[aehaas]

I bought a MBP C2D. When I partitioned the new computer it gave a choice to put in a windows partition - the usual type of formatting used on windows computers. I went ahead and put 20G into that area. Now I have my main partition, the windows only partition and a scratch partition of 10G for photoshop.

It seems as though they made this possible so that I can put in windows as XP. I have been reading and it seems this may in fact not be possible. In order to use Boot Camp the whole drive needs to be wiped?

What is the use if you are using the computer then at a later date find you need to add a windows system for other programs?

Can I at this very time install a new copy of XP in that Windows partition? If I do then how can the computer know what system to start with on a restart?

aehaas

[Blasphemy]

You don't need to wipe the drive to use boot camp. The program makes room for the windows partition on your drive without messing with your Mac OS or files.

You can use only Windows XP SP2, AFAIK.

I don't know if boot camp will accept the current 20GB partition you made.

[aehaas]

According to this Apple article:
Boot Camp Assistant Beta: Not compatible with disk partition utilities
You have to wipe the whole drive to use Boot Camp.

Why does the Install disc that came with this computer allow you to partition with OSX and Windows if you cannot actually use the partitions?

aehaas

[ghporter]

You do not NEED Boot Camp to boot from a Windows 2K install disc (or any other bootable Windows disc). The problem is that W2K probably won't have drivers for the rather different Mac hardware in your MBP, so some things won't work and others won't work well.

Now for more news: You cannot restore your drive to a single partition, even with Disk Utility, without reinstalling OS X afterward. Square one, etc.

Now, if you just install XP by booting from a Windows install disc (which still MUST have SP2), it may work fine, and then again it may not. The MBP's keyboard is seen as a USB keyboard, and they are not "well supported" by the XP Install routine. Give it a try. Or back up 10 and punt by starting over. Or find a third party OS X partitioning program and restore your drive to a single OS X partition. You have a lot of choices, but none are without some risk.

[Blasphemy]

Originally Posted by aehaas 

According to this Apple article:
Boot Camp Assistant Beta: Not compatible with disk partition utilities
You have to wipe the whole drive to use Boot Camp.

aehaas

YOU have to wipe the drive to use boot camp because you've partitioned already. However, for someone who hasn't partitioned, they can use boot camp to set up a windows partition WITHOUT wiping their entire hard drive.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by aehaas 

Why does the Install disc that came with this computer allow you to partition with OSX and Windows if you cannot actually use the partitions?

aehaas

There's a difference between formatting a partition with a Windows compatible file system and formatting a partition to actually be bootable for Windows.

[aehaas]

Why does the Install disc that came with this computer allow you to partition with OSX and Windows if you cannot actually use the partitions?

aehaas

[Art Vandelay]

You can use the partitions for data storage. Like I said above there's a difference between setting up a partition/drive to be bootable for Windows and usable with Windows. Macs have had the ability to format a volume to be Windows compatible so you can use it on both the Mac and a PC for data storage for a long time. You're confusing a long standing feature of compatibility with a brand new, still in beta feature of booting Windows.

With Leopard, maybe Disk Utility will allow you to partition a drive to be able to boot Windows. No one knows yet except for Apple.