Partitioning a 10.4 drive in 10.5

Hi discussers,
I have a family member who, on a Mac Pro (10.5.2 & up-to-date etc.), is trying to create a partition to be able to use software that's not yet compatible with 10.5 (the software developers are punks...). We've tried restarting from the system (10.4) CD but, opening the CD in 10.5, partitioning the drive and so on. Nothing has so far worked and I'd really appreciate any advice any of you have to offer.
My thanks in advance,
tkro

Hi tkro;
Tiger DVDs only supported PPC. They did not have Intel code on them. So if you are using an Intel Mac , you must find the install media for that Mac with Tiger. They are the only ones that will install. They next problem is that if the make is new enough the old Tiger DVDs will not have the correct drives for the new Mac, hence it will not function properly.
If you can't for the software to be make compatible with Leopard then an older Mac with Tiger is the best way to go.
Allan

Similar Messages

Success: moving bootcamp partition to an external drive

Background
Due to the relatively small, non-exchangable SSD on my Mac, I'd limited the bootcamp partition to 50GB when installing Windows. I needed to install new software in Windows, but was running out of space fast and didn't have the necessary space on the Windows side. I don't use Windows that often and for that reason, I wanted to move the Bootcamp partition to an external hard drive, freeing up space for the Mac side on the internal SSD. I'd read many conflicting reports on the web, some claiming they'd done it successfully, while others said it would be impossible, because Windows 7 wouldn't run from an external drive. I had a HDD in a USB 3 enclosure, and first tried to install Windows to this (using various guides on the web). I was very close to success with this USB 3 drive, but Windows would fail during start-up. Most reports claiming to have successfully been able to run Windows 7 from an external drive, had used Thunderbolt drives, so I decided to get myself a Lacie Rugged USB 3/Thunderbolt series Solid State Drive.
Hardware used
MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display (mid 2012), 2,3 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 250GB SSD
Lacie Rugged USB 3/Thunderbolt series, 120GB Solid State Drive
Software used
Mac OS X Mavericks, 10.9.2
Windows 7 Ultimate
Plus several free downloads from the internet, see description below.
Procedure
Step 1: Get the Thunderbolt drive to work under your Bootcamp Windows 7 installation.
This should be simple enough, but proved to be a little tricky. Here’s what I did (assumes you are running Mac OS X before you begin):
1. Make sure your Thunderbolt drive is disconnected before proceeding.
2. Restart your Mac and hold down the option key (alt key on some keyboards) during startup.
3. Choose the Windows drive to start up Windows 7 on your Bootcamp partition.
4. After log in to Windows 7, download the necessary driver software for your Thunderbolt drive (find it at the manufacturer’s homepage of your Thunderbolt drive - in my case lacie.com).
5. If the downloaded driver installer is in a compressed format (like zip for example) be sure to decompress it before running the driver installer.
6. Shut down your computer.
7. Connect your Thunderbolt drive to your computer.
8. Start up in Windows 7 (see items 2 & 3 above) and if it all went well, you should now be able to see your Thunderbolt drive under Start>Computer.
Step 2: Format your Thunderbolt drive in NTFS-format.
Still running Windows 7 with your Thunderbolt drive connected and visible to the system, it is now time to format your external Thunderbolt drive in NTFS-format. There are several ways of doing this. I used the procedure described here at tedhhack.co.uk.
Step 3: Follow the directions at intowindows.com to clean install Windows 7 onto your external Thunderbolt drive.
As described at intowindows.com, this involves downloading Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and running command line tools. At step 9 in the described process at intowindows.com, at the point where the installer asks if the drive you are installing to is a USB hard disk, the correct input is Y for yes, even if your external drive is a Thunderbolt drive (and obviously not a USB hard disk).
At step 10 in the described process at intowindows.com (Reboot your PC), remember to hold down the option (or alt) key at every restart in the installation process, so as not to start up in Mac OS X. Also, since your machine now has two Windows 7 installations, Windows Boot Manager will appear and ask you to “Choose an operating system to start” and there is a list of two Windows.
I don’t know how to tell which one is on the external drive and which one is on the internal drive at this point, but I started with the top one on the list and this turned out to be the one I wanted (the newly installed one on the external drive). If you pick the wrong one (on the internal drive) at first, simply restart the computer and choose the other one. You know you got the right one when the installation process continues and asks for further input.
After the Windows installation is complete (there will be at least one other restart required - remember to hold down the option (alt) key to start up in Windows, and choose the same Windows on the list in the Windows Boot Manager), you’ll be running a freshly installed, but crippled Windows 7, as you still haven’t installed the specific drivers for your hardware. But don’t worry, that will be fixed in the next step.
Step 4: Clone your Bootcamp partition from your internal drive to the external Thunderbolt drive.
In this step you will copy all the software, drivers, settings and other files from your Bootcamp partition on your internal drive to your external Thunderbolt drive. The easiest way to do that is to clone your Windows partition - and to that end you’ll need to download some free software: AOMEI Backupper Standard 2.0 fits the bill perfectly, as it will let you clone at the same time as resizing the partition to fit your external Thunderbolt drive (I went from a 50GB internal Bootcamp partition to a 120GB external Thunderbolt SSD).
1. Download AOMEI Backupper Standard 2.0 (I used the 17MB download for Windows 7), install it, and run it.
2. In the left column choose “Clone” and in the right column choose “Partition Clone”. By choosing Partition Clone instead of Disk clone, you won’t ruin the newly created (but invisible) boot partition on the external Thunderbolt drive.
3. Press Next and choose your internal Bootcamp partition as the Source Disk.
4. Press Next again and choose your external Thunderbolt drive (your newly installed Windows 7) as the Destination Disk.
5. Press Next again and you’ll get a warning that you will erase the contents of the destination partition and it asks if this is what you really want to do. Press Yes to this question.
6. Next screen is an Operation Summery. Toward the bottom of the Operation Summery screen there are a few interesting options: Edit Size of Partition, Clone Sector by Sector and Align Partition to Optimize for SSD.
7. If your destination partition is larger than your source destination like mine was, press Edit Size of Partition. This will take you to another screen, where you can drag to resize the partition. I dragged this all the way to the right to give Windows 7 the full size of my external Thunderbolt drive.
8. Leave the checkbox Clone Sector by Sector unchecked.
9. If your external Thunderbolt drive is an SSD, put a check in the checkbox entitled Align Partition to Optimize for SSD.
10. Now press the Start Clone button.
11. When the cloning process is done, exit AOMEI Backupper and restart your computer (holding down the option or alt key) to start up in your new clone of your old Windows 7 with all the same software, drivers, settings and files.
Step 5: Enjoy running all your Windows 7 applications from your external Thunderbolt drive!
Step 6: Here is where I need help/advice – can I remove the Bootcamp partition on my internal drive now?
I am reluctant to entirely remove the Bootcamp partition from my internal drive, as I am unsure whether this will disable me from starting up in Windows. I would love to hear from anyone here with insight on the matter.

