Partitioning an external hard drive

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Partitioning an external hard drive

Hi. I'm about to add an external hard drive to my Dual 2.3 GHz PowerPC G5 running OS X v10.4.11. I would like to use the external for backup, storage and would also like to be able to boot from it, should the need arise. I'll be using Carbon Copy Cloner for my backup software. Do I need to create a bootable partition on the external, separate from the partition that will backup my primary drive, or can I just use the backup partition to boot from? That way there would only be two partitions on the external, one for the backup which would be bootable and the other for storage. Is there any advantage to having a 3rd partition just to boot from and if so, what exactly do I copy (clone) to that partition?

Final Cut Pro 6, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 11, 2012 8:05 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

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Aug 11, 2012 8:58 PM in response to stopmotion

Yes at least 2 Partiions...

How to format your disks...

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html

(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)

Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...

http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

No real advantage of a third Partition.

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Answer 2

stopmotion Author

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Aug 12, 2012 2:21 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks, BDAqua, for the info. So the partition on the external that I use to back up my primary drive will also serve as my bootable partition and I can use the rest of the external drive for storage. If my primary drive is 250GB capacity, is a 300GB partition a comfortable size for the backup?

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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Aug 12, 2012 2:27 PM in response to stopmotion

Yes, if using CCC then 300 GB is fine, & you can use the other Partition for whatever you like. 🙂

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Answer 4

stopmotion Author

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Aug 12, 2012 2:46 PM in response to BDAqua

Great. Thanks.

Let me run this by you if I may. Is the following a feasible configuration for the external hard drive: Create one 300GB partition on the external HD for my backup which uses Tiger, a 2nd partition for an installation of Leopard, and then the rest for storage, etc.? If this would work, how much room should I allow for the Leopard partition? Most of my current applications will not be compatible w/ Leopard but there are a few that I would like to get that will be, which is why I'm considering having the two OS's on the external so that I would have the option of running Leopard when I need to. The external is 750GB. Is this large enough for the three partitions?

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Answer 5

BDAqua

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Aug 12, 2012 3:04 PM in response to stopmotion

Whew, we're running out of space on the 750 GB! 😉

Leopard likes free space even moret han Tiger by far, but depends so much on what all is on you Leo install.

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Answer 6

stopmotion Author

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Aug 12, 2012 3:13 PM in response to BDAqua

Okay. I'll just go w/ the two partitions on the 750GB external and save the Leopard installation for an additional external. Thanks for your help.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

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239,447 points

Aug 12, 2012 3:24 PM in response to stopmotion

Great news, thanks! 🙂

Good move have different Boot externals. 🙂

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Answer 8

stopmotion Author

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Aug 14, 2012 5:35 PM in response to BDAqua

One other thing I wasn't sure about. Do I make the first (fastest) partition the backup bootable partition and the storage (scratch or whatever) the 2nd and slower partition or visa versa?

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Answer 9

BDAqua

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Aug 14, 2012 6:43 PM in response to stopmotion

In theory, the fastest Partition for an operating OS.

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Answer 10

stopmotion Author

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Aug 14, 2012 9:23 PM in response to BDAqua

Okay. Thanks.

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