BOOTCAMP on a multiple-partition drive

Hi,
I was wondering if it is possible to use BOOTCAMP with already partioned harddrive. I have to partitions(both Mac OS Extended-Journaled) one with Mac OS installed, another for keeping some data. Bootcamp Assistant returns error since it works only with single partition. Is it possible to install Win7 64-bit without creating single partition first?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Message was edited by: Pavel#

No. Boot Camp will only work on a single volume drive with OS X installed. You might look at rEFIt as an alternative bootloader that will allow what you want to do. Simply install Windows on a partition, then install rEFIt - CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.

Similar Messages

BootCamp on a double partitioned drive

So the hard drive in my MBP is partitioned into two separate partitions. One for OS X and the other for all my data. I want to install XP for some games and so I would like to use bootcamp to do so. My question is, is the drive that bootcamp will partition limited to the one with OS X already on it? Or can I use it on my other partition that has all my data.
And second, should I want to revert back and delete the windows partition, will everything go back to the way it was? Or will I have to format and re-partition anything.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
the BootCamp Assistant (BCA) in OSX will only partition the harddrive when it is a single OSX volume with only one partition on it.
With your harddisk layout the BCA won't do anything.
Nonetheless, have a look here for ways to do what you have in mind http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071101065229169
When using the BootCamp Assistant for the partitioning, you can use it again later for completely removing the WIndows partition and assigning the diskspace back to OSX.
When using the other solutions you have to do that on your own with Disk Utility.
Regards
Stefan

Is it possible to have multiple partitions on my hard disk drive and use Bootcamp to install Windows?

Hi all,
Here is my question: I have MBP early 2011 and was trying to install Windows 8 using Bootcamp but the option to install Windows is grayed out so I can’t click the box next to “Install or Remove Windows 7.” Is this because I have multiple partition on my hard disk drive? Is there anyway I can install Windows 8 using Bootcamp without deleting my partitions on my hard disk?
Few more details:
Mountain Lion 10.8.2
Bootcamp 5.0.0
Thanks for your response

You can't create a Boot Camp partition on a drive you've already partitioned, and you can't install Windows 8 through Boot Camp at this time.
(71680)

Installing Lion clean on hard drive with multiple partitions

I have a spring 2008 24" iMac running Snow Leopard.
I am about to put a new 2TB hard drive in it and after I do that I want to do a clean install of Lion on it.
I do not want to upgrade my Snow Leopard install to Lion. I will keep it on my back up drive as a fallback incase of serious workflow incompatiblities with the new OS.
For my workflow I create and use multiple partitions (Mac OS, Windows and multiple HFS+ for data) on my hard drive and I have seen that Lion creates it's own hidden recovery partition as well for the recovery functionality.
My questions are:
1) Will I have issues running Lion on a partition on a hard drive with multiple partitions that have different file systems?
2) If I install Lion into one of these partitions will it create it's recovery partition within the space of the partition it is being installed into?
3) I will be creating a clean install by downloading Lion using the App Store and then burning an installer DVD using instructions I found elsewhere and then using that to do the install on the new drive. Is that the best route to take?
All my current data I will have on a backup external hard drive and after I complete the Lion install on the new larger drive I will manually reinstall all my software and move my data back from my backup drive to the new drive one partition at a time except of course for OS partition. I keep all my real user data outside of that partition anyway.

I believe this article answers most of your questions.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
or possibly
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4649
You will most likely run into the error message that "Some features of Mac OS X Lion are not supported for the disk" if you have multiple partitions set up, especially if they were not set up using Bootcamp and/or have serveral different file systems.
You can confirm that the Recovery Partition will not be installed by checking Disk Utility for your current partition map scheme.
This is most definitely not the end of the world as it is quite easy to create an external Recovery disk.
1) No, you shouldn't have issues running Lion, but Recovery HD will not be created.
2) No, and in your case it doesn't sound like it will be installed on your internal drive at all.
3) Yes. If you begin with an empty partition, then install Lion that would be considered a clean install.
Hope that helps.
Autumn

Time Machine doesn't like external drives with multiple partitions

I've had a problem with Time Machine on both 10.5.0 & 10.5.1 - Time Machine could not create the initial backup regardless of all the things I tried.
I have a Powerbook with a 300Gb Maxtor connected via firewire 800. This drive had been partitioned into three partitions (which I've used with other backup tools without problem).
Apparently the problem I had been having with Time Machine was that there were three separate partitions on the external drive. As soon as I took a chance and wiped all of those partitions and made a single partition, everything was fine.
I had called Apple Tech Support shortly after I got Leopard and when I discovered the problem with Time Machine. I specifically asked if there would be a problem from the multiple partitions and they didn't think there would be, but they were sure. Looks like Apple was wrong.
If you are having problems with Time Machine with a drive that has multiple partitions, trying changing your external into a single partition drive.