Step 6: Here is where I need help/advice – can I remove the Bootcamp partition on my internal drive now?
To answer my own question in Step 6 above, no, or at least I haven't found a way yet...
Here's what I've done so far:
Used the Bootcamp Assistant to remove the bootcamp partition on my internal drive.
Booted the system with the option (alt) key pressed down and now there was NO Windows drive to choose.
Therefore I used the Bootcamp Assistant to install Windows back onto my internal drive (including installing Bootcamp drivers in the Windows environment). This time I chose the minimum partition of 20GB for the Windows installation on the internal drive.
Booted into the new Windows on the internal drive and installed the drivers for my Thunderbolt drive.
Restarted with the option (alt) key pressed down, chose the Windows drive, but Windows Boot Manager still didn't pop up to allow me to choose the Windows installation on the external Thunderbolt drive.
Booted from the Windows DVD and chose Repair.
Restarted with the option (alt) key pressed down, chose the Windows drive, and now Windows Boot Manager finally popped up, which allowed me to choose the Windows installation on the external Thunderbolt drive again, phew!
So, I can run Windows 7 from the external Thunderbolt drive, but I have to use 20GB of my internal drive for a Windows installation I'll never use. Not the best solution, but at least I've saved 30GB of space compared to my previous Bootcamp partition - and I now have enough space to install the Windows 7 software I need on the external Thunderbolt drive...

HT201250 Do I need to partition my external hard drive if I'm using Time Machine and other storage?

