Virtualizing an existing Windows-partition.

The last couple of weeks I've been trying in vain to be able to virtualize my existing Windows partition in Arch64 using kvm and qemu without success. I have deducted (inaccurately perhaps...) that KVM does not allow me to do what I wish, instead it would require me to set up an Windows-image.
I have been looking into Virtualbox, but it doesn't seem to have a 64-bit version.
Is what I'm trying to accomplish (boot up my existing Windows installation on sda3 in a virtual machine) even possible at the moment? I'm stuck, and searching has been unsuccessful. Primarily because I can't express what I'm trying to do in a concise manor.
I'm on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which might be of interest.
Please help.

Qemu seems painfully slow.
I am running VirtualBox on Arch 64 with no trouble.
You might be able to use a cd based distro like SystemRescue or Parted Magic and partimage to backup your Windows partition then restore it into a Virtual Disk.
I haven't tried it but it might work.

Similar Messages

Will downloading and installing on an existing Windows partition work?

Thanks to a computer information systems class I have, I'm able to get a downloadable copy of Vista (I can get 7 as well, but I hear that Apple doesn't officially support 7 at this time, not to mention the horror stories of drivers not working properly). I have 2 questions regarding this:
1. Can I download and install Vista on my Windows partition?
2. Did Snow Leopard improve the Boot Camp drivers so I won't be seeing things like BSDs or having the fan turning on full blast after a few minutes?
Any and all answers/input is appreciated! Thanks!

Don't forget about me! :O

Reinstalling Tiger with an existing Windows partition

Hi,
I have a MacBook with three partitions on the HD: one with Tiger on it, another NTFS-formatted with Windows, and a third FAT32-formatted with data on it. Unfortunately, I have to reinstall Tiger. Since bootcamp doesn't exist for Tiger anymore and I thus won't be able to reinstall Windows, I have to make sure the windows and the data partition are not touched. Also, I'm worried about the MBR; if the Tiger installer overwrites it, I'll have no way to boot into Windows, even if the installation is still valid. So, is there anything I have to pay attention to, is it even possible?
Thanks.

Why reinstall Tiger? can't you just restore it from a backup clone?
Use your external drive to make an image of Windows, also, with WinClone, or invest in something for Windows to do clone/restore.
Seems like you had to have used something other than, or in addition to, BootCamp Assistant to begin with to have a three partition setup.
Last but not least, pick up Leo DVD 10.5.4.

Windows 7 Ultimate isn't installing on my iMac. Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition

I have a 21.5" iMac (Late 2012) running OS X Mavericks. I'm trying to install Windows 7 Ultimate via Bootcamp but whenever i get to the setup part it goes wrong
These are the steps I followed
I selected all the options since I didn't have the drivers or an install disk
it copied the Windows 7 iso image, downloaded the support software, and saved the support software to the flash drive (8GB)
I selected a partition size - I gave windows roughly 100GB
and I let it install
Right now I'm at the part where it says " where do you want to install windows? I selected the bootcamp partition and formatted it. It now says
"Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup log files for more information"
WHAT DO I DO?

I had to read the apple instructions several times before they started to make sense. I burned my iso onto a DVD and had the required USB for support software. Are you trying to use the single USB method?
This article has a lot of info on the single usb method

Can i install windows 8.1 as a virtual machine without an existing windows os

can i install windows 8.1 as a virtual machine without an existing windows os? I only have the download of 8.1, no cd.

You have to download and run the setup.exe on a Windows system.
That will then download Windows and you can choose at the end to create install media, then choose to save as an iso.
It has to be done on a Windows machine and if you want to download 64 bit Windows it must be run on a 64 bit Windows machine.

