Boot Camp - removing a partition

Hi,
I created a parition in boot camp and later removed it. When I went to delete the parition boot camp said it had been deleted but the 10 gigs of space I had allocated to the windows parition was not allocated back to the Mac partition and the windows drive was no longer visible. When I boot the computer it constantly attempts to boot into windows (which is not there).
How can I regain those 10 gigs back to the Mac parition?
Thanks,
Dave

Removing Windows from Your Computer
How you remove Windows from your computer depends on whether you installed
Windows on a single-volume disk or on a second disk partition.
If you installed Windows on a second disk partition: Using Boot Camp Assistant as
described below, remove Windows by deleting the Windows partition and restoring
the disk to a single-partition Mac OS X volume.
If your computer has multiple disks and you installed Windows on a single-partition
disk: Use Disk Utility to erase the disk and reformat it as a Mac OS X volume.
To delete a Windows partition:
1 Start up in Mac OS X.
2 Quit all open applications and log out any other users on your computer.
3 Open Boot Camp Assistant.
4 Select “Create or remove a Windows partition” and click Continue.
5 Do one of the following:
 If your computer has a single internal disk, click Restore.
 If your computer has multiple internal disks, select the disk with Windows on it, and
then select “Restore to a single Mac OS partition” and click Continue.
WARNING: Make a backup of the important information on your computer before
removing Windows. Windows software and all other information on the Windows
partition will be erased.

Similar Messages

  • Boot Camp & Removing Vista Partition

    I recently removed my Vista partition with the Boot Camp program. Is there anything else I can remove after I have completed this? I just want as much space back as possible.

    Hi Anaph and welcome to Discussions,
    if you have used the BootCamp Assistant for removal of the Windows partition, then you already have regained all the disk space you can get.
    While it is possible to also remove the BootCamp Assistant (dragging it to the trash can and empty the trash can afterwards) personally I would not do this.
    You might need it again in the future.
    Regards
    Stefan

  • Can´t install windows 8.1 because boot camp can't partition the disk. I´ve follow many tips but they did´t work

    I can´t install windows 8.1 because boot camp can't partition the disk. I´ve follow many tips but they did´t work (backup, reinstall os, erase space, etc.)
    Macbook pro retina
    os x yosemite 10.10.2
    Thanks

    There are several possibilities.
    1. You do not have contiguous free disk space.
    2. BCA has failed, or you may have a Fusion drive which is causing problems.
    3. You have incorrect permissions on the disk.
    4. Can you boot in OS X Safe Mode - OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? - Apple Support?

  • Boot Camp won't partition, files cannot be moved.

    I'm sure this has come up more times than anyone can count. I've searched for answers but still haven't found the solution. Boot Camp won't partition because some files cannot be moved.
    I have defragmented my computer, it is all just one partition. I have 150+ GB of free space. I am only trying to partition 5 GB for windows, honestly that is more than i will need. The error of course tells me to back up my computer and reformat it. I have not done this yet because I believe it will be a last resort and will be unlikely to actually solve my problem. I'm sure there is at least 5 GB of continuous free space on my computer that could be partitioned. I am wondering what else i can do?
    Also, if it does come down to backing my computer up, is it possible to back it up to another macbook? I don't want to waste money on an external just because Boot Camp is being picky.

    First, way too many people choose too small, and I though 10GB was the smallest for XP, and often was not enough to allow updates, patches, page, hibernation and temp space, let alone games, apps etc.
    The only defrag I can think of that works are iDefrag and Drive Genius 2. But a backup + erase + restore is the best. Otherwise, your free space may still be fragmented or have files that prevent you, as is happening.
    5GB for Windows doesn't sound like more than needed, or even enough.
    External backup drives are never a waste. Even for just Mac OS.

  • I have deleted windows7 in the boot camp but the partition macintosh hd2 is still there...if i try to install windows7 again,it is not showing the boot camp partioned space...

    I have deleted windows7 in the boot camp but the partition macintosh hd2 is still there...if i try to install windows7 again,it is not showing the boot camp partioned space...

