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thriii

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I just formatted and installed leopard but not sure if I want to partition or not 😕 yet..If I don't do it now and I install all my files can I partition then? and if I don't want it can I delete it and get the space back?
 
The Apple instructions say that you can reduce the size of the OS X partition without erasing your existing data. I backed up everything just in case. And a good thing, too; when I went to create the Boot Camp partition in Boot Camp Assistant, it wouldn't let me! It complained of unmovable file fragments or insufficient free space fragments or some such thing.

I ended up reinstalling 10.5, applying updates, then creating the Boot Camp partition before any of my data went in.

I'd create the partition now, while you have a fresh and mostly-empty system.

As for removing the Boot Camp partition, I don't know. I'm still using mine. 🙂
 
how much GB space did u decide on? I don't know how much to choose..I'm not goin to use it alot just to remote control friends comps and little things like that
 
I chose 20 gigs. Since I only have 120 gigs total, that was about the most I felt I could get away with. I use it mostly for connecting to my work.

I installed XP SP2, downloaded all the updates (over 100!) from Windows Update, installed the Apple drivers, my standard set of anti-malware utilities (AVG Antivirus, ZoneAlarm, and Spyware Blaster), and also installed some work stuff and Adobe CS3 Design Standard (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, plus assorted utilities), and have 5.6 gigs left.
 
For safety reasons you should create a partition for the OS and apps and create another partition for data files (documents, music, movies, etc). If something goes wrong with your OS you can erase and reinstall without losing any important data since its being protected on a separate partition.

I found that 17gbs for XP is good while 22gbs for Vista is good, youll have enough room for a lot of programs without taking a big bite out of the data partition (games will not fit, I keep games on the data partition since they are frequently installed and uninstalled, and are so large). For OSX 20gbs is plenty for Leopard.
 
For safety reasons you should create a partition for the OS and apps and create another partition for data files (documents, music, movies, etc). If something goes wrong with your OS you can erase and reinstall without losing any important data since its being protected on a separate partition.

I found that 17gbs for XP is good while 22gbs for Vista is good, youll have enough room for a lot of programs without taking a big bite out of the data partition (games will not fit, I keep games on the data partition since they are frequently installed and uninstalled, and are so large). For OSX 20gbs is plenty for Leopard.

wth the data partition, are u talking about if I'm using windows? I don't plan on using it much at all, just for minor things like remote desktop and things like that.. other than that
 
For both. Anything you want to keep backed up like mp3's or photos should go on a data partition so you dont lose any of that stuff if your OS breaks and needs to be reinstalled. Its the same thing and just as safe as having an external backup drive, except it doesnt cost extra.

You can create the data partition as HFS+ and use a program called Mac Drive in Windows to read and write to it, that way you can have one partition that both OS's can use for data.

And if you arent going to be doing anything in Windows other than very light stuff then you shouldnt need anything more than 15gbs for a Windows partition.
 
And if you arent going to be doing anything in Windows other than very light stuff then you shouldnt need anything more than 15gbs for a Windows partition.
And if you are doing more, you'll need more space. I'm now looking at getting a larger hard drive for my MB Pro.
 
to answer your original question:

apple makes this process very simple. Just put everything on your hard drive in OS X, it's fine. Then, open up Boot Camp Assistant. It will ask if you want to make a new partition. You can resize it how you like, you won't lose anything.

Now, lets say you want to get rid of the windows partition. Open Boot Camp Assistant again, and one of the options will be "Merge Partitions Back Together" or something like that. It will ask if you are sure, and click yes. Then, no more windows partition. Just like new.
 
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