How to Reinstall Windows on Existing Bootcamp Partition

I've been running Windows 7 under Bootcamp on my 2011 MacBookPro. I've run into a situation where Windows7 will no longer install updates. I worked one day with Microsoft for over an hour but they could not find what was causing the problem. FYI, when looking into this problem, the error code that is produced is Error Code 8007010B. I have found nothing substantial online in regards to this code.
I've used Winclone (a Mac application) in the past without issues to restore a Boot Camp Windows partition. Since purchasing Winclone 3.4 I've made several backups, but now that I am actually trying to restore one of those backups I'm getting a message:
"the image you are attempting to restore does not contain the correct information".
So I am frustrated and have emailed twocanoes.com, the Winclone publisher and waiting for their answer.
Working with Bootcamp
I'm trying to figure out the steps I need to reinstall Windows from scratch in an existing bootcamp partition. Do I need to start from scratch with Bootcamp, or can I reinstall Windows from inside Windows? If I do the latter, how do I prompt Bootcamp to reinstall the Apple drivers?
Other Issues FYI
I'm having trouble locating the Windows 7 instal DVD I originally purchased. I do have the serial number. So I've downloaded a copy of Windows 7 from the MyDigitalLife Windows7 Repository.
I have burned the iso image to a DVD. I've got 2 versions, one is the .iso file burned onto the DVD, the other are the contents of the .iso file burned to DVD. I assume to install Windows, it will want the one with the contents of the Windows installer burned to it? Any other issues I may be unaware of regarding this kind of Windows install?
Is there any advantage of reinstalling Windows from a USB Flash drive as compared to a DVD? Just curious.
Finally, for Activation, because this copy of Windows is going back into the same Bootcamp partition on the same hardware, will I have to reactivate Windows? If so, suggestions appreciated.
Thanks!
-Dave

I appreciate the help. Can you tell me what are the steps to tell Bootcamp to install drivers into a Windows install? Thanks!
Update: I looked at the Bootcamp Assistant instructions and now I understand your answer. Info here:
"Step 4: Install the Windows support software
After installing Windows, install Mac drivers and other support software for Windows. The
support software installs Boot Camp drivers to support your Mac hardware, including AirPort
devices, the built-in camera, the Apple Remote, the trackpad on a portable Mac, and the function
keys on an Apple keyboard. The software also installs the Boot Camp control panel for Windows
and the Apple Boot Camp system tray item.
You can download the support software by selecting the “Download the latest Windows support
software from Apple” option in Boot Camp Assistant. The support software must be copied to a USB flash drive formatted in MS_DOS FAT. If the installer does not start automatically, doubleclick the setup.exe file in the Bootcamp folder."
If you or anyone have any other tips, they would be appreciated. As this appears to happen with Windows quite frequently, and I've had to do it multiple times over the years, I'm not looking forward to it.
Added Update info. Message was edited by: Dave Peck

Lion clean install broke existing windows xp bootcamp partition

Hi all,
I have been trawling to get educated on this but haven't found an answer yet (except purchasing windows 7-not interested, but thanks in advance for telling me that I should abandon XP because it's over 10 years old). And also dont tell me to just virtualise, i will, but i also want to use bootcamp for better performance. Lots of people theorizing what might work, but here's your chance to see what's not working in reality (and help get it to work please!).
I had snow leopard with a working bootcamp partition running xp (also using parallels), on a late 2006 Mac book pro. Things were getting very slow so I really wanted a clean install of lion (and it has made a world of difference!)
I didn't want to lose my xp partition so here's what I did:
1-used disk utility to create disk images to backup both partitions to an external drive (using spare space on my time machine drive)
2-used my lion USB stick to perform a clean install of lion on another external drive
3-erase and restore new lion installation to my internal Mac partition (previously snow leopard)
4-use migration assistant to bring back my data and settings (not applications-doing that manually)
5-download & install relevant software updates
(note that the bootcamp partition is untouched in all of this)
I noted that at first there was no lion recovery partition on my internal drive, but it has since appeared (presumably when I used software update to install an update to lion).
I didn't test the boot camp immediately but when I try to load it now the partition shows up and I can select it but windows presents me with the boot options screen (safe mode etc). It fails under all options (starts to load then flicks a blue screen before rebooting). From the safe mode log screen it appears to me that the issue could be the partition numbering (the new lion recovery partition has changed the partition number for the windows partition and it's freaked windows out).
Question is, what's the best way to fix it? I'm reluctant to try bootcamp assistant 4.0 because I know it doesn't support xp.
In hindsight maybe I should have done a clean install of snow leopard onto the external drive, erased and restored to the internal, updated snow leopard to 10.6.8 (or whatever was necessary for lion install), checked that the boot camp partition still worked (if not fix it with boot camp assistant), then upgraded to lion (seeing as upgrading to lion when there's a working xp partition on bootcamp is supposed to work).
I could still do all that but I wonder if there is a better / cleaner / easier solution.
Thanks in advance (& sorry for the long description!)