    Update:  I did an extended hardware test (just in case a hardware issue was causing my problem)--no problems found.  I then went through the Aperture troubleshooting steps: I tried repairing permissions first, but I still could not see any of the images that were in the Aperture trash.  I then repaired the library.  This seems to have fixed things (at least upon initial assessment).  Afterward, I was able to see the images that were in the trash.  I opened the Activity Window to see what it said when I tried emptying the trash again.  This time it said it was deleting exactly the number of images that I expected it to delete (not twice as many this time!), and it emptied lickety split--as I had expected it to do the first time!  So, hopefully, all is now well with my system and library.  Still wondering why it was telling me it was deleting twice as many images as were in the trash the last time I tried, but overall, much happier today!

  • Boot Camp Expiration Problem Partition Removal!

    I want very badly to remove my windows partition. I have already deleted windows off of my 30gb partition but cannot figure out how to remove the partition itself to free up extra harddrive space. I have tried setting the "time" back on my system to before sept 30 2007 and when i do that it says that I need to use bootcamp assistant 2.0. But I dont have the ability to upgrade to that because I cant find my Mac leopard install cd. I want to remove this partition without having to use boot camp again...I have a 500gb external that I have just backed up my entire system with using SuperDuper. If I boot from my external and try to "format" my original drive will this remove the partition? After this I would obviously back up the external to the original and it should work right? Also, how do i completely wipe the original drive....just use disk utility????ANY help would be awesome! Thanks!!!!!

    You should be fine with format/initialize or erase of the entire hard drive (top level name, something like vendor name WDxxxx or SExxxx for Western Digital etc).
    Of course testing your superduper backup and restore, and that you can boot and run from it properly is step #1.
    Else, $29 will buy Snow Leopard DVD.

  • How can I install windows 7 using boot camp, if the partition will not format correctly?

    Hi All,
    I'm new to this forum and have had a chance to look around a little bit, but haven't really found an answer to the problem that I'm having.
    I have an imac and I'm attempting to use boot camp.  I have used it in the past, with prior versions of mac os x, but this is the first time that I have tried it with 10.6.8.  The first thing I found out is that I can't use Windows XP, even with service pack 2 installed, because it doesn't find the "boot camp" partition.  So, I recently obtained a full retail copy of Windows 7 and have been trying to install it.  I have no problem with the boot camp assistant creating the new partition, 200 GB.  However, when I insert the Windows 7 DVD and the computer restarts in the Win 7 install screen it tells me that I cannot install Windows on the selected partition (which I expected to see.)  So I choose "format" the further format the partition.  It doesn't ask me how I would like to partition this, but just seems to start.  All seems to go fine until it finishes and i see the same message of "Windows cannot be installed in the selected partition."  I can click on the format tab endlessly but it still doesn't seem to work.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I've called Apple and their technicians keep telling me that I need to reinstall the Mac OS again, which I've tried.  It doesn't seem to help either.
    Thanks in advance for your help,
    DTK

    David Kaff wrote:
    Yes, I choose "Format" under the advanced options screen.  It seems like it formats, but then I get the same message of "Windows cannot be installed to this disk.  The selected disk is of the GPT partition style."  I can continue to click "format" but i keep getting the same error.
    There is the answer, right in front of us ....
    Delete the bootcamp partition and start again the correct partition type is GUID but BootCamp should take care of that automatically so try again.

  • Installing Windows 7 with boot camp as whole partition on 2nd internal hard drive

