Partitioning a 256 GB SSD into two bootable partitions

I will soon get a 27in iMac Core i7 with a 1 TB internal and a 256 GB SSD.
I have three questions :
1- Can I partition the SSD so as to get two bootable partitions (one with Snow Leopard and the other with a clone of this same Snow Leopard partition that I will eventually upgrade to Lion when it gets available) ?
One of my goals is to keep an Operating System with Rosetta available.
2- Will it still be possible to install Bootcamp (Windows 7) on an NTFS partition on the 1 TB Internal drive, amongst other partition(s) ?
3- Any chance of predicting how Windows 7 will react to the presence of an internal SSD ?
(Will it merely see the SSD partitions? Will it be able to read and write to them ?)
Thanks in advance for your concern.
PP

1. Yes.
2. Yes as long as there is only the one OS X partition before setting up Boot Camp. You cannot create other partitions or you will lose the ability to manage the Boot Camp partition (remove it and/or re-add it.)
3. Windows will not read or write the OS X volumes.

Similar Messages

  • Can you use Windows 7 to partition a Boot Camp created drive (not just a PC partition on a Mac drive) into multiple PC partitions?

    Can you use Windows 7 to partition a Boot Camp created dedicated PC drive (not just a PC partition on a Mac drive) into multiple PC partitions?

    Can you download this utility, it is a close equivalent of the gpt command, but has more features? (It is more than likely that Windows took over and converted this to an MBR disk).
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/
    Once you have it installed you run it as follows. You can execute using either /dev/disk1 or /dev/rdisk1 as the parameter.
    type gdisk
    gdisk is /usr/sbin/gdisk
    sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
    Password:
    GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.9
    Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
    partition table automatically reloaded!
    Partition table scan:
      MBR: hybrid
      BSD: not present
      APM: not present
      GPT: present
    Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.
    Command (? for help): p
    Disk /dev/disk0: 1954210120 sectors, 931.8 GiB
    Logical sector size: 512 bytes
    Disk identifier (GUID): 6ED0C429-00D1-4759-B50E-04B6FB80D0E3
    Partition table holds up to 128 entries
    First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1954210086
    Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
    Total free space is 1293 sectors (646.5 KiB)
    Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
       1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System Partition
       2          409640      1452940543   692.6 GiB   AF00  Customer
       3      1452940544      1454210079   619.9 MiB   AB00  Recovery HD
       4      1454211072      1954209791   238.4 GiB   0700  BOOTCAMP
    Command (? for help): q

  • How can I split my internal hard drive into 3 bootable partitions?

    I am looking to get at least 3 partitions. One for Mac OS X, one for Windows, and one for a Linux Distro. Any Apple/third party software capable of creating 3 bootable partitions. Basically, I need to be able to access them via the steps:
    Power down
    Power up
    Hold option key (after the chime)
    Select Partition
    Anything helps. Thanks for your time.

    Thats why the need for rEFit and the need for GPT bootloader for the Linux partition.
    rEFIt hasn't been updated in ages, I wouldn't use it on a 10.7 system. 10.6 sure, not 10.7
    Links online are old and for earlier OS X verisons, not for Lion and it's usual problems and re-install proceedures.
    Linux requires 2 partitions, one for swap, so really one needs 6 parttions on a Lion Mac.
    EFI (hidden)
    OS X
    Linux swap
    Linux
    Windows
    Lion Recovery HD (hidden)
    Then there is a question of getting hardware drivers for Linux for newer Mac's, software to stop the fans from going into turbo mode etc., all that has to come from other that Apple sources.
    It takes someone else more geekier to have a Mac and even bother to do all this for others, Apple won't supply the drivers, and newer Mac's fall by the wayside and have to wait until someone does it. Pre-2011 Mac's are no problem.
    It's has to do with the low market share of Mac's, and that those wanting to install Linux directly on a Mac are a even smaller nitch, then a smaller nitch still of those who are coders and then will supply their code for others to use and install.
    So getting this software is always going to be a behind process, then a recent Apple update can break the whole mess as they expect to see only OS X and Windows 7, not a triple or quad booting system.
    So the best course of action, unless the person is full on computer coder geek, is for most Mac users to install Linux via a virtual machine software, which VirtualBox is free.
    I'm all for open source, however since Apple has clearly show they are moving to locking down their computers, copy protected Mac App Store (no open source software allowed) and the possibility OS X itself will become copy protected too, there has been just about little further interest in Apple anymore from the open source community, and you really can't blame them, it's Apple.
    If one needs full hardware performance, it's better now to get a Linux machine from System76, then have a Mac with OS X and Windows 7 in Bootcamp.
    Forget installing Linux on a Mac unless it's running 10.6 and a 2010 model or earlier, there is no future 10.7 on out.