For future reference cloning can be the easy answer to preserving a BootCamp partition. I used the following procedure to upgrade 2 MBPs to Lion from SL.
Use Yasu and Diskwarrior to prepare existing Mac OSX 10.6.8 HDD.
Clone 10.6.8 Mac partition to an ext HDD with SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
Restart from the cloned ext HDD and select it as the startup volume via System Preferences / Startup Disk.
Install 10.7 Lion on the cloned ext HDD
Install Lion 10.7.2 update on the ext HDD
Restart the ext HDD now with OSX 10.7 and test and adjust the preferences if needed.
When satisfied, clone the OSX 10.7 ext HDD back to the existing Mac HDD.
The Boot Camp partition will not be altered as to drive id which appeared to cause problems for a few people.
The recovery partition will be on the ext HDD and can be used for trouble shooting. A more convenient way to have the recovery/reinstallation environment is to have or create a Lion install USB thumb drive.

Installing windows 8 consumer preview in an existing bootcamp partition

anyone done this?
thanks

To add D/E drive for another OS in existing Bootcamp Windows space if you have sufficient GBs,
a) Press Start button on Windows Desktop and key "computer management" into search box, or
b) Right-click you Desktop "computer" icon selecting Manage. If you don't have Desktop computer icon, it can be added via Desktop right-click->Personalize->Change Desktop Icons.
In resulting Computer Management menu (see my Pic which gets bigger if you click on it) right-click on the C: space provides dropdown allowing you to Shrink the C: space by perhaps 60 GB, probably not less than 40 which will result in addition of D/E partition. Windows will format it Ntfs at this point.
Be sure that you have copy of product key provided you. So now when you have your Windows 8 ISO Dvd/Flash? created, assuming install to D/E you select ISO via Mac's boot option menu. When install is done, you run Bootcamp updates as you did for existing Windows version. In my case, I only did first and last (Boot camp 3.1 and Bootcamp 4.0).
Note: you can change the default Windows OS boot and menu time in (key to start menu question) "Advanced System Settings"->Startup and Recovery Settings Tab. So you can got into W 7 or W 8 as you wish.
After Bcamp updates there will be Windows updates and you should be safe with Windows Defender for security, which has been beefed up. You can get Windows Live including Mail, as you wish. Your Pics, Vids, Music, contacts, Faves can be accessd from the C: drive.
To remove the 8 space, when you no longer want it, right click allows "Delete Volume". When done, you can then "Extend Volume" in Windows 7 area to get it back to what it was.

Virtualize an existing windows 8.1 installation on arch

Hi,
3 days ago I installed arch and I'm very delighted. Originally coming from windows I installed ubuntu on my laptop a few months back. Linux instantly grabbed my attention. So when I decided to buy a new desktop PC I compared various distros and arch was the most promising one. I haven't been disappointed; The learning curve is very good and the distro is really well documented. But now I have a problem where the documentation can't help.
I have the following setup:
- Intel i5 4570s
- SSD for os
- sda1: EFI boot partition
- sda2: ext4 with arch installed
- sda3: swap
- sda4: microsoft reserved
- sda5: ntfs with windows 8.1 installed
- HDD for data
- EFI motherboard
Install order: arch -> windows
Before I installed arch I read an article about how to boot virtual in an existing windows installation and nonetheless be able to boot normally into it and have the instances synced. Later I found out: VirtualBox isn't capable of booting an EFI windows installation.
As I read in another blog, other virtualization software like QEMU is able to boot an EFI windows installation with OVMF. So I followed the first article and created a raw image of my windows disks with
VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename w8raw.vmdk --rawdisk /dev/sda -partitions 1,4,5 -relative
and tried to open that image with QEMU via
qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -pflash OVMF.fd w8raw.vmdk
I get the following error
Unsupported image type 'partitionedDevice'
It may be noteworthy that the VBoxManage command produced two files
w8raw.vmdk
w8raw-pt.vmdk
Now my questions:
1) Is it somehow possible to open the created .vmdk file with QEMU?
2) Is it possible to create such an raw image with QEMU too? How? The documentation didn't help me
3) Do you have any other ideas how to archive this?
If you need further information I gladly add them here.