    Hi all,
    I am unsure what is the recent changes with Apple boot camp. But when I used boot camp utilitiy on my Mac Pro (Mid 2010) to install windows 7 64 bits. It would not install and created a whole lot of problems.
    After I initialise the process to install windows 7 using boot camp utilities, I chose the option to create a single partition to installl windows 7 on my secondary internal hard drive (1TB). After I restarted my Mac Pro and started the Windows 7 installation process, I was unable to install Windows 7 on the BOOTCAMP partition created by the boot camp utilitiy. I got an error something about Windows cannot be installed on the selected forum because the driver contained GPT details.
    I tried to format the BOOTCAMP partition, but it ended up with errors. I tried to delete and recreate the BOOTCAMP partition in Windows setup, but failed with errors again. As I could not go any further with the Windows 7 installation, I had to hard reset my Mac Pro and tried to reboot back into Mac OS X Lion and that's when the nightmare begin.
    Not only I could not boot into OS X, I could not use any of the startup key combinations (i.e. Hold option key to select start up disk, option + R to boot the lion recovery drive, not boot from any external firewire drive installed with OS X Lion). Basically none of the key combinations worked except for the holdingi F12 and mouse key to eject CD.
    The only thing I could boot the Mac Pro with is the windows installation CD and Linux Ubuntu Raring Distro. I can install the ubuntu distro without any issue. However, I could not boot my mac pro back into OS X as Linux does not support bootcamp. The only way I could use Mac OS X Lion again is to delete the partition OS X Lion was installed on, and then I was be able to install Windows 7 without any issue.
    After installing windows 7 I would have to download boot camp and then use the boot camp control panel to restart in the Mac Pro installation DVD and I will have to reinstall OS X again. After installing OS X, I went to System Preference and tried to select Windows 7 as startup disc. But I failed to as it says "Windows 7" Was installed via another utility. I would have to erase the partition and reinstall Windows 7 again using bootcamp utility. If I try to install windows 7 again, the horror I described above repeats again.
    From my understanding, the Boot camp utility creates a new EFI bootrom with Master Boot Record (MBR) in FAT32 format. Therefore I could not boot back into Mac OS X without using boot camp in windows 7 as none of the boot combinations key worked.
    I want to ask if anyone is experiencing the same issue as i do, and if there are any solutions to the problem I am experiencing. I never had such issue before. I was able to install Windows 7 on my 2ndary internal hard drive without issue using boot camp. I don't what has changed. I have googled for solution, I only found something related to XOM but nothing else.
    If anyone can provide me with any help in regards to installing Windows 7 as a whole partition on a secondary internal hard drive. It'd be grealy appreciated. Thank you in advance.

    If you have driver issue, just pre-download the boot camp drivers and save them on an external drive or burn them onto a cd, you will be able to load drivers via the advanced installation option during windows setup, that is if your osx partition isn't actively preventing you from installing win7 on the BOOTCAMP Partition created by boot camp assistant, I find this rather ironic, took me 3 days to figure out this issue, I was stuck without being able to boot into anything beside the windows cd, which wasn't even helpful as I could not install windows as I did not want to delete my osx partition. I lost all my data becsuse of it, as I had no idea what was going on. I tried to recover the partition using testdisk, hfsprogs and gparted in ubuntu life cd but they dont support HFS+. As I could not access osx terminal (couldn't even boot into osx installation dvd with that dreaded MBR created by boot csmp). I could not use pdisk in terminal to restore the osx partition map. Though luck for me. Called applecare and they had no idea what the problem was, and as usual they orgsnised for hard drive replacement. But it was clearly a software issue.
    They will have to fix bay2 for me as I can no longer detect any hard disk connected to that bay.

  • Boot Camp won't partition my disc because it says I need to reformat as a single mac os extended (journaled) even though it already is.

    I'm trying to partition my Macbook Pro early 2011 with Boot Camp Assistant so I can run Windows 7, however when I tell it to create the partition I get an error that says:
    "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."
    Problem is, my Macbook is already a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled)! Any idea of what I should do to get around this? Do I have to wipe and restore my files? I'm using Boot Camp 4.0.1

    Kappy wrote:
    The problem:
    You are asking for more contiguous space than is available on the drive.
    The drive is highly fragmented.
    Here's what you need to do:
    Request a smaller Windows partition. If that isn't feasible then do the following:
    Cheap and Easy Defragmentation
    You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive.
      1. Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the
           external one.
      2. Boot from the external hard drive.
      3. Erase the internal hard drive.
      4. Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
    Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
      1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.
      2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
      3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
      4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
           it to the Destination entry field.
      5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
          the Source entry field.
      6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears.  Select the icon for the external drive and click on the upward pointing arrow button.
    After startup do the following:
    Erase internal hard drive
      1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
      2. After DU loads select your internal hard drive (this is the entry with the
           mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the
           drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is
           failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be
           reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the
           DU main window.
      3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the
           drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
           (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
           GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait
           until the process has completed.
    Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
      1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.
      2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
      3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
      4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
           it to the Destination entry field.
      5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
          the Source entry field.
      6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
    Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.
    I've come across this problem myself, so I attempted this procedure, although I receive an input/output error when trying restore my internal hdd to my external. I have never a problem with either. Could I instead create an image using DU and save it to the external drive then extract that image to my internal drive later? If so, is there any additional steps I need to take?