  • Why is the hard disk split into two data partitions (C:Vista and E:Data)?

    I've just switched on a new A200-1V0 and found that the disk space is split into two equal sized partitions "C:Vista" and "E:Data" (and a small EISA one).
    WHY? What is the logic and purpose? It's not even as if the the C:Vista partition is smaller and intended solely for "system" stuff as the the "Users" (User Documents) root is on it too.
    Is this the default for Vista (my first use of it), if not, who said Toshiba could do this without asking me?
    How do I move the "Users" root in Vista (to the Data partition) - if I've got two partitions I might as well use it?
    Can I resize partitions in Vista without a 3rd-party utility (or a complete backup/restore)?
    Thanks

    Hello Just YOU
    Please do not be upset because there is no reason for that. You have bought new product with factory settings. Toshiba and any other hardware manufacturer do not know each customer personally and, unfortunately, it was not possible to ask YOU how to configure YOUR notebook.
    Because of that there is Product Recovery media that allows you to configure HDD according to your wishes and needs.
    Please use this DVD and install OS how you want to have it. When recovery procedure starts you will see SETUP option on the right side. Click on it and choose the right option.
    Install OS again and enjoy your life. I really do not have time to write about vantages of two partitions because it is basic stuff and you probably do not want to loose your time reading this.
    Bye and good luck!

  • P300 has three options for 256 GB SSD, two of which seem identical

    I'm strongly considering a ThinkStation P300 Tower. I would like my primary/boot drive to be an SSD, and as discussed here, that means I should select the SSD as the "First Hard Drive Bay" in the online configurator. For the P300, there are three different entries for 256 GB SSDs (I'll label them (i), (ii), and (iii)): (i) 2.5" 256GB SATA SolidState Drive [add $200.00]
    (ii) 2.5" 256GB SATA Solid State Drive (OPAL) [add $200.00]
    (iii) 256GB SATA 2.5" Solid State Drive (OPAL) [add $200.00] As you can see, all three are the same price (i.e., $200 USD above the base price). What is the difference between (i), (ii), and (iii)? OK, so obviously (ii) and (iii) have OPAL, whereas (i) doesn't. I'm not a computer expert, and I hardly know what OPAL is; a web search tells me that it is a standard by which data on a hard drive can be encrypted such that if the drive is stolen, the data has some additional layer of protection. My thinking is that even if I purchase an OPAL drive, I would need to somehow enable that functionality if I wanted it. So, maybe (ii) and (iii) are OPAL capable but not OPAL ready "out of the box"? Anyway, OPAL aside, what is the difference between (ii) and (iii)? Well, as far as I can tell, they are the same. I suppose one possibility is that they ARE the same and the duplicate entry is just a typo. Another possibility is that they are drives with the same, or essentially the same, specs but made by different manufacturers (Samsung? Seagate? Intel? etc.). Inbound Sales didn't know. I don't necessarily expect you to know, but do you have any idea what is the difference between the three 256 GB SSDs, and especially between (ii) and (iii)? Thanks for your time; you have been SO generous with it!

    Good question, and good catch on the configurator.  
    I don't know for sure why the configurator is listing two different drives for (ii) and (iii)...on the surface they appear to be the same.  I have a couple of theories as to why it's showing like that, but I need to go back and confirm before I put those out there as it could just cause a lot of confusion.  Based on what I know of the drives qualified and those actually available, I'd say in the 256GB OPAL class, there are maybe 4 different drives that your system could be built with...likely fewer as I suspect some of those have gone EOL.
    My guess, based on the pricing, is that in reality those selections are essentially the same.  Probably just an oversight that both are listed.
    I'm also looking into why that drive listing is so haphazard overall....it's really difficult to navigate.