You will note that I was referring to a Powerbook and the Apple Partition Scheme. There might be something different happening for Intel/GUID users.
10.5.1 did address other issues with other partition types. Time Machine seems to have trouble with certain partition schemes. I'm not surprised that multiple partitions and GUID works because of things like bootcamp. Apple probably tested specifically for that type of config. They may not have worked all the bugs out of multiple partitions on a Apple Partition Scheme.

Can I force the bootcamp wizard to skip looking for the bootcamp drivers? I have already downloaded the latest drivers and loaded them on a FAT usb drive. All I want is for bootcamp to create the partition and allow me to install windows 8 pro

Hi Everyone,
Can I force the bootcamp wizard to skip looking for the bootcamp drivers? I have already downloaded the latest drivers and loaded them on a FAT usb drive. All I want is for bootcamp to create the partition and allow me to install windows 8 pro.
The bootcamp drivers have been downloaded from apple's website. Filename: BootCamp5.0.5033
I have a iMac 27" late 2013 model.
NOTE: I have downloaded the drivers manually from apples support site as the bootcamp wizard fails third of the way through the download.
Appreciate any assistance.
Regards,
asdutoit

There is a missing point in this thread, and it is that the Boot Camp drivers for the Late 2013 iMac can only be downloaded from Boot Camp Assistant. The Boot Camp drivers available in the Apple site are not compatible with that iMac.
Delete the Boot Camp drivers from the USB drive, open Boot Camp Assistant and try to download the Boot Camp drivers again. If you get a message telling you that they could not be downloaded, I would try reinstalling OS X through OS X Recovery, by holding down Command and R keys while your Mac is starting up

Windows 8 Installation on partitioned drive

Hi!
This is my first question and sorry for my broken English.
I'm currently trying to install Windows 8 in my Macbook Pro 15" machine. But I got this as an error message.
"Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style."
I heard Bootcamp Assistant cannot handle multiple partitions scheme. Anyway to install Windows with 2 data partitions like this?
As a beginner, step-by-step guide wiil be appreciated.
Thanks!

Not sure about Windows 8 as I've never tried to install on a Mac but with Windows 7 you can't have more then one OS X partition as you won't be able to partition the drive in Boot Camp with more then one OS X partition.
Windows 7 and prior version of Windows can only be installed on a disk that has less then 4 Primary partitions amd the partition Windows in installed on must be a MBR partition. By default OS X create 3 partitions, one for OS X itself one for the EFI partition (200MBs) and one for the Recovery HD partition (650MBs) and they all look like Primary partitions to the Windows installer. Now Windows 8 has changed that so it will install to systems that are EFI based and in those system the drive must be a GPT type. But Boot Camp creates a sudo MBR partition for Windows to be installed on. But Yet with more then 4 primary partitions the Windows 8 installer see that and pops up an error because it is looking for a GPT partition to install on.
You can try booting back into OS X and them move all your data back to the Main OS X partition then remove those other 2 partitions you have created and then ReRun Boot Camp Assistant to partition the one and only OS X partition and start the Windows install.
It's kind of a FUBAR on both Apple's part and the Windows 8 installer that honestly Apple never thought out properly. If a Mac has more then one OS X partition then boot camp should not create a MBR partition for Windows to install to and or boot camp should not even allow you to partition the drive and start the installer for Win 8.

Mac Bootcamp cause lossage in hard drive space

I was trying to install windows on my mac using bootcamp, but because the process took way too long, i deceided to stop the process. My hard drive is approximately 700-800 GB and the space I actually use is about 200-250 GB but it is saying i use up to 400 GB or hard drive. I used to Disk Inventry X to try to find where this extra 200GB are coming from and it says about 200GB is from "other files and folder". I am suspecting that the windows partition was created and hidden, because I can not find it in disk Utility either... If it helps i am using boot camp version 10.0.5 i think and was installing windows 7. I also have a 2012-2013 Macbook 13'. PLEASE HELP!!!!

