Multiple Partitions/ Windows 7 / Boot Camp Assistant
Hello All,
I scoured the post here and in the Snow Leopard forum and gathered a lot of good info regarding partitions and Boot Camp.
I am planning to divide a 500GB drive on a MacBook Pro into 5 partitions, one of which I plan to install Windows 7 Professional (32-bit). The 5 partitions I want/need are:
10.6.3 #1
10.6.3 #2 (for testing and experimenting or maybe my old 10.5.8 setup)
Media
Archive
Windows 7
I understand that Boot Camp Assistant will only allow me to setup a Boot Camp partition on a drive that has NOT been previously partitioned. Therefore I plan to use Disk Utility and iPartition....
I have come up with two possible methods to achieve my goal and wanted to see if any of you have any input as to whether of not I am setting myself for a big bag of hurt or not...
Method One:
Use Disk Utility to divide the drive into 3 partitions:
120GB for 10.6.3
325GB that I will partition later into 3 drives
55GB Windows 7 (MS-DOS (FAT))
(This will make the Windows 7 partition 4, which will satisfy the limitation of Windows only seeing 4 partitions.)
Install Windows and then use iPartition to resize and divide the 325GB partition into the 3 that I need/want. (Being careful that nothing I do in iPartition moves or changes the Windows 7 partition.)
Method 2:
Use Disk Utility to divide the drive into 5 partitions:
120GB -- 10.6.3
120GB -- 10.5.8 (or whatever)
55GB -- Windows 7 (MS-DOS (FAT))
100GB -- Media
RemainingGB -- Archive
This will still make the Windows 7 partition #4 or lower.
I have tried both way and have not had any problem installing Windows 7 but wanted to see if anyone had an strong feelings against this approach.
Any thoughts or suggestions??
Thanks
John
I scoured the post here and in the Snow Leopard forum and gathered a lot of good info regarding partitions and Boot Camp.
I am planning to divide a 500GB drive on a MacBook Pro into 5 partitions, one of which I plan to install Windows 7 Professional (32-bit). The 5 partitions I want/need are:
10.6.3 #1
10.6.3 #2 (for testing and experimenting or maybe my old 10.5.8 setup)
Media
Archive
Windows 7
I understand that Boot Camp Assistant will only allow me to setup a Boot Camp partition on a drive that has NOT been previously partitioned. Therefore I plan to use Disk Utility and iPartition....
I have come up with two possible methods to achieve my goal and wanted to see if any of you have any input as to whether of not I am setting myself for a big bag of hurt or not...
Method One:
Use Disk Utility to divide the drive into 3 partitions:
120GB for 10.6.3
325GB that I will partition later into 3 drives
55GB Windows 7 (MS-DOS (FAT))
(This will make the Windows 7 partition 4, which will satisfy the limitation of Windows only seeing 4 partitions.)
Install Windows and then use iPartition to resize and divide the 325GB partition into the 3 that I need/want. (Being careful that nothing I do in iPartition moves or changes the Windows 7 partition.)
Method 2:
Use Disk Utility to divide the drive into 5 partitions:
120GB -- 10.6.3
120GB -- 10.5.8 (or whatever)
55GB -- Windows 7 (MS-DOS (FAT))
100GB -- Media
RemainingGB -- Archive
This will still make the Windows 7 partition #4 or lower.
I have tried both way and have not had any problem installing Windows 7 but wanted to see if anyone had an strong feelings against this approach.
Any thoughts or suggestions??
Thanks
John
MacBook Pro 2.6Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.3)