  • I am about to buy a 13" MacBook Pro with 256 GB SSD drive.  I want a i am about to buy a MacBook Pro Windows partition set up.  How large should it be, and can I use XP Pro or does it need to be Win 7 or 8?

    I am about to buy a 13" MacBook Pro with 256 GB SSD.  I want a Windows partition set up.  What size should it be, and can I load Win XP Pro or does it need to be Win 7 or 8?

    You can use XP but it has to be in a Virtual Machine and OS X as the host instead of as a dual boot system with XP in its own partition. That is how I run Windows on my Mac, in a Virtual Machine.
    Take a look at VritualBox from Oracle. It's free and works very well.

  • I have a MacBook Pro 15" and my warranty just ran out! I partitioned my harddrive into two partitions, one with Snow Leopard and the other with microsoft.This morning I turned on my Macbook Pro and it will not boot into Snow Leopard.

    Good Morning,
    I have a MacBook Pro 15" and my warranty just ran out! I partitioned my harddrive into two partitions, one with Snow Leopard and the other with microsoft.This morning I turned on my Macbook Pro and it will not boot into Snow Leopard. I shut it off took out the battery, reinstalled the battery. Then I put in the Snow Leopard CD and booted up to disk utility and The Snow Leopard partion would not show up?? I do see the microsoft partion.
    I also rebooted holding down the shift key and still no Snow Leopard
    Could you please tell me what I can do, what keys do I press on restart any advice to get Snow leopard back.
    thank you.

    Have you restarted holding down the Opt key?  That procedure should give you a gray screen with all of the partitions that exist.  Then select the SL partition for boot.  Also go to System Preferences and Startup Disk, unlock the lock and select the SL partition as the default boot partition, then relock.

  • I have a 15" MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion installed.  I have partitioned the hard drive into two partitions.  Is it possible to install Snow Leopard on the second partition?  If so how do I do it?

    I have a 15" MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion installed.  I have partitioned the hard drive into two partitions.  Is it possible to install Snow Leopard on the second partition?  If so how do I do it?

    If your MacBook Pro had Snow Leopard on it at one time then sure. (Early 2011 or earlier)
    How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
    Obviously choose the second partition to install into. It has to be OS X Extended journaled formatted in Disk Utility (BootCamp software makes it a MSDOS/FAT32 formatted partition if you used that to partition with)
    If it's a Early 2011 or Late 2011 that came with 10.7, it's possible, but it's not easy.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3264421?start=0&tstart=0
    If you can't install Snow Leopard, there is a thread over at MacRumors how to run Snow Leopard in a virtual machine program under 10.7 or 10.8

  • Making two small hard drives into one big partition, so i can install jsdk

    I want to install jsdk but my hard drive isnt big enough. I connected a second hard drive to the same cable as my 1st hard drive, i want to make one partition. Is that possible? How can i do it so to harddrives look like one hard drive when i open "My Computer" I have fdisk, but what do i choose to partition it correctly?
    thanks,
    N

    i explain what i know but if i am wrong maybe some others will correct me:
    From what i know, there is no way to auto fill the second when the first is filled. BTW the first will not be filled because if it does, there wont be enough space to run your other program.
    Master and slave is like a primary harddisk and a secondary hardisk
    Master is where your OS resites and is commoly known as C drive whileas secondary can be your D, E , F( i am refering to harddisk not your CD-Rom or floppy drive)
    Logic partitioning is where u separate your one hard disk into several parts... Like u can separate your C into several shelves to store things. No conflict will arise if same filename is found in the C drive.
    Extended is where u separate the separated portions of the hard disk... like separating one shelf into two: one to keep your books and the other to keep your pencil etc.

  • How to divide my HDD into two partitions ?

    I have the original recovery DVD put in my notebook and I dont know how to re-partition my HDD.
    I want to divide it into two partitons (primary,and Extended?

