[markw10]

I am getting a mac this month and since I'm switching from the Windows environment and have some software that won't work on Mac it's important that I have some way of running Windows. I am still undecided between Parallels and Boot Camp, mainly because of a question I have about data.
I know with Boot Camp I'd have a 2nd partition on my hard drive. I imgaine I can easily use NTFS for that. My concern is that a lot of this data (office files, jpgs, mp3's, etc) I want to be able to use with both the Mac side and the Windows side. I know that Mac OS can't write/modify NTFS folders. Yet I know with Fat I can't go over 32 gb. My idea was to have the Mac OS partition, make the Windows partition (likely over 32 gb and NTFS) and then make a 3rd data partition that is formated with fat and under 32 gb which would hold all this data.
Some concerns I have is if I read right bootcamp only allows for one windows partition so would it mean I can't do this 3rd data partition. I would just put the data in the standard windows partition but I have a feeling with all the software I have I will have to go over 32gb, causing problems with the mac os side not being able to write to it. Is there any way around this or is it possible for me to make this 3rd partition?

[markw10]

I am undecided whether to go with Parallels or Boot Camp. I am switching from Windows to Mac and have quite a few Windows programs that won't work on Mac so this feature is important to me. I feel Boot Camp is very reliable but yet I'd prefer not to have to reboot to go between Windows and Mac. I don't do 3d rendering or games so the only concern I have with parallels is some hardware not working but I've heard this will be solved by the end of the year. Does windows software under Parallels run any slower than Windows software under Boot Camp?
I am even considering trying them both out by installing both Boot Camp and Parallels. When you run Parallels and install Windows software do you have a separate partition or does it all install in one Mac OS partition on the hard drive? As well, how is data handled? With boot camp I'm concerned about if I can make a 3rd data partition with data that can be shared with both Windows and Mac. Is this what I do with parallels or would all data simply be stored in the Mac OS partition to be used with all programs of each OS. I have a lot of jpgs, mp3's, office files, etc. that I will be using with programs in both OS's.

[phihungnz]

Hi Mark,

I have exactly the same problem.

I need a 3rd partition that allows me to store important files, I don't want to store them in C Drive.

By the way, anyone experiences the problem when Macbook Pro shut down by itself suddenly( dark screen). Does it have something to do with the CPU temperature as I noticed the machine was getting pretty hot.

Cheers!
Phil

[ghporter]

Mark, since both of your questions are so closely related to each other, let's keep 'em in the same thread.

I should also point out that the old habit of having separate partitions for OS, programs, and data (that I too have) is really not needed anymore, even on Windows machines. With even only sketchy backups you can get by just fine with a single partition for Windows.

[mduell]

The max partition size for FAT32 is 2TB, not 32GB. Any 32GB limitation you heard about for FAT32 is just confusion with the limitations of the Windows FAT32 partitioning utility, which was deprecated long before 32G volumes became available/reasonable.

Or buy an external drive, format it as FAT32, and use it between both OSs. I like the idea of OS and data seperation.

[Macola]

Originally Posted by mduell

Or buy an external drive, format it as FAT32, and use it between both OSs. I like the idea of OS and data seperation.

That's what i did. Besides, BootCamp won't allow for more than two partitions.

[markw10]

Since BootCamp allows two partitions does this mean that it allows the osx partition as well as the windows partition or will it allow two windows partitions? I assume with an external drive that is a way around it. Since this is for a laptop I'd rather avoid a external drive but if necessary I will go that route.
The reason for the multiple partitions was I figured I'd need over 32GB and Fat won't do that. Well maybe I was wrong and it's 2TB which solves my problem. My idea was to do a large windows partition (for programs) that's going to require over 32GB and a smaller partition and a fat partition for data files which would be well under 32GB and that way both OS's can use it. At least if the limit is over 32GB I can probably just make on windows partition which includes windows xp as well as data which I assume I can access from os x as well. Fat isn't as efficient as ntfs with using space but at least it seems that would be a solution for me. I am hoping though with newer versions of bootcamp it will eventually allow for additional partitions.

[ghporter]

Two partitions total-one for OS X and one for Windows. That's it. You cannot even pre-set an additional partition and have Boot Camp set it up for Windows-it doesn't want to run if there is more than one existing partition.

The 32GB partition limitation is NOT a factor with Windows XP.

You cannot format a volume larger than 32 GB in size using the FAT32 file system in Windows 2000. (Emphasis added)

Since Boot Camp only provides drivers compatible with XP (with no guarantee that any of them will work with Win2K), the only real choice is "Home or Pro." I'd go with Pro because it's easier to configure networking settings, but that's just me.

[markw10]

Thanks for the advice. I did do more reading and seems Microsoft made it hard to create larger than 32GB partitions with Fat32 using Fdisk but seems 3rd party programs do it fine and larger than 32GB partitions can be used. That really solves my problem since I'll just use Fat32, not NTFS. It will waste more space but I'm getting a Macbook Pro once the merons go into it and will max it out at 120GB hard drive, maybe even go with 160GB if prices come down by then.