I never used Time Machine before. I was storing select files on my external hard drive as well as using my libraries (IPhoto, ITune, IMovies) directly off of the external hard drive. That hard drive is giving me problems, so I bought a new one. I want to set up Time Machine on this one, but I also want to keep my active libraries on it. Do I need to partition the external hard drive?

You can partition the new drive, just don't make one of the partitons a TimeMachine drive, save a TM for a entire drive with more space than the boot drive as it saves "states" thus requires more room than most people expect.
I highly advise one drive to one drive for backups, and not placing too many backup eggs in one vulnerable hardware basket basically.
Drives are cheap, data is not. Hardware can fail just as often as software, so you need a multiple backup and storage stragedy to protect even against theft and fire.
Most commonly used backup methods

I've lost the use of Appleworks in 10.9.2. Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other?

I've lost the use of Appleworks by upgrading to 10.9.2.
Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other? I'd like to be able to boot to the older OS when I need Appleworks and few other applications that aren't available on OS 10.9.2.
Any suggestions?
Thank you for your help.

Hello again, WZZZ,
Here's an update. I was successful in creating two partitions on my internal drive, and in installing OS 10.6.6 on the second partition, as per your guidence. I now have it up to 10.6.8 with all the security updates and AppleWorks. A great thing.
Some thoughts:
• The partitioning had one hitch; it failed at first. But once I "repaired" the disc with Disc Utility the partitioning went thru.
• The partitioning took a long time in 'resizing the partition.' A few hours I think it was. Lots of progress bar watching.
• If I had it to do again, I'd size the two partitions differently. My original data was occupying about 230 Gb of the 320 Gb disc. I made the new partitions share the space, about 230 and 75Gb. That left very little available space for the main disc. I ought to have put some breathing room in there. As it is, it's an incentive to clean up all those files, especially all those iTunes files. I now have about 10% of available space there and mean to continue deleting.
So, all in all a good project that got me where I wanted to go. Thank you for your help.
Appreciatively,
wallah

HT201250 What does it mean to "partition" an external hard drive? Is it something that I want to do?

What does it mean to "partition" the external hard drive? Is it something I want to do? How do I save files from another hard drive to the new one? I have to reformat the old one as it was not set up correctly. The drive I have is Seagate but not specifically for MAC, so I have to format it.. never have done this before. Don't know the jargon. I read that Time Machine will back up automatically but I want to take files from the old drive to the new one. Do I have to take them to the computer first and then to the new drive? I need more memory on my computer. It's way too cluttered and congested. HELP!

Whoa! Slow donw. TRhere's a lot here. I would suggest you buy a good book on computers in general or macs in particular, one is "OSX the missing manual".
What does it mean to "partition" the external hard drive?
It means you take one large drive and make it into more than one volume. This means that it might show up as 2,3 or 4 inde[pendenmt drives. Each one could have, for example, a different operating system on it. Its a good thing to do if you want to use a drive for several purposes
Is it something I want to do?
beats me, you didnt way what you're trying to accomplish. Sorta like sking "should i turn left?" Depends on where you want to go.
How do I save files from another hard drive to the new one?
See advice n book above. Copy them in finder. Copy them in unix. Use a backup or sync utility. No different from Windows in that respect.
I have to reformat the old one as it was not set up correctly. The drive I have is Seagate but not specifically for MAC, so I have to format it.. never have done this before. Don't know the jargon.
Hook it up. Run disk utility. Partition 1 or more partions. GUID map. Format each partition Mac OS extended, Journaled. for more, read book, above. Seriously - we could give you more tips, but you really should learn enough to be comnfident.
I read that Time Machine will back up automatically but I want to take files from the old drive to the new one. Do I have to take them to the computer first and then to the new drive?
I have no idea what you are asking.
I need more memory on my computer. It's way too cluttered and congested. HELP!
What kind of memory and why? RTAM? Hard drive space? Explain. By the time you are done explaining, i suspect you will have ansered your own question.
Good luck,
Have you read the PDF manual for your cmputer?
Have you used a search engine to look for info, for example, in two seconds i got this from google and wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning
Grant

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries to an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the externa

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives. Is this possible? Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?

