Then track down all related files and folders used by Parallels and delete them. Download Easy Find - VersionTracker or MacUpdate - and use it to locate all the Parallels related items. Then reinstall Parallels from scratch.

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Answer 4

jb9573 Author

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May 24, 2009 8:50 AM in response to Kappy

Fantastic! Thanks!

Should I uninstall Parallels based upon my situation? Or since the Windows XP partition doesn't even exist and I'm going to create it (via Boot Camp) and the Parallels VM from scratch, can I leave Parallels installed?

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 24, 2009 2:08 PM in response to jb9573

Yes, you can leave Parallels installed, but you will need to delete the existing VM then recreate it. You can do that within the Parallels application by selecting the existing VM and removing it from the list.

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