Hi AsianCraft,
You should be able to recover that disk space by deleting the Windows partition from within the Boot Camp Assistant. This should restore your disk to a single partition drive. There is more information about removing Boot Camp on Page 10 of the manual:
Boot Camp - Installation & Setup Guide (Mountain Lion)
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.8.pdf
Remove Windows from your Mac
How you remove Windows from your Mac depends on whether you installed Windows on a second partition or on a single-volume disk.
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 OS X volume.
If your Mac has multiple disks and you installed Windows on a disk that has only one partition:
Start up in OS X and use Disk Utility, located in the Other folder in Launchpad, to reformat it as an OS X volume.
1 Start up your Mac in OS X.
2 Quit all open apps and log out any other users on your Mac.
3 Open Boot Camp Assistant.
4 Select “Remove Windows 7,” then click Continue.
5 Do one of the following:
• If your Mac has a single internal disk, click Restore.
• If your Mac has multiple internal disks, select the Windows disk, select “Restore to a single
Mac OS partition,” then click Continue.
Cheers,
- Brenden

Create Boot camp partition on multiple partitions disk without reformatting

Hi everybody,
I am trying to install Windows 7 on a multiple partitions 1TB disk.
Currently I have 2 partitons:
300GB - OS X Lion
700GB - Data
I have read some tips and advices on how to install windows on multiple partitons disks - most of them are invasive (backing up to a removable drive and then reformatting). However, I haven’t found conclusive answer (hence my posting here):
I’m wondering does anybody know in any way - is it possible to do this more painlelssly - to divide second partition (or maybe first) and use that one as a bootcamp target?
Or am I stuck with reformatting to a single partition and then installing from scratch?
Thank you.

No. To use Boot Camp Assistant your drive must start with a single volume encompassing the entire drive - one partition. BCA will then create a second partition for Windows and modify the bootloader so you can select which volume to use for startup - OS X or Windows. BCA can also remove the Windows volume and restore the drive to its original state - single OS X partition.
If you have more than one partition already then BCA cannot modify it. If you have a drive configured with BCA and subsequently add a third partition then BCA is no longer able to manage the drive, and you may no longer be able to boot Windows because of changes made to the bootloader.
So, yes, you are stuck with "reformatting to a single partition and then installing from scratch."
Your alternative is to create however many partitions you want. Install Windows on one of them. Download rEFIt to replace the standard bootloader so you can select between Windows and OS X (or any other OSes you install.)

Automated deployments of Windows 7 on systems with multiple hard drives

Last week I helped a customer use MDT2010 to deploy Windows 7 to ThinkStation systems with multiple hard drives. The customer has multiple HDDs in the system and wants Windows to be installed to the HDD that is connected to SATA port 1. Unfortunately Windows does not always assign "Disk 0" to the HDD on SATA port 1 - in fact it is completely random what disk ID gets assigned to which SATA port. The bug is documented by Microsoft in KB937251:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937251
MDT2010 uses hard-coded disk IDs (0, 1, 2, etc) to specify where Windows gets installed. And because of the bug, sometimes Windows gets installed to the HDD on SATA port 1 and sometimes it gets installed to a different HDD.
The solution is to install Windows to the HDD identified by the "SELECT DISK SYSTEM" command of DISKPART. This will always return the disk that is connected to the lowest SATA port.
To configure this in MDT2010, use the following steps (refer to the attachment):
1. copy "FormatPartition.txt" and "SystemDisk.vbs" to your Scripts folder in the Deployment Share.
2. in your Task Sequence, disable the existing step called "Format and Partition Disk" (see TaskSequence.jpg)
3. create a new step at the same location called "Format and Partition Disk (custom)". The type is "General -> Run Command Line". The command line is " cmd.exe /c "diskpart /s %SCRIPTROOT%\FormatPartition.txt" "
4. on the main screen for Deployment Workbench, right-click on the Deployment Share and select "properties", then click on the "rules" tab
5. under section [Default], add the following entries (see Rules.jpg)
    - UserExit=SystemDisk.vbs
    - DestinationDisk=#DiskID#
    - DestinationPartition=1
Hopefully this info will help someone else!
Attachments:
MDT2010.zip ‏261 KB

