How to forrmat my MBP internal HD

[Robg54]

In attempting to install bootcamp on my MBP which was recent;y upgraded to leord, I was told that boot camp assistant could not partition my HD because of unmoveable files. It reccommended that I back up my files, that I format my internal HD and that I then copy everything back. However, being a n00b, I am not sure where to begin and don't wanna mess up. Should I back everythng up with time machine? Will my computer really stary while attached to merely a portable hard drive with nothing on my internal drive?

I have a custom built external storage with 2 320 gig hard drives and I have a maxxtor 1 touch with 180 gb. Both use USB.

Will time machine create a bootable backup on my external and is there anything I should be careful NOT to do?

 

[Sweetfeld28]

It wouldn't hurt you to use time machine first. That way once you have your new OS X install complete, the installer will ask you if you would like to backup from a Time Machine backup. It will then copy all your settings and apps over to the state they were in before.

 

[Sweetfeld28]

Also, here are some helpful links for you: BootCamp

 

[e12a]

I havent checked if iDefrag has been updated for leopard, but it worked well in moving all the files to the "beginning" of the disk, allowing me to create the bootcamp partition (i also had the unmovable file error).

You have to burn a CD and do a defrag from that, but it still works. I'm sure its less trouble than formatting the HD and putting your stuff back. Hope this helps.