    Hi
    If you want to create second partition on the HDD I would really recommended using an 3rd party utility like partitions magic 8
    This tool is amazing. You can create and manage the partitions on the HDD while Windows is running.
    But you could also create a partition using the Recovery CD.
    In such case you have to boot from the recovery CD and under Setup or expert mode.
    There simply type a size of the first partition and the Recovery CD will create an 1 partition on the HDD.
    After the OS installation you have to go to the disk management and there you can make the second partition visible.
    PS: The usage of the recovery CD will erase the whole HDD!!! therefore I prefer the usage of the PM8

  • Installing a ssd into a mid 2010 15 inch MBP with a clean Mavericks install

    I have the above mentioned computer, and it is beginning to show signs of hard drive issues.  I have tried to repair it with disk utilities, but it won't and says I need to reformat.  The current hard drive is a seagate hybrid with a little ssd and a 750 gb 7200 rpm drive (the original drive was cloned over, so this hard drive's software has been in use through updates and new OS's for a little over three years now).  I am running Mavericks now with no problems, but I wanted to do this before a catastrophic oops.  To be honest, the hard drive probably isn't bad, just had some os read/write errors over the years that have built up (probably because this was my first mac and I did not know how to use it at first). 
    How do I go about upgrading to the ssd?  Do I need to make a bootable usb stick so I can format the new drive and boot enough to download mavericks from the app store or does mavericks keep a portion of itself in the computer memory so it can help recover from a hard drive crash?
    Honestly, I don't know what other questions to ask (yet). 
    David

    The easiest way would be to put the SSD into a 2.5 enclosure then boot into the Recovery partition by holding down Command and R at boot. Use disk utility to prep the new drive then install to it.
    Those few errors you're talking about could be due to a faulty SATA cable. That will really show itself with an SSD, so if you get a lot of errors after moving the SSD in, that's a likely culprit.
    By the way, the easiest way to do this if you don't need a clean install is with Carbon Copy Cloner. Just clone your existing drive to the SSD.
    http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Aluminum-Enclosure-EC-TB4P/dp/B005EIGUD4/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391917664&sr=8-1&keywords=2.5+enclosure+usb+3.0

  • Tecra S11 - What are the two primary partitions for?

    Hello everybody
    I just got myself a new Tecra S11 with Win7 64 and there's one thing that wonders me a littlebit.
    There are four partitions in total, for sure there's the Recovery one (1.46 GB) and the System one (256.38 GB), but then there are also two primary partitions (8.86 and 31.38 GB) without any displayed use or file system. There's no non-allocated space.
    Can somebody tell me what these two partitions are for ? Because I want to split the system partition up to store my data on a separated one, if possible I also want to use that "unknown" space then ;)
    Besides that: Don't worry, I already made recovery DVDs.
    Greetings
    Nico

    This is funny: I just recreated the entire Harddrive using the recovery DVDs, now the two primary partitions are gone and the space is integrated into the system one, lovely :)
    Is this maybe a faulty pre installation ?

