The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved.

[msp561]

Alright so the name of the thread is the name of the error message I get when trying to partition my HD. Here is the whole thing

The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved.

Back up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again.

Simple enough.... minus the fact i have nothing to back up my HD on and not really willing to pay 100 dollars (college student). Is there any way around wiping the HD to partition it? I have read that the problem is there is not continuous space for it to partition, meaning i need to defrag or compact my HD so it frees up consecutive space.

Does anyone have an ANSWER? I have read other threads on here and they are not helpful!

 

[applesith]

Need to defragment.

I got that message when trying to make a new 40GB partition the other night. I booted into the recovery partition and had some permission errors on my Macintosh HD. Repaired and verified permissions the disk. I think this in a way defragmented my drive- I was able to make a 60GB partition after that.

Give it a try before getting a drive to pack up to and then restore. You can also get something like iDefrag to defragment your drive.

 

[r.j.s]

^^^ Sometimes that method works, but most of the time, it doesn't and you need to do what Disk Utility says.

 

[applesith]

^^ I know. But it's worth a shot before going the time and expense of backing everything up and restoring.

 

[Damo01]

^^ I know. But it's worth a shot before going the time and expense of backing everything up and restoring.

you at risk of losing data that maybe important.

 

[dalstott]

Alright so the name of the thread is the name of the error message I get when trying to partition my HD. Here is the whole thing The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved
Does anyone have an ANSWER? I have read other threads on here and they are not helpful!

Get Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner and an external USB HDD of at least the capacity of your internal. Format the external drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with GUID partition table (to make it bootable).

1. Clone the internal drive to the external drive.
2. Start up from the cloned external drive and erase or repartition the internal to 1 partition Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with GUID partition table.
3. While still started from the external clone it back to the internal.

You will now have clear space to install boot Camp plus a bootable clone for backup.