I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive.
That is fine and recommended.. use the fastest disk you can afford.. ie Thunderbolt>USB3>FW800>USB2.
In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives.
Let me be clear.. you want to partition the one disk.. use it for TM and move your files to the external disk.. and then backup to the same disk.. You can do it.. but that is not a backup.. that is an experiment in how long you can get away with running files and backups on the same disk before you lose everything.. like Russian Roulette.. pull the trigger enough times and laws of probability will do you in.
You must have backups on a different disk .. otherwise it is pointless.
Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?
No.. you can buy special USB and Thunderbolt external drives that support RAID..
BUT that is still not a backup.. let me show why.. you make a silly move and corrupt your file in aperture.. it is not that rare.
Raid will corrupt all copies of the files.. it is replicated across all disks.
Delete a photo it is deleted across all disks.. you have no recovery.
Alway, always consider RAID system one disk.. backup onto another disk.. and if the photos or movies are at all important to you.. ie your family .. make another copy and store in a relatives house.. There is no such thing as too much redundancy.

Using Disk Utility to create a partition on an external drive

Hi Everyone
I have a 250gb external HD drive which is currently split into two partitions of Fat32. I'd like to use this drive for storing images of OS X, but when I tried to create an image using the OS X startup DVD, I was told that FAT32 didn't allow large enough file sizes (or something along those lines) in order for me to backup my OS X.
Disk Utility appears to offer the ability to split partitions on the external drive, i.e. I can select the largest of the two partitions and choose to split it into two 96gb partitions. However, will this be a destructive partition process, and can I reasonably expect my external hard disk to be reformatted with a 96gb Mac OS X formatted partition whilst still keeping two FAT32 partitions and all the data that resides on them?
Any help is much appreciated!

You will not be splitting existing partitions. Instead, you will be creating a new partitions from scratch.
Run Disk Utility. Select the hard drive to be partitioned. Make sure you select the hard drive in the sidebar, not the volume indented below the drive. Go to the Partition tab. If you want one or more of the partitions to be MS-DOS, you must first click on the Options... button. Select the Master Boot Record option and OK. Select Volume Scheme of 3 Partitions. Now set up your three new partitions as you want them, in terms of size and format. For the Mac partition, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format.

Can i have my windows partition on an external drive?

hello all,
alright, so im looking at a laptop for college and after much research and a few trips to the apple store i want the new, 13-inch macbook pro, with retina display and a 256GB flash hard drive. i love this computer in every aspect except.... you guessed it, its small hard drive. i can always get external drives to make up the differance though, and their is always the cloud so i dont think ill have too much of a problem. but i do need to use some software for college that is only windows based. so rather then splitting up this already small hard drive can i just install windows onto my mac (because i already know i cant put windows on an external drive with boot camp) and make the entire windows partition on the external drive? this way im not losing any native space besides that used to hold windows and im not installing windows to an external drive so hopefully bootcamp wont have a hissey fit. can anyone tell me if this will work? or if this wont work can anyone give me any other solutions to having windows on my mac without splitting up my native hard drive? such as installing windows to my mac and making the partition in the cloud or something? just anything so i dont have to split my already small, yet extremally fast, 256GB hard drive.

You can install Windows on your internal drive and store your Windows data on any drive you want to use. Keep in mind that any Windows programs you install in Windows will be installed on your internal drive. So make the Boot Camp partition large enough for Windows and any programs you may install now or in the future. You will also need room for swap/page files and other activities such as installing Windows updates.
100GB will likely be a good size for the Boot Camp partition given that it is unknown what programs you will be installing.

Best way to set up partitions on 250GB external drive

Hi all,
I've decided to go with an Iomega eGo 250-GB FireWire portable drive to back up my iBook's hard disk (30 GB) plus to store my photos and maybe hold a bootable copy of OS9.
This is my first time using an external drive, so I don't really know how to go about setting things up.
What would be the best way to set up the partitions on the external drive?
1) I know I should create a 30GB partition for the iBook backup, but what about for the remaining volume? Is it best to leave it as a single large 200GB partition, or split it into two 100GB chunks? Other than the clone of my iBook, I'll mainly be storing photos (at the moment no more than around 10-12GB).
2) I don't yet have a huge iTunes collection, but if I later want to store iTunes music that doesn't fit on my internal drive, is it fine to put it in the same partition as the photos, or would it be preferable to create a separate partition?
3) If I want to install OS9 on the drive, how much space should I allot to it? Would this enable me to run legacy apps on my iBook?
4) Does it matter how I name the partitions (i.e. should the name for my iBook back-up be the same as the original volume or should it be different?)
5) As I still don't know exactly what I need, If today I decide to create only 30GB partition to backup the iBook, can I later partition the remaining space without having to start all over again?
6) Also, the drive came out of the box with Mac OS Extended format. Is this the best format or is there another that would be better?
Thanks for any advice
Message was edited by: Lutetia