  • To install Windows 8 OS on a new iMac using Boot Camp, what size "partition" should I allocate for Windows on a system with 3TB Fusion drive?

    I am trying to install Windows on a new iMac w/3TB Fusion drive. The system crashed on my first attempt but appears to have partitioned the drive correctly before crashing???  So, what size partition does Windows 8 need to operate effectively?  Is "more" better??? or just over-kill?  And, has anyone installed Winodow 8 on an iMac...and how did it work?  Would apps like "Parallel Desktop" or "VM Ware Fusion" be a good idea and troubleless?
    I will try again but not too confident that it may get worse before it gets better.
    Regards....?
    P.S.  I configured this iMac with the i7 processor 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost to 3,9GHz.  When I select "About this Mac" it diplays my i7 processor as a 3.4GHz instead.  Do you think they ran out of the i7 3.5GHz and shoved a i5 3.4Ghz in the iMac to meet deliver schedule???  I there a way to check the real-time speed of my processor??.

    It depends on your uses. See > https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3321 Windows 8 works properly in Boot Camp, always that your iMac is compatible > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US You can only use the 64-bit Windows 8 edition.
    Respecting to your processor, you may want to contact with Apple, as they may have sent you the iMac with a wrong processor

  • Installing Windows XP via Boot Camp on a partitioned HD

    I have an iMac with a 2TB hard disk. I wanted to install Windows XP (believe it or not, I need some things only available in that inferior OS ) but I find I can't do it because my HD is partitioned.
    Reading the official installation guide I see the following:
    "The disk must be a single partition, formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
    If the disk already has more than one partition, you must repartition it."
    Now, what does this exactly mean? One one of the partitions I have the OS and applications and in the other I have data. One of the possible meanings of "repartition" would be to create an additional partition, empty of data and formated as Mac OS Extended so that Boot Camp would use it (previously) reformatting it to install Windows XP. It would be great if I could do this but would this work?
    The other meaning of repartitioning is that I eliminate the partitions and I go back to a single partition. Is this possible without having to reformat the HD and having to reinstall everything all over again? I would hate to have to do that as I have a lot of apps installed and properly configured and it would involve too much time to get it all ready again.
    At the beginning I didn't want to use Boot Camp because I thought with a virtual machine I would have enough to run the Windows apps I need. This didn't work. I installed Windows XP with VirtualBox and I found that the virtual machine does not recognize my scanner. I invested quite a lot of money on an OCR package for Windows and I need the scanner and the OCR software badly for my work. Now, after hours of tinkering with VirtualBox I decided Boot Camp might be a better solution because it is very likely that it will have the drivers I need to get my scanner and other peripherals to work with Windows XP. But then I find this apparently stupid obstacle. Why can't Boot Camp make an additional partition with the large space I still have available on my HD?
    Would some friendly member of the Apple community be so kind as to guide me through this little mess? Thanks a lot in avance.

    Only have to understand Master Boot Record limitation.
    All partitions count, not just user space volumes.
    As I understand it, Windows has to be in one of the first 4 parttions, and partition tables get counted.
    Limit to have many partitions you can have on a drive that uses MBR.
    There is no "install Boot Camp" but rather Boot Camp Assistant is a one trick pony drive partitioning tool with one purpose. Doesnt' otherwise help, req'd for XP (essential) or where OS X resides.
    If Windows could be installed elsewhere, or get rid of having to use MBR and switch to GPT (not going to happen soon). And, that Macs use EFI and UEFI supports 64-bit Windows Vista/7.
    And should you install Windows and then try to shink and add partitions, that causes some problems that may require fixing the boot blocks or worse, or only be cosmetic.
    With future updates for XP now having reached EOL I'd skip and go straight to Windows 7.

