Q: why wont bootcamp read my windows 7 disk?

Is it possible for you take screen shots of the installation sequence, starting from Bootcamp Assistant and the process till you get the error message?

If you can use an external image sharing service, that would be even better.

Is it a full windows installer or a manufacturers install disc? Is it an Upgrade disc?

If your disk does not have enough contiguous space for partitioning and moving data, you will see this error.

Do you have a full backup of your Mac (using Time Machine or any other tool)?

I would recommend a backup of your OS X installation and all your files. If you have a 500GB internal drive, a 1.5 TB external drive USB/FW/NAS would be ideal for a full backup.

The second option is to backup all your non-OS data to the 160GB drive, if it will fit, and ensure that

a. the internal drive can be erased, and,

b. the OS can be re-installed using the original "grey" disks, and upgraded all the way to Mavericks (your current version). Your original MBP 2009 came with 10.5.7 (Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers)

The first option will cost money, the second option will cost time.

ProfessorJordan wrote:

 

I dont want to have to reinstall my mac, I have it how i like it. I dont understand why I have too.

Than you will not be installing Windows. It is a choice and the choice is entirely yours.

Your drive is fragmented beyond the point where a Windows partition can be created.

There is a tool called iDefrag - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16819/idefrag . The Demo version allows you to see how your disk blocks are laid out. The Partitioning process for Windows requires a contiguous chunk of the size needed. There are hidden partitions on your disk which contain EFI/ESP (~200MB) and a Recovery HD (optional, and about 650MB). These get relocated during the partitioning process.

You are not re-installing OSX if you restore from a full backup. You are putting the files back on the disk as they were  but in a contiguous fashion.

If your internal disk is larger than your external drive (160GB), you can copy non-OSX important files (like Documents, Downloads, your home Directory, etc.). This implies that you will be installing the original OSX from scratch and then your applications and files. This is a longer and tedious process.

If the external disk is about 1.5 times the internal disk, you can set up Time Machine, which will backup everything (excluding Windows) and it can be restored during the re-installation process. My recommendation is using Time Machine and a full backup, which may take more time, but less effort on your part.

As a check, even if your disk is 500GB, and the external disk is formatted as Mac OSX Extended Journaled, you can set it up as a Time Machine destination, and TM will give you an estimate. You can also get an estimate by using Command+I (Get Info) on the internal disk and estimate the disk space needed for a TM backup.

I would highly recommend using Bootcamp. If you do not want to reboot, you can use a virtualization product to start the Bootcamp partition from within OSX.

Please note that I have tested both iDefrag and iPartition, neither realise their claims in practice, search this forum, there are numerous threads detailing one or another failure from both of the Coriolis apps.

I do not recommend that you spend your money on iDefrag.