1) I know I should create a 30GB partition for the iBook backup, but what about for the remaining volume? Is it best to leave it as a single large 200GB partition, or split it into two 100GB chunks? Other than the clone of my iBook, I'll mainly be storing photos (at the moment no more than around 10-12GB).
2) I don't yet have a huge iTunes collection, but if I later want to store iTunes music that doesn't fit on my internal drive, is it fine to put it in the same partition as the photos, or would it be preferable to create a separate partition?
The answer to both question is that it's completely up to you. Partitioning or not partitioning won't affect operation significantly.
3) If I want to install OS9 on the drive, how much space should I allot to it? Would this enable me to run legacy apps on my iBook?
The iBook G4 can not boot from OS 9 so you would only be able to run OS 9 in the "classic" environment.
4) Does it matter how I name the partitions (i.e. should the name for my iBook back-up be the same as the original volume or should it be different?)
No
5) As I still don't know exactly what I need, If today I decide to create only 30GB partition to backup the iBook, can I later partition the remaining space without having to start all over again?
There are a few tools which promise the ability to change the partitioning without destroying the data on the drive. But you should never do this without making a backup of the data on the drive. Data loss can easily happen and in a big way.
6) Also, the drive came out of the box with Mac OS Extended format. Is this the best format or is there another that would be better?
That is the best format.

Clone a Mac Partition to an External Drive from within Windows 7 Bootcamp?

Anyone know if it is possible to clone the mac os x partition to an external drive from within Windows 7 bootcamp? I (like a few others) had a problem with the latest 10.6.3 update and I cannot boot into the mac partition but I can access it via bootcamp so I was thinking about trying to clone it to an external drive and then boot from the new clone and see if that works.
Appreciate your comments.

setup a 30GB partition on an external drive, along with a partition of 150% the size of your Mac OS X volume -- or larger.
Install OS X to 30GB.
While booted from DVD, before you install, you'll need to go to Utility Menu => Disk Utility to do the partitoning. While there, in DU see if you can repair your system.
And where is your TimeMachine or clone backup? The "Step #1: Backup before beginning your Boot Camp project."?
No way to backup or clone from within Windows, though you may be able to write to NTFS backup volume, UNLESS you bought MacDrive8 which allows read AND write to HFS+ from within Windows.

How to partition a 2TB external drive to use with TM for a 250GB backup?

My MBP only has a 250GB hard drive, but the new external drive is 2TB. I don't want to use the whole ext drive for TM back-up so what size should I create the TM backup partition so that I can use the rest for regular file storage? I saw a guideline in the FAQ that said you need 2-3x the size of the data back-up for TM. So is 500GB for TM and 1.5TB for storage a good size?
Separately, will TM recognize to use the correct partition once they are re-sized and there is a new partition on the ext drive?
Thanks

vpr80 wrote:
is 500GB for TM and 1.5TB for storage a good size?
i'm backing up three Macs to my 500 GB TC.
who needs two year old files ... let TM start clearing out the old junk earlier.
JGG

Partitioning an external hard drive for Mac and PC

I want to partition an external hard drive (3TB) into 3 even partitions. I want to use one for PC storage, one for Mac storage and the last for Mac backup. Is this possible and how do I do it?

Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. 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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Re-partition the drive to create the three partitions. The one you wish to use on a PC you should format MSDOS (FAT).
When you connect the drive to your PC it should have no problem reading the partition set up for a PC. Now while on the PC you may wish to consider reformatting that partition using ExFAT (if supported on your PC.) This format is more compatible with both OS X and NTSF supporting long file names and other FAT filesystem irregularities.