You have created a vmdk file that point to a real disk. The vmdk file does not contains the data in itself; probably qemu cannot open such virtual disk. The raw disk is simply /dev/sda in your case; you can pass it as an argument to qemu (provided you have the necessary permissions to access it), but ensure that the mounted partitions (the one you use in your running linux) are not accessed in any way by Windows (it should be the case if they are not FAT or NTFS and you do not have installed special tools in Windows to read them). Virtualbox can authorize the access of individual partitions of a physical disk (by using the VBoxManage command you mention), but I don't think this trick can be exported to qemu.
You can create a raw image of your disk by using the dd command:
dd if=/dev/sda of=/some-file.raw
but do that from a bootable recovery disk, do not mount /dev/sda while running dd (and have an external hard disk that is big enough to contain the whole image of /dev/sda).
But I doubt you will achieve your real goal. At the very best, Windows will consider that it run on a new hardware within the virtual machine. At best it will ask you to re-register and will cease to work if you boot it directly. Some OEM Windows do a BIOS/UEFI check to verify they have not be copied and will refuse to work in the virtual machine. You might also expect a whole bunch of problems because the same windows will run on two different hardware (virtual and physical). Windows has not been designed to be moved from one machine to another. If you want to have a virtual Windows, I would strongly suggest you to install it from scratch in the virtual machine. VirtualBox has more feature (some of them are really useful: e.g. the Windows additions that provide nice integration between the two machines; USB access, etc.) and is easier to manage than qemu. Just put VirtualBox in BIOS mode and install Windows (all Windows versions accept to be installed in BIOS mode).
Last edited by olive (2014-04-13 09:32:49)

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.

Can I run adobe master collection in a windows partition on a basic mbp 13" with only the intel chipset?

can I run adobe master collection in a windows partition on a basic mbp 13" with only the intel chipset?
I want to install 16 gb ram but I don't think I can change the lack of video card. I wanted this basic machine because it has fairly long battery life. I don't need or want retina at this time. My model is the mid 2012 model. I am running the adobe collection for mac, I want to run the windows versions. Is it possible? What is the most ram I could access using something like fusion 5, assuming I could get fusion 5 to work? would it refuse to run because of the intel chipset and lack of video card?
If I'm wrong and there is a way to add a video card to this model, could some version of fusion and windows 7 access more than 2 gb operating ram?
What cost would I be incurring, and would it be cheaper to buy a windows laptop with more ram than I could access via a virtual machine?
I want to work on a client's work in the windows versions of the creative suite, with occasional usage of after effects for windows, and to use some web plug-ins only available in windows versions, and to try some windows-only video and audio software.
thanks for any suggestions. While many people have told me I can run everything on my macbook, I am concerned about what I think is a limited amount of ram that can be accessed over the virtual machine partition softwares, and I don't know if what I want to attempt is actually possible.
My mbp os is 10.8.2 on a 2.5 GHz intel core i5 4 gb 1600MHz DDR3 with 500 hard drive. the basic 13" mid 2012 machine.
I'm hoping to install 16 G of opertating ram to allow more adobe programs to run concurrently- just when I am working on the mac side.
also, off track but, for years I have wanted a small machine that is more easily portable than my 15" machines. I have only had this used machine for a few weeks, but already I have been very satisfied and used it for presentations at clients. I don't want an air because I really want the dvd burner and player. No matter what apple says about wireless, there are decades of legacy work stored on optical discs all over the world, and I don't want to be unable to open something at a client's office because I don't have a dvd drive. Additionally, I have very large files I want to transfer via ethernet or firewire so that the transfer will take less time and be more secure than wifi. I resist apple's trend to make every machine a disposable toy that is viable only a year or so. I have read reviews that label the mbp it a poor value compared to the air. If all you need to do is text and communicate via wifi, many devices will sufice, and an air is certainly the most elegant. But what about the cost of large ssd's and protecting the drive against damage from shock? I want to be able to move this thing around and the small size is much safer inside my padded bag when I sit in narrow airplane seats, crowded trains and other congested spaces. I am much more likely to be able to borrow a large screen in a client's office ( with the use of one of the three adapters I had to buy) than to be able to borrow a dvd drive that has drivers for mac os 10.8.2. I suspect this may be the last generation of machines that have optical drives and ethernet, and that was why I purchased it so that I could continue to do work into the next few years. I am impressed by the retina display, but I need long battery life. And as beautiful as the retina display is, it is even more of a problem when trying to cross platform with the windows world. I wish I could infuence apple to do a trial product flow for a machine designed to work with 80% of the business world that uses windows. How spectacular that would be. With all their expertise and adept hardware design, to create a machine that cross platforms better than a windows machine itself works? Now that would be an accomplishment. Instead of 8 or 9 percent of the total computer sales, why not aim for a higher percentage? Smart devices will keep moving toward portable computers in power, anyway.