Last week I helped a customer use MDT2010 to deploy Windows 7 to ThinkStation systems with multiple hard drives. The customer has multiple HDDs in the system and wants Windows to be installed to the HDD that is connected to SATA port 1. Unfortunately Windows does not always assign "Disk 0" to the HDD on SATA port 1 - in fact it is completely random what disk ID gets assigned to which SATA port. The bug is documented by Microsoft in KB937251:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937251
MDT2010 uses hard-coded disk IDs (0, 1, 2, etc) to specify where Windows gets installed. And because of the bug, sometimes Windows gets installed to the HDD on SATA port 1 and sometimes it gets installed to a different HDD.
The solution is to install Windows to the HDD identified by the "SELECT DISK SYSTEM" command of DISKPART. This will always return the disk that is connected to the lowest SATA port.
To configure this in MDT2010, use the following steps (refer to the attachment):
1. copy "FormatPartition.txt" and "SystemDisk.vbs" to your Scripts folder in the Deployment Share.
2. in your Task Sequence, disable the existing step called "Format and Partition Disk" (see TaskSequence.jpg)
3. create a new step at the same location called "Format and Partition Disk (custom)". The type is "General -> Run Command Line". The command line is " cmd.exe /c "diskpart /s %SCRIPTROOT%\FormatPartition.txt" "
4. on the main screen for Deployment Workbench, right-click on the Deployment Share and select "properties", then click on the "rules" tab
5. under section [Default], add the following entries (see Rules.jpg)
    - UserExit=SystemDisk.vbs
    - DestinationDisk=#DiskID#
    - DestinationPartition=1
Hopefully this info will help someone else!
Attachments:
MDT2010.zip ‏261 KB

I just purchased the Mac Mini Server with the intention of replacing Lion Server with Lion for the first hard drive while installing Windows 7 thru Bootcamp on the second hard drive. Is it possible for me to do this? Thanks.

I just purchased the Mac Mini Server with the intention of replacing Lion Server with Lion for the first hard drive while installing Windows 7 thru Bootcamp on the second hard drive. Is it possible for me to do this? Thanks.

I would use Parallels or VMWare and use the second drive to hold the virtual machine. That way the VM only uses the space that it needs and you can still use the remainder of the drive for other things, not to mention that you would not need to reboot to run windows.
Also Time Machine does not back up a boot camp partition.

Attempting to use Migration Assistant to restore a Time Capsule backup to a mounted partitioned drive?

Had a power surge and my Mac Pro did not fare well. Was able to boot from one of the drives in read only mode, so I did a Time Capsule backup of everything on the drive. Reinstalled Mountain Lion. Booted the computer up and am trying to use Migration Assistant to take the Time Capsule backup and restore it to the 1TB drive. When I use Migration Assistant, it says that there is not enough space on the drive to do the restore. I looked in Disk Utility and saw that the start up disk is another one of the 1TB drives with about 600GB used, therefore not enough space to do the restore. I want to restore to the original drive, but it says it is a "Mounted Partitioned Drive". Can I use Migration Assistant to restore a Time Capsule backup to this mounted partitioned drive?
Thanks in advance for any help - greatly appreciated.

I am not sure, never had to go there, I have multiple bootable clones of the system online and off, and a couple 1500VA/900W UPS units powering everything.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
http://www.recovermymac.co.uk/data-recovery/time-capsule-data-recovery/
This is a great article:
http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html
Most questions about TimeCapsule and TimeMachine are under Mac OS X forum as in -
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion#/?tagSet=1468

How can I uninstall Bootcamp and Recover the partition for the Mac HD

How can I uninstall Bootcamp and recover the partition for the IMac HD?

Boot into OSX. Go back into the Bootcamp utility in the Utilities folder and re-run it. It will give you the option to remove the Windows partition and make the OSX partition fill the whole drive again. OSX will NOT be lost in the process. No re-installing necessary. Only takes a few minutes or less to complete.

Can ARD fetch reports automatically across multiple partitions, without being in a particular partition?

I'm trying to run reports across multiple client computers that have data on 2-3 partitions per Mac. Is there anyway ARD can report to me data across partitions and not just the current partition the Mac is on? What I have to do now is restart into every partition and get ARD data off, too time consuming.
Also, where does ARD store it's reporting data?

Partitions are... old school. And it will interfere with Startup Disk, with OS X.
You could have used Windows 7 entirely and no sign of OS X (which can be installed and booted from external drives).
I like to use multiple hard drives: boot drive for system, another drive for data, and also backup, scratch etc.
If you use Windows 7 system image backup you should be able to restore any system in reasonable time and manner.

Multiple Partition in Windows XP.

Is it possible to create multiple partitions in windows XP?

Just do a Google search for "partition hard drive windows"
You'll find many pages with instructions

BOOTCAMP on a multiple-partition drive

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