  • Problems with Boot Camp and Drive Partition

    First of all, let me preface this by saying I have in the past successfully partitioned my drive and installed Windows, but it was a while back and I can remember it was frustrating, but I don't remember the exact details. Also, I apologize for the rambling nature of this problem, but I'm trying to give as much relevant information as possible and walk through the steps I took to get where I am now.
    Feel free to skip ahead to the end, the main problem seems to be I tried to create a 300 GB partition, but it didn't take or something. Now my storage is reflecting I've lost 300 GB, but it won't recognize the existence of the new partition.
    Let me just walk through what I did. I deleted my previous partition because I was having some difficulties with a few programs and the partition ended up being too small and I wanted to make a bigger one anyway. I only use it for gaming and didn't care about any of the saved games so I just deleted the partition and figured I'd start over from scratch.
    Before I begin, some technical details about the computer I'm working with. I don't know how much of this is necessary, but here it is:
    It's a 27-inch late 2012 iMac with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 24GB RAM running OSX 10.9.4
    The storage space is a little more difficult as that is part of the problem I'm running into, which I'll get to in a minute.
    Anyway, I have a Windows 7 Professional install DVD and a burned CD called Boot Camp, which I think is the drivers from last time I installed Windows (a year and half ago?), but since I needed Superdrive for the install DVD I just used an XHD I had to put the drivers on (like I said, I don't remember how I did it last time). I go through Boot Camp and look at how much space I have and how big I want to make my partition.
    Side note: Last time I made my partition, I'm fairly certain I set it to 200 GB, but the partition size actually came out to something like 112 GB or something significantly less. I didn't know what happened, but figured it would still be enough space and it had been such a hassle I didn't bother doing it again.
    Supposedly I have a 1 TB HD, and I can't remember exactly what it said when I partitioned the drive this time, but it definitely said I was using less than half of my capacity and I had plenty of room, so I opted to go for a 301 GB partition (the slider wouldn't let me do exactly 300) which still left me with around 300 GB of space left over on my Mac partition I want to say. I went ahead with it and it started partitioning the drive with the blue line moving very slowly and after an hour or so it was like 80% across but no longer making progress. I looked online and people said that shouldn't happen. I cancelled the partition and the Disk Utility showed the partition, but said it was unmounted or something.
    I restarted my computer thinking maybe I'd try and see what would happen if I tried to boot it up as if I had Windows installed. I also at that moment remembered that I'd had a similar problem last time because I had my XHD plugged into my USB port so I unplugged that and held down OPT. It then showed me my Mac HD drive and a CD icon that said Windows, so I clicked on that figuring maybe I could install it after all.
    It led me through a Install manager and it got to the point where it asked what drive/partition do you want to install Windows in, I recognized the screen and remembered I was supposed to choose a certain one, but couldn't remember which one and none of the sizes seemed to match the storage I had allocated to the partition. One was about 200 GB and since the last time I did it my partition came out 100 GB smaller than I had set it for I thought maybe that was it.
    However, it said I couldn't install on that drive for some reason (I can't remember exactly what it said). So I restarted again and figured I'd go back and see what I did wrong and start over. When I check Disk Utility it no longer sees any partition (mounted or unmounted or anything) and that the entirety of my HD is dedicated to Mac HD.
    The problem is, now I'm getting weird reports about the size of my drive, the amount used, and the space available. Disk Utility tells me I have 1.12 TB capacity, 301 GB available, and 819 GB used. That doesn't even add up. Furthermore, when I click get info on Macintosh HD, it tells me I have 810 GB capacity, 364 GB available, and 446 GB used. When I click on About this Mac and go to System Report and storage I get this:
    Macintosh HD
    Available: 364 GB
    Capacity: 810 GB
    Logical Volume Group:
         Name: Macintosh HD
         Size: 1.12 TB
         Freespace: 301 GB
    Physical Volumes:
         disk0s2:
         size: 121 GB
         disk1s2:
         size: 999 GB
    Now I really don't know what to make of it. That 301 GB free space makes sense as the partition I tried to create and if I add that to the 446 GB used on my Mac partition, plus the 364 GB available, that adds up to 1.12 TB (roughly, I've rounded off these numbers).
    But how come Disk Utility doesn't recognize the partition then? What should I do from here?
    I couldn't find anyone asking this exact type of question or running into this same problem before, so I hope I'm not asking about something that's already been answered. If that's the case, if you could direct me to where I can find the answer I'd be appreciative.
    Otherwise, any help or light that can be shed would be most appreciated.
    Thanks!