confused, bothered and bewildered wrote:
can I run adobe master collection in a windows partition on a basic mbp 13" with only the intel chipset?
I want to install 16 gb ram but I don't think I can change the lack of video card. I wanted this basic machine because it has fairly long battery life. I don't need or want retina at this time. My model is the mid 2012 model. I am running the adobe collection for mac, I want to run the windows versions. Is it possible? What is the most ram I could access using something like fusion 5, assuming I could get fusion 5 to work? would it refuse to run because of the intel chipset and lack of video card?
If I'm wrong and there is a way to add a video card to this model, could some version of fusion and windows 7 access more than 2 gb operating ram?
What cost would I be incurring, and would it be cheaper to buy a windows laptop with more ram than I could access via a virtual machine?...
Fusion should work on your machine and if you put 16 GB of RAM in (see http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_160 0MHz_SDRAM), Fusion can access a good portion of that. Also, in a Virtual Machine, the guest OS is presented with Fusion's video card emulation, not what's in hardware on your Mac. Of course, finding Windows 7 now that Win 8 has been released could take some doing and the Win 8 Pro upgrade price is supposed to jump to $200 the end of the month. Add that to the price of Fusion and the extra RAM and you're beginning to get into the realm of low end real PC's.
As to cross platform, I assume you're aware of BootCamp (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1461).

Windows 7 upgrade and existing Windows Vista Home Premium license...?

Hi,
As per Lenovo's scheme, after applying for Windows 7 64 bit upgrade and upon receiving the installer DVD, do I need to compulsorily install it?
Does "upgrade" here really mean that the day when the Windows 7 DVD was issued on my name, my existing Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit license will become Invalid or get expired? Or I can continue using my existing installed Windows Vista on my Laptop and install the received copy of Windows 7 as and when I want or even don't install it on my Laptop, if happy using existing Windows Vista only?
Regards,
Aniket Dumbare

More Information
I just found instructions to run "BCDEdit" and the results were the following so it looks like the "Boot Manager" is on S while the "Boot Loader" is on C (Whatever that means)
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32>Bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=S:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {2164a006-c421-11de-8836-de5db8963170}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {2164a008-c421-11de-8836-de5db8963170}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {2164a006-c421-11de-8836-de5db8963170}
nx OptIn
C:\Windows\system32>

The old allowing oracle 3GB virtual memory on windows 2003 server question?

Hi all,
I have a 9.2.0.7.0 database on windows 2003 server (32bit). 4 dual core cpu's and 16GB of Ram.
I have set .use_indirect_data_buffers=TRUE and *._enable_NUMA_optimization=FALSE.
The db_block_buffers is set at 4GB.
Shared_pool 200MB
Large_pool 56MB
Java pool 56MB
PGA is currently at 400MB
AWE_WINDOW_MEMORY is set at 720MB (which is the lowest I can set it)
At the moment there are various jobs running on the database and no users logged on and the virtual memory is at 1.8GB.
The problem is as soon as the users logs onto the DB the virtual memory goes over 2GB and we see the error 'ORA-04030: out of process memory when trying to allocate 2416 bytes'.
Now I have edited the boot.ini with the following parameters:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="UBS WSP - Wintel Server Platform with PAE" /fastdetect /PAE /4GT
because the /3GB parameter switch started the server with lots of errors.
The oracle.exe process still seems unable to go over the 2GB limit with getting 'ORA-04030' errors.
Can someone tell me if I have missed anything? Or a reason why oracle is not using the switch?
TIA
Eddy

