Reinstalling Mac OS X - Boot Camp Error

[Broomie]

I have a problem with Boot Camp Assistant as when I say open it up and select Continue I get the following message.

Now, this is the only problem I have with my Mac but the problem is I don't want to really reinstall Mac OS X just for one little fault. I played around with Boot Camp before and remember setting up a petition but I didn't actually install XP because I later found out about Parallels which I installed and used but I get nothing but problems with it. I'd rather boot up from Windows in Boot Camp than Parallels but with this problem it seems I can't do either.

Is there a way I can fix this without reinstalling OS X? If the former could I easily reinitiate my current desktop state (software, music) but fix Boot Camp?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JNB]

What's the drive & partition currently formatted as? Post a screen shot from Disk Utility with the Drive selected and the Mac partition selected.

 

[Broomie]

Well, as you can see I have another partition called Time Machine Backups which was originally for The Time Machine which I made unknowingly that you'd need something with a bigger hard drive to back up your data (I'm an idiot) but this was the first time I've ever used OS X so you can give me a break. Heh.

Strangely enough though, if I do eject it I get the following message when I try Boot Camp Assistant again. How can I just start back from the beginning and remove these partitions so I can create a new one for Windows XP via Boot Camp? I have an idea but I'd rather get it from the experts than mess around with anything.

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[JNB]

I don't think the TM partition can be "absorbed" dynamically. If you don't already have an external drive (which you should have for TM anyway), get one*, then:

1. Get a copy of SuperDuper! and of WinClone
2. Format the External Drive HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)), partitioned into three volumes, one for Time Machine backups, one for SuperDuper! clones (the SD volume should only be as large as the size of your internal HDD, or even smaller as you shouldn't fill it anyway), and one for WinClones of the Windows installation (about half the size of the intended Boot Camp volume, this should hold 2-3 clones)
3. With SuperDuper!, clone your Mac to the SD volume
4. Reboot holding the Option key, select the SD volume as the startup device.
5. Launch Disk Utility, format the internal HDD as a single volume, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), GUID Partition scheme
6. Launch SuperDuper! and restore the SD clone to the newly-formatted internal drive
7. Reboot the Mac
8. Do the Boot Camp thing, install Windows per the Setup Guide
9. Start your TM backups to the TM volume
10. Setup a Smart Update schedule for SuperDuper! to the SD volume
11. Make an iCal reminder to periodically WinClone your Windows instance to the WinClone volume

* You'll want, at a minimum, a 500GB drive. 750GB is better. Or, separate drives for each of the volumes.