Two installations of OS X on the same harddrive

[jaktho]

Hello!

I would like to have two seperated installations of OS X on my Macbook.
The reason for this is that i want to have one installation that is "stable" with only the applications that i know i will use and one installations that is for "testing" new applications and solutions. I also do not want these installations to have ANY connection to each other. I do not want one installation to be able to run programs and applications from one another.

Is this possible? How do i make this work?
I appreciate any help!

/Jakob

 

[Bennieboy©]

i think you'd have to partition your HD to achieve this, it wont work on a single partition

 

[jaktho]

Ok thanks. I can do this from the disk utility during snow leopard installation, right? Do you have any input on how the two installations will be related to each other. Will they become like two seperate computers or will they be able to share files etc? I need them to become like two seperate computers.

 

[Bennieboy©]

they'll be separate like computers, you have to make admin accounts for each installation and they'll be stand alone unless you change the settings for sharing on each account

 

[gr8tfly]

Ok thanks. I can do this from the disk utility during snow leopard installation, right? Do you have any input on how the two installations will be related to each other. Will they become like two seperate computers or will they be able to share files etc? I need them to become like two seperate computers.

Yes, you use Disk Utility - either before or during the 2nd installation to add another partition. Disk Utility can add partitions on-the-fly, so it can be done while booted to your startup disk.

They will become separate volumes and will only interact if you have them both mounted and decide to copy/delete files from the "other" volume. In this sense, they can share files.

To keep them separate, just keep the unneeded volume unmounted.

Use SystemPreferences > Startup Disk to select the startup volume. Additionally, you can startup holding down "opt" and select the startup volume at boot time. Once booted, you can unmount any unneeded volumes.

 

[jaktho]

This sounds like the thing i am looking for.
Thanks for the quick replys!

 

[gr8tfly]

Ok. Thanks for the quick reply!
How is the best way to do this practically?
Let´s say i want two installations of SL. Do i first install one system and later make room for the second or do i make two partitions from scratch?

In practice, it probably doesn't matter. However, my thought is if you already know how you want to partition the disk, then you might as well go ahead and do it at the start. Less room for error (such as erasing the first, newly installed SL). If you make a mistake doing the partitioning before you install anything, the only thing lost is a couple of minutes to redo the partitioning.