Creating partitions in 1 hdd with Mac Disk Utility without loosing any data...

[macmania82]

Hi friends,

I researched a lot before opening topic, but everybody talking about extra hdd.

I got my mbp yesterday and copied all my photos, files, etc... the problem is I have 1 HDD (500GB) and I want to make 3 different partition. any chance to create partition without losing any data? Will mac disk utility delete my files? any alternative application?

Thanks a lot for advises!

 

[r.j.s]

Disk utility can resize HFS+ partitions just fine.

 

[macmania82]

Disk utility can resize HFS+ partitions just fine.

does it mean I can crate partition with no losing any data? 1 hdd and 1 partition now, and I have all files in the hdd. and I want to create partition in that hdd.

 

[r.j.s]

If there is enough free space. If you have now free space, I don't think you can resize the partitions.

Remember, always backup your important data before attempting this.

 

[occamsrazor]

I am pretty sure Disk Utility CANNOT resize partitions without erasing the data. Yes, it can resize partitions by reformatting, but as far as I know it cannot resize partitions on-the-fly while keeping data intact.
I believe iPartition (not free) can do it, though not on the disk you are booted up from.

 

[macmania82]

1 hdd, 1 partition, and I need to create 3 partition on this. and this is the hdd and partition which mac os has been installed and booting up from this partition. i found about iPartition (thanks @occamsrazor) but it is not free and free demo version doesnt let me create any partition. Actually even it lets, Im not sure if it doesnt delete any file in my case.

So you say it is not possible in my case? so I will have to take back up to an another laptop or hdd and create partitions with Mac Disk Utility?

 

[gnasher729]

I am pretty sure Disk Utility CANNOT resize partitions without erasing the data. Yes, it can resize partitions by reformatting, but as far as I know it cannot resize partitions on-the-fly while keeping data intact.
I believe iPartition (not free) can do it, though not on the disk you are booted up from.

Strange enough, on my Macintoshs Disk Utility can resize partitions without losing data, no problem. So maybe you should check this again with a newer version of the OS, like 10.4 or 10.5.

So you say it is not possible in my case? so I will have to take back up to an another laptop or hdd and create partitions with Mac Disk Utility?

You should buy an external drive and use Time Machine for backups anyway. However, Disk Utility _will_ partition your drive without losing data. There are some situations, like changing from the Macintosh HFS file system to Windows NTFS or FAT32 where it doesn't work, but it will tell you. It will also not work obviously if your hard drive now contains more data than your first partition. Just boot from the Leopard DVD. But it will most definitely not delete any data without putting up a big fat warning and giving you a chance not to do it.

BTW. What is the reason for having more than one partition? I have only ever found it useful when I wanted more than one operating system on my computer at the same time. At some point I thought it was a good idea to keep things organised, but I always regretted it later.

 

[occamsrazor]

So you say it is not possible in my case? so I will have to take back up to an another laptop or hdd and create partitions with Mac Disk Utility?

I think so, unfortunately.... If you do decide to do this, you'll find the backup app Carbon Copy Cloner very useful:

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

(EDIT) - Just saw the post above... perhaps I am wrong about this. But remember the original poster needs to create additional partitions, not just modify existing ones.

@gnasher729 - Will it let you do this on the startup disk too? (Sorry I'm not near my mac to try)

 

[macmania82]

thanks for great comments!

I took off my pre laptop's hdd, and bought a case for that. now I have external hdd with usb connection. Now I'm transferring all my important files in there. than I will create partition with Disk Utility.

I always use different partitions, 3 paritions;
1. operating system, app installed ....
2. I keep my work files (web development)
3. my personal stuffs like photo, movie ...

in case of having any operating system problem, I dont wanna loose any important data.

I think I can use Time Machine with my external hdd?

Carbon Copy Cloner is a kind of TimeMachine alternative? to take backup regularly automatically? if so, TimeMachine looks cool, maybe better choice.

thanks again for great advises : ) Im very new at mac, so many things to learn : )

 

[occamsrazor]

CCC is used to clone one disk or partition to another - creating a bootable mirror copy. You can do this with Disk Utility's Restore function also, but I like CCC and have found it to be reliable.
You can use it as an ongoing backup program, but that's not really what it is best at, and you would probably be better off with Time Machine.