Not enough space on BOOTCAMP partition, what should I do?

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Not enough space on BOOTCAMP partition, what should I do?

I gave the bootcamp partition about 30 GBs. I bought a Windows 7 Home Premium disc, and it was working great. I installed Office 2007 for PC on Windows. Everything ran well, but now I am out of room. I understand that I will have to remove the Windows partition, and reinstall it only this giving it much more space.

I still have the Windows 7 disc, but how many times can I use it? Will I have to buy a new one?

When I installed Office I used my mom's disc. It's only allowed on 3 computers, and mine was the 3rd one. Does that mean that if I'd have to buy a copy of it? My mom's disc itself I do not have with me in college.

What should I do?

MacBookPro6,2, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 500 GB harddrive, 4 GB memory, intel core i5, 2.53 GHz

Posted on Nov 19, 2010 2:59 AM

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Answer 1

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The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Nov 19, 2010 3:37 AM in response to KKSlang

You can reinstall multiple times as long as the same computer.

You could and should first make backups.
Paragon-Software CampTune $19 might resize partition.

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Answer 2

KKSlang Author

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Nov 19, 2010 4:04 AM in response to The hatter

Thanks so much!
I don't have an external hard drive. Am I able to somehow back stuff up? I don't think I need any of my files on the Windows partition, other than Office, which I can get again from the disc. I am just worried about the mac part.

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Answer 3

Toocool4

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365 points

Nov 19, 2010 4:14 AM in response to KKSlang

You can re-install many times like The hatter said, you may just have to re-activate via Microsoft.

What you can do is download Winclone. Use Winclone to clone your Windows partition. Once you have a good clone, delete the boot camp partition re-create the size you want.

Once all that is done clone you Windows partition back then expand it to fill the new partition size.

This way no need to re-install or activate.

You don’t need any other drives, just clone to you Mac OS partition. If you have enough space on you Mac OS side, that is all you need.

Winclone will allow you to do this, Winclone is free to download and use. Get it from download.com

Message was edited by: Toocool4

Message was edited by: Toocool4

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Answer 4

The hatter

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60,990 points

Nov 19, 2010 4:18 AM in response to Toocool4

There is only one way to DELETE the partition, and it isn't with Disk Utility.

Copying to/from the same hard drive is SLOW and the hard drive head will sound like a washing machine. Not good.

Also, you are USING free space that you want to REUSE for Windows.

Get a backup of both Mac OS and Windows, but on an external drive.
You can do 1.5TB case for $109. And you do need and want to have backups.

The idea that it would work by using one hard drive is risky and has high chance of failure or not working at all.

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Answer 5

KKSlang Author

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Nov 24, 2010 2:59 PM in response to The hatter

I contacted Apple and on the phone they told me that if I don't have any valuable files on the Window's partition, that I can just delete it and reinstall it.

So pretty much I did that, without backing up anything. I reinstalled Windows 7 using the same disc. Good thing I did not end up buying an external hard-drive, that would've been a waste of money.

Question has been resolved, thanks everyone.

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Answer 6

The hatter

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60,990 points

Nov 24, 2010 3:16 PM in response to KKSlang

Here's hoping you don't fly by the seat and ocntinue to think backups are useless, or a waste of time and money.

Because computers fail, updates fail, Mac or Windows, whether hardware or software issue.

Good luck, you will need some, in spades.

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Answer 7

KKSlang Author

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Nov 24, 2010 3:55 PM in response to The hatter

Alright thanks. I thought it would be a waste of money to buy a backup hard-drive for the sole purpose of backing up my Window's partition, when I had nothing on there that needed to be saved. I'm happy because I was able to do what was needed without having to blow some cash. But I'm sure you're right, backing up is awesome, and I'm sure it has been a lifesaver for many, and maybe I shall invest in an external hard-drive in the near future. However, in my case, as useful as it might be in the future, backing up was not a requirement to do what I needed to do, rather it was a recommendation (as there is a small possibility of things going wrong).

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