MacNewbie and OSX Clean install...

[XP Defector]

I've reformatted a hundred or more times with PC's over the years, but never with the Mac. From time to time I know this simple process, if done incorrectly, can cause massive problems. This is especially true as I only have my MacBook and thus cannot connect to the net to ask for assistance, if a problem should occur.

So I was wondering if any of you old timers could just shed some light on this process. I unfortunately need to reformat because bootcamp is not working and I've exhausted all other apparent solutions.

Obviously I'll back my files up. Then is it just a case of booting from OSX installation CD's, 'ERASING' the disk using DISK UTILITY and then installing OSX from the CD's?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

by bootcamp do you mean windows?

if so, you should be able to erase it in disk utility, seeing as it is a seperate partition. I think there is also an option in the bootcamp assistant.

 

[XP Defector]

Sorry you misunderstand, bootcamp will not partition my internal drive for some reason and it seems the only way around this is to erase it and reinstall OSX. It claims that there exist files on my HDD that cannot be moved, thus partition cannot occur. This seems a well documented problem but with no conclusive solution, other than a clean reinstall of OSX.

One more in addition to the original questions :-

Firmware updates are NOT affected right?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

ah yeah, i know what you're talking about. I had that happen to me on my MacBook. I just backed everything important up and erased the HDD.

To erase it, put the original Install Disk 1 into your computer, restart and hold down the C key. When the installer comes up, look around in the top menus for Disk Utility. Click the volume you want to erase, click the Erase tab in the main part of the window, format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You don't need to erase it securely; just zero the drive. After that, re-install OS X and all the other apps you need, created the XP partition, and you should be good to go

 

[xUKHCx]

Sorry you misunderstand, bootcamp will not partition my internal drive for some reason and it seems the only way around this is to erase it and reinstall OSX. It claims that there exist files on my HDD that cannot be moved, thus partition cannot occur. This seems a well documented problem but with no conclusive solution, other than a clean reinstall of OSX.

One more in addition to the original questions :-

Firmware updates are NOT affected right?

I had this problem but i de-fragmented the drive (booted off an external) and then it worked first time and did so in a matter of seconds.

Maybe worth a try if you have the tools. Only took about 40 minutes to de-frag rather than a good couple of hours of data transfer.