    The problem seems to have gone away. I did click on repair disk in Disk Utility, I'm not sure if that did anything, but now when I run Boot Camp Assistant it is showing me the correct free space, so I don't know what happened. Oh well.
    Still having trouble getting the **** thing to partition, but that topic is covered extensively elsewhere.

  • Boot Camp Error - Erased Partition?

    I erased windows partition as instructed, finished my work and restarted the computer... it opens up in windows. I search, and discover my OSX partition has been erased. All my files were on there, university work, music, photographs! Is there any way of getting that back? Preferably for free/cheeply.

    I backed up the section I was supposed to be deleting, and followed the instructions provided using Boot Camp and Disk utility to erase the windows partition. Thanks for the info.
    Edit: I also need something that will work on Windows to recover a Mac OS drive.
    Message was edited by: Kittykat123123

  • Windows startup disk not showing up after the boot camp is done partitioning.

    OK, Boot Camp finished making a partition for windows on my SSD (I gave it 30GB), and it restarded my computer. I pressed the alt key so i could chosse the windows drive so i could begin the installation, BUT the option to open the windows drive was not there! The only otions I had was to startup from Mac OSX, Recovery Disk and a USB Flash drive Named Windows(I tried it previously but it didnt work because it didnt detect my mouse or keyboard). I the booted up from mac so i could make sure that the partition was created and it was. When i went on startup disk preferences on System Preferences the computer couldent detect a Boot Camp drive only the main Macintosh HD. What am I supposed to do?
    I am using a Macbook Pro late 2013 13"
    (excuse my English as it is not my first language)
    EDIT: I do not have NTFS 3G or a similar program installed.

    a few things
    what is your exact model mac? which windows are you trying to install?
    i'm a fan of small windows partitions, but 30gb is too small unless you're absolutely sure that you will not use any major data consuming apps like music, video or gaming. also, you will HAVE to disable hibernation and the pagefile (google). the smallest we run is 35gb with 40gb being much better
    does your mac have an internal optical drive? if so, you need to burn your windows iso onto a physical disc unless the newer 2013 macs let you usb install, which would be news to me
    use only a usb2 flash drive

  • Boot Camp problem + General partitioning

    First, the Boot Camp problem
    I don't know exactly how to explain, but I kind of made the partition and restored them into one single startup disk, for several times. It was OK for the first few times, but then it required me to run Disk Utility (from startup) to repair the disk before I can partition. It happened for one time. But after that, it started to ask me to back up the hard disk, format it, and restore it, then try Boot Camp again. So, the ending of the story is I can never do boot camp again now because I wouldn't waste at least 70 quid for a hard disk large enough to back up solely because I need to run Boot Camp. Is there anybody here know why this is happening? And, eventually I think I'd have to buy an external drive and back up, format, restore, then run Boot Camp. But doesn't it sound dumb and familiar? This is exactly the ONE AND ONLY way to fix any problems in a PC. Aren't macs supposed to be far better than PCs? Why do we have to do what PC users have to painfully do? I hope somebody here can come up with a solution that doesn't involve "backup>format>restore".
    Second, the partitioning,
    I came up with an idea to solve the above problem. But I don't know whether it actually works, so I'm seeking for advice. I was hoping if I run Disk Utility from start up, make two partitions (or more) for the mac HD, one HD being the one holding all the data, and the remaining being empty. Then I can format the empty one (which seems rather redundant), and do the Boot Camp thing on this partition. However, there are two points I have doubts with. One, if I split my current single mac HD into multiples of partitions, will any or even all my data be lost? Because I can only specify how much to partition, I wouldn't have the chance to "tell" the computer to keep all existing data on one partition. Two, I know that Boot Camp can run on an external HD, so is it possiible to run on a different partition?

    Just an idea for you. There is an entire Apple Discussion forum dedicated to Boot Camp and Windows XP.
    Whereas, not everyone here with an Intel iMac has installed, tried to install or has experience with BC & XP, everyone there has or at least has an interest. You may attract help more quickly there.
    The Forum is at the bottom of the main Apple Discussions page under Windows Compatible Technology.
    Here is a link;
    Forum: Boot Camp Public Beta

Maybe you are looking for