Satish,
see metalink Note:1036312.6 : Utilizing Up to 3GB Virtual Memory on Windows.
it says :
"The 32-bit versions of the Windows® 2000 Advanced Server and Windows NT Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition, operating systems were the first versions of Windows to provide applications with a 3-GB flat virtual address space, with the kernel and executive components using only 1 GB. In response to customer requests, Microsoft has expanded the availability of this support to the 32-bit version of Windows XP Professional and all 32-bit versions of Windows Server™ 2003."
of course, we mustn't be mistaken with the AWE switch (/PAE) that is not available for standard edition.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291988 ==> tells more about what can be supported
regards,
marc

How do i resize windows partition?

I am sorry if this sounds like a question that has been answered numerous times, but the answers I have read thus far have not helped me at all. I am more confused than ever and would appreciate anyone who can dumb this down so that I can spend the next few hours methodically: 1. resize the boot camp partition from 40GB to 80GB. 2. Install Windows 7 3. Get on with my life.
Now, the Windows side (NTFS) of my MAC Book Pro doesn't have much on it and I have backed up the documents to an external hard drive. The apps on it can be reinstalled if I have to. Since my Windows 7 is an upgrade to awful Vista, I guess I have to reinstall Vista before I can install 7. I have read about WinClone and quite frankly don't understand at all what to do. I want to know if it would not be simpler to remove all apps and docs from the windows side, then remove the partition completely and start anew? If so, does that mean that I would use disk utility in OS to partition the drive? OR do I start BootCamp, partition, then install Vista?
Thank you.

don't use disk utility to do anything with the windows partition. it should only be modified using bootcamp assistant.
if you don't care about keeping your current windows install you can do the following.
1. run bootcamp assistant and remove the bootcamp partition.
2. then run bootcamp assistant again to create a new bootcamp partition of the size you want.
3. from here you need to install windows 7 on the newly created empty bootcamp partition. if your windows 7 can only be installed over an existing vista install you'll have to install vista first.
I'm really not familiar with windows upgrade processes and I'm not sure if this is necessary. also, keep in mind that even though many people have installed windows 7 in bootcamp, it is not yet officially supported by apple. apple will release windows 7 drivers for bootcamp later this year
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920

HT4818 I want to have an exFAT parition in addition to the Mac OS X and Windows partition. If I create it before running BootCamp, it wants me to delete it. If I create it in either Windows or Mac OS X afterwards, I can no longer dual boot.

I want to have an exFAT parition in addition to the Mac OS X and Windows partition. If I create it before running BootCamp, BootCamp wants me to delete it before continuing. If I create it in either Windows or Mac OS X after running BootCamp and installing both OSes, I can no longer dual boot. What is the magic sequence to get this to work?

I've got the same quandary.
After upgrading my hard drive to a Momentus XT Hybrid and doing a clean install of Mountain Lion, I was surprised that I couldn't format partitions separately and then restore from my clone of the old Windows 7 Partition. I found that I had to use the BootCamp Assistant to manage it all, which essentially meant getting rid of the partitions and starting again...
I now can't get my Windows / BootCamp partition to boot, after adding a 3rd, ExFat, partition, when it was working perfectly fine before. I just get a lot of dos booting failures and a final message that "No boot device is available, press Enter to continue".
See the attached message, that I get when trying to boot the bootcamp partition, through Parallels 7; which also worked perfectly fine before.
Be good to know if there is a work around this in Mountain Lion as, if not, I'm thinking I might skip Bootcamp altogether and just install a machine drive via Parallels. As suggested here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1420754
I might even keep the virtual windows machine on a separate hard drive and then I'll have no need for the ExFat partitions altogether as that was designated for sharing between Windows and Mac.

Virtualizing an existing Windows-partition.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for