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Partition now, install Windows 7 later
- Thread starter stevenpa
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If you want to dual boot with Windows, you need to use Boot Camp assistant to create a special partition for it. In addition to partitioning the drive, Boot Camp Assistant loads special software so that Windows will boot. It won't boot on a normal partition on a Mac because the Mac's EFI (the new equivalent to the BIOS) isn't natively compatible with Windows without it. Boot Camp assistant also downloads the drivers you'll need to make your Mac's hardware work in Windows, and lets you burn them onto a CD or DVD.
Ok. I don't a have a Windows 7 disk. If I just download the Windows support software will it work in creating the partition? It's just must easier to get a Windows 7 disk at school vs. going through Microsoft. Don't need Windows now neither, but want to limit fragmentation of the drive.
You can create a blank partition, but when I did that, for whatever reason it kept on trying to default to that on reboots (and just left me at a black screen saying there were no system files).
You don't need to worry about fragmentation on an SSD. That concept doesn't really mean anything based on the way they store data. In fact, you specifically should NOT defragment an SSD, and I believe Windows 7 prevents this (and OS X doesn't ship with defragmenting software). Just run Boot Camp assistant whenever you are ready to install Windows.
You don't need to worry about fragmentation on an SSD. That concept doesn't really mean anything based on the way they store data. In fact, you specifically should NOT defragment an SSD, and I believe Windows 7 prevents this (and OS X doesn't ship with defragmenting software). Just run Boot Camp assistant whenever you are ready to install Windows.
I don't think Bootcamp will run and create the partition unless it sees the USB installer disk it created. I forgot to stick it in one time and Bootcamp game me an error message and would not proceed until I inserted the USB key.