Partitioning 1TB with Disk Utility

If you ever expect to boot an Intel Mac, you need to set the primary partition (option) as GUID.

Ignore RAID - does not sound applicable to your use. Search on it via Google if you are curious.

HI,

Read the BootCamp Installation Guide .

That will answer all your questions.







Carolyn 🙂

Ninda wrote:
I have 1TB external drive which I want to partition, but I have some questions regarding format, size, compatibility with both Snow Leopard and Windows (eugh, but necessary). Can someone help me out? I have a few gaps.

_*Main Questions*_

_*Partition A: for TimeMachine*_
Format: Should it be Mac OS Extended Journaled...? is that right?

Yes

_*Partition B: for Bootcamp*_
Format: I don't know. Should it be FAT? or Mac OS Extended?
Size: I don't know? Can someone recommend?

I would make a bootable clone of my internal disk volume on partition B. The clone will provide a fail safe mechanism for disaster recovery. If you decide to do so, then the partition should be GUID.

As far as I know, you cannot run Windows from an external drive even if using Boot Camp. I would put Boot Camp/Windows on a partition of your internal drive. When you want to set up you Boot Camp partition, just follow the instructions of the Boot Camp Assistant. Do not format FAT under any conditions. You want to use NTFS.

_*Partition C: Everything else (Media etc)*_
Format: I don't know? I need this to be compatible with 10.6 and Windows.

I would not go this route. You do not want to use FAT. The best approach is to install MacDrive (mediafour.com) on you Windows system. If you do so then the 3rd partition can be Mac OS X extended (journaled), and both you Windows and OS X machines will be able to read and write the partition.

_*Other questions*_
a) Do I need to Erase first, re format, then create partition?

Using Disk Utility, create 1 partition with partition table GUID. After doing so, your partition should be formatted Mac OS X extended (journaled). If it isn't, then format (i.e., erase) it this way. Change your partition to 3 GUID. Selecting the sizes you want.

b) What is RAID?

Of no importance to you

c) Do I need to change something in Options? There's Master Boot - GUID - Apple Partition Map,
What do I choose?

See above

Help.

A clone in MacLand is an exact copy of a system (e.g., what's on your internal drive). The clone can be used to startup on an external. So, it is bootable.

No xBox here. So, I can't answer this one. Sorry.

TM is too unreliable for me. And, one can't easily, if at all, extract small bits and pieces of what is backed up. Clones, IMO, are much more reliable. Also, they are useful, for example, in movie making. One can start up to the clone and make movies on a volume that possibly has more space and a possibly faster drive. Various programs are very useful in cloning--SuperDuper, Carbon Copy Cloner, and Disk Utility. The first two are better, IMO, because they have more options. But, for plain old cloning, Disk Utility is very reliable. To use Disk Utilty.

1. Start up from an install DVD, and open Disk Utility;
2. Select the volume (not disk) that you want to clone;
3. Select Restore;
4. Drag the selected volume to Source;
5. Select the volume you want to clone to;
6. Drag it to Destination;
7. Check Erase Destination; and
8. Check Restore.

The process should finish up in an hour give or take a little time.

Message was edited by: donv (The Ghost)

It's just that I've been hearing different things for different people. If I were to format the last partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)... does that mean I can't play the media files on Xbox if I choose to do that?
Because I would like to have the option to view the files on consoles.

FAT is an old format. It's not as reliable as newer formats. It's limited to 4g max file size. It is the most widely supported format, however.

You might consider NTFS. You can use a Mac driver.

NTFS-3G Stable Read/Write Driver

http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

Robert