Is it possible to use Boot Camp to partition an external hard drive so there is a OSX partition and a Windows partiton? I want to use the external drive for backup only, NOT to load Windows and NOT to use as a boot drive.

I have partitioned the internal hard drive and am running Lion and Win7 Pro on my iMac i5 2.7GHz with 16GB RAM. Can I use Boot Camp to create a Windows partition on an OSX external hard drive to use for backing up both systems to the same HDD? I do NOT want to install OSX Lion or Windows 7 Professional on the external drive. I do NOT want to boot either system from the external drive. The 3TB external drive is for backup only.

Use NTFS for Windows and buy Paragon NTFS for OS X
You can also try Paragon HFS for Windows
As long as you are using for data and backups, you can leave the drive as GPT too.
I would recommend strongly to always have a 2nd bootable Mac OS drive, only need 30GB partition. System maintenance. Though LIon Recovery Mode finally makes it less but not totally unneeded.
And yes you can use Windows to create a partition.
Boot Camp is too broad. Do you want or mean BC Assistant? not needed but probably possible.
MBR has trouble with 3TB drives.

Can I move my operating system to a different partition on the same drive?

I thought I knew what I was doing when I partitioned my hard drive and installed the operating system and everything else. The other partitions are for documents, photos, etc. It worked well for quite a while but now I find there is not enough free space on my start-up partition (24GB) to be able to do new installations. I have cleared a 50 GB partition on the same drive to be the new home of my operating system. I tried copying all the files in the System partition to the new drive but "Startup Disk" doesn't recognize the copied version. How can I make this work without having to install everything all over again?

Too true. I have been partitioning my drives since the 80's when it was "illegal" and voided warranties as was opening the case on a Mac. Now the cases open right up and you drop and slide in new drives and memory. And it has saved my butt many many many times. You put your operating system on one partition, from what I have read it is best on the first partition of the first hard drive in the chain, Master, if you have more than one drive. I have four drives with now down to 8 partitions with the last two 10.4.x OS's that worked well and my last 10.5 for emergency use, all on one drive in separate partitions and boot to them all the time with no problems. I always keep my last install just in case intact and bootable. It's no different than what is done with BootCamp and running Windows. Then put all your data, files, non-Apple applications on another partition(s). That way when the OS hammers, and it will, all you have to recover is the OS and your data is safe. Thenall you really have to worry about is certain preferences and databases that have to be on the start up partition that won't work when aliased. I have found them, and they are few, and use Backup from the iDisk software library to back these files up to my iDisk nightly. And having the OS all by itself makes back ups so much easier and smaller. But you have to leave Apple applications on the OS partition in the Applications or Utilities folder or the Apple Updater will not see them.
Before iTunes and iPhoto would allow you to link to databases that are not on the start up partition, I was aliasing those files from other partitions. Then early 10.5 it didn't work as well, now when you hold the option key prior to starting up in iTunes and iPhoto you'll get a window to go find or create any of many databases to run off of. I have done this for years with Apple, Microsoft, Macromedia, Adobe and many other applications.
So far my largest OS has been 14.6GB after I installed GarageBand and it loaded a ton of instruments on to the OS partition. I have been through this before and found them and moved them off to another partition and aliased them back and GB works great. Otherwise, even in 10.5.x you can have relatively smaller partitions. And yes you want room to grow, if even just scratch disc space that some applications will not let you choose or go off the OS partition. So I hover around 25-30GB partitions and have never gotten close to getting more that 60% full, fulfilling the 10-15% free space axiom that seems to get larger with every update. I have read here that several people that had taken their machines to an Apple where they replaced drives saying that the techs partitioned the drives and said that the minimum for 10.5.x was 12GB. As the updates flow, that will vary probably up. Plus Apple has some bloated applications and a ton of things that you'll never need or use that take up room that are a pain to find, like unnecessary fonts. A little extra space is always good.
I use CarbonCopyCloner to make compressed back ups and bootable clones. The older versions would not copy files that would be easily rebuilt when you booted that OS, thus cleaning up the clone/back up by cleaning/omitting files that normally get damaged. Not sure if that is part of the latest versions. I think they copy everything. Another great thing is that Apple installers and Disk Utility and can use them to restore or migrate from. Because of CCC, I now have it down to 10-15 to restore a crashed or failing OS from parts. I have yet to loose anything, except time in having to deal with an OS that sometimes has a mind of its own.
As you play around as I did when I was waiting for an Apple Tech Rep, and reran the Combo Updater back over a wonky install, to find out if you could do that, it was done and worked great just as he returned and said no one there knew. I told him that I did and it worked great. We kept in touch for a couple of months to see if anything weird happened, which it didn't, and now it is suggested and common practice. Just as the Tech's and I whispered under our breath in the 90's about partitioning. Now they suggest it and Apple will talk to those that have partitioned. As you see needs and experiment you'll learn (trial by fire) and all this will become second nature. So don't think this is too much and go for it. Just make sure before you are completely comfortable, have another drive, I use 25GB Rewritable Blu-ray Discs, to do regular normal, CCC, back ups until you get the hang of it. This method yields 6-8GB compressed archives. Then you'll have a place for your stored back ups and whatnot. I was keeping up to 5 iterations, i.e.: 10.5.1a, b, c, d and e. Once my paranoia subsided I pared it down to two since I could easily recover the small amount that I have to now from small back ups that are mostly aliases relinking files that are safe on other partitions.
So yes you can put/clone the OS to another partition. Just make sure you cover your bases, use an application made for cloning/backing up (CCC) and label your installs as not to have the same name on two OS's or you'll have a bit of a problem off the top remembering which is which. I'm on 10.5.5C2.
Good Luck and Happy Partitioning.