  • Hints for making a bootable partition on extra hard disk

    Hi all - I hope that my query is unique enough to merit being ranked as a question.
    I have a G4 that I bought from a friend. Its original HD was a SCSI, and I just had a larger ATA drive installed, while keeping the SCSI. The ATA is now my main startup drive. I have it divided into three partitions - one is my main startup & system & applications, the other for storage, and the third for OS 9.2. I have just upgraded to MacOS 10.4, with the latest updates.
    I have backed up all the data on the SCSI and deleted all the files on it. The SCSI HD has three partitions that I want to convert into two ( or maybe just one, depending on your advice ).
    I would like to have one of the SCSI partitions be bootable with 10.4, as an emergency/backup startup disk. The other partition I want for media data storage - graphics and music, maybe video.
    My questions:
    1. What file system should I use? The ATA drive is using "Journaled HFS+", what would determine if I should use another type for the SCSI partitions?
    2. Do I need two partitions? In a quick reading of the discussions, it seems that some folks think that, unless you're running a different operating system in each partition, there is little other reason for partitioning a hard drive.
    3. Do I use my 10.4 installer DVD to make the bootable SCSI partition? Or are there ways that are more apt for what I want to do?
    Thanks for reading this far!
    G4 AGP Graphics M5183   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    You might need to give more info on the two HD's.
    size?
    Also, how old is the SCSI? Drives tend to start
    acting crazy at 5 or 6 years old.
    The SCSI drive is the original, so it's probably close to 7 years old. It's an 18GB Seagate ST318203LW. The new ATA is a 160GB Hitachi HDT722516DLAT80 (usable storage is actually 128GB).
    You probably had to partition the new ATA drive
    because your G4 doesn't recognize drives sizes larger
    than 128gb.
    The ATA is partitioned the way it is because I had the SCSI partitioned in a similar manner - one 10.3 partition, one storage partition, and one 9.2 partition. I had the MAc service shop do a clone from the SCSI to the ATA, with the only difference being that the partitions are bigger. There are no plans to repartition the ATA.
    I want to repartition the SCSI and install a backup startup capability, while alos using the SCSI for media data storage - graphics and music, maybe video. Since the SCSI drive is old, I'll make sure they're noncritical files.

  • Can (& Should) I move home directory from 256 GB SSD to 2 TB HD?

    I just got a new iMac configured with two internal drives, buying into the notion that the 256 GB SSD would allow faster boot times and quicker application loads. I always planned to store everything else on the other internal 2 TB rotational drive. After completing the initial setup, I noticed that my home folder is on the SSD. I'm sure I was asked where I wanted it to go during the process, but apparently I wasn't paying close enough attention.
    My two questions are:
    1. Shouldn't my home folder be on the larger drive?
    2. How do I move my home folder (without starting over)?

    In addition to what Sig had to say, I would like to use my disk configuration as a possible example for you. I have three disks in my Mac Pro. I have the operating system and home folder on the smallest of these disks. I have two major applications on my Mac Pro. I put the project files for each of these applications on the other two disks. My photographs take up a significant part of one of those disk. My database is smaller and does need the complete disk so I have my music stored there.
    By removing all of the larger project and music files from the home folder, it is only a bit over 6 GB most of that being mail. I find that this is a good solution for me.
    Allan
    Message was edited by: Allan Eckert

  • Installing SSD into MacBook

    Hi All,
    With the changing of times and technologies I am contemplating replacing my DVD drive in my MacBook with a Solid State Drive and installing the OS/Apps on this drive.
    I find that I so rarely use the DVD these days and I am on the road quite a lot with the computer, so the benefits of running the OS on Solid State seem appealing.
    I currently have a WD 500G Hard Drive installed, so that gives me plenty of room for my data.
    I am thinking of using the kit found here: http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1491 and a 60GB SSD http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1233
    My questions are,
    I am presuming I will get much better OS boot and App load speeds.
    Will I see any battery life improvement seeing I will still have the 500GB HD installed?
    How will Time Machine cope with the Hard Drive 'split' into two areas?
    What other benefits/drawbacks am I expecting if I go down this path?
    Thanks in advance

    actionmarker wrote:
    So it sound like TM won't be any great issue for me.
    Nope. Just a couple of things that might trip you up if you're not aware of them.
    I'm happy to built from scratch, I have full version of 10.6 that I bought when it was released. I would probably build from scratch anyway as it gives me a good opportunity to clear it out of all the stuff I don't need.
    You can do that, if you want. You can also use +Setup Assistant+ for part of it, so you don't have to reinstall all your 3rd-party apps. Basically transfer your apps and at least one home folder, but omit some home folders and/or the contents of some of the top-level folders inside the home folder via +Setup Assistant,+ then copy the remainder to the HD. See [Transferring Home Folders not on a Startup volume|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupOther.html].
    I was planning on buying a USB DVD drive anyway as there still would be times it is needed, can I use it if I needed to boot from the discs?
    Ah, yes, that'll work.
    You might also want to make an 8-10 GB partition on either the SSD or the HD (or an external HD), and use the Restore tab of Disk Utility to copy the Install disc to it. Then you can start and run from it, instead of the physical disc (it will start and run much faster, too).

Maybe you are looking for