Can I partition a 3tb fusion drive on a 2014 imac27", with boot camp, to let me install windows 7?

I have used boot camp to create a partition for Windows 7 on 3 earlier Macs (iMac 24" 2007 / Mac Pro 2009 / Macbook Pro 2009) as well as a recent Macbook Air 2012.
My main reason for this is to use Sage Account/Payroll, and also a couple of other Windows-specific programs.
I have just replaced the old iMac with a new iMac27", with a 3tb fusion drive, and want to partition it to install a new oem copy of Win 7 sp1.
However, I found an article on this (link: http://twocanoes.com/winclone/support/installing-windows-on-a-boot-camp-partitio n-on-a-3-tb-fusion-drive) implying this might not currently be officially supported by Apple & boot camp assistant, and providing a workaround procedure to create 3 partitions. The article begins with this note: "Important Note: This help document is for reference only, superceded by updates to OS X that include support for 3TB drives and Fusion drive in Boot Camp Assistant. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create the Boot Camp partition."
I have two questions:
1 - Can anyone advise if updates have now been made, to provide this support for partitioning the 3tb fusion drive?....and if not, is this likely to change soon?
2 - If this is still not officially supported, can anyone advise if they have successfully created a Windows partition on the 3tb fusion drive & installed Win 7?
Thanks in advance.

Based on Apple's knowledge base. this configuration is supported for Windows 7 x64 and 8 using Mountain Lion 108.3 or higher. Simply use BootCamp Assistant to set it up.
See here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5639?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
and here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4441
For your application, you might also consider virtualization software like VMWare Fusion or Parallels.
I use both BootCamp and VMWare Fusion. Fusion is much easier to install, more flxible, runs at the same time as your Mac applications etc. For typical applications, there is no notable performance degradation.
If you need high performance graphics for gaming, BootCamp is still the best way to go. For all other applications, I prefer VMWare.

HT4848 Is it possible to partition an external hard drive that is already being used for Time Machine backups without it being erased?

I'm want to use my current external hard drive, which I use for Time Machine Backup, as a recovery disk for Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. From what I have read, the recovery disk assistant will erase all data on the external drive unless it is partitioned. Can I partition my current backup drive without erasing it, even though it is already being used for Time Machine?

It's very simple to test. Turn off your computer. Have your time machine backup plugged in. Hold option and turn it on, keeping option held. Do you see your time machine drive? If so, select it and press enter. You'll end up in recovery. If it works, there you go. Then just click the apple and restart to get back to your regular desktop. Then you'll know for when you're ready to do the deed.
Edit...
I'm not sure if time machine will think it's an entirely different computer, though, when a hard drive changed, making an actual restore not doable. Either way, you could still reinstall mt lion fresh and then just migrate after, skipping the need for SL.

Partitioning a 10.4 drive in 10.5

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