Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

slogan · Nov 27, 2008, 01:45 AM

Hi Guys,

Am new to this forum and i guess this will help me out from the problem i have. The problem is

I have a MACBOOK AIR with mac and windows XP installed in it. But windows XP has only 10GB of HDD, now i want to increase more size to windows XP from MAC OSX. Plz guide me to do this.. I dont have optical super drive. I can access only wireless remote.. Its very urgent for me.. Plz do the needfull

Thanks & Regards,
SLOGAN.

Simon · Nov 27, 2008, 02:34 AM

I haven't used Boot Camp in ages, but IIRC you can do live repartitioning. IOW you can launch Boot Camp Assistant (it's in /Applications/Utilities/) and add extra space to the Windows partition w/o formatting the disk or deleting anything. Of course this will only work as long as the Mac partition has enough free space. I would have a good recent backup before I do anything like that though. Just in case.

64stang06 · Nov 27, 2008, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

I haven't used Boot Camp in ages, but IIRC you can do live repartitioning. IOW you can launch Boot Camp Assistant (it's in /Applications/Utilities/) and add extra space to the Windows partition w/o formatting the disk or deleting anything. Of course this will only work as long as the Mac partition has enough free space. I would have a good recent backup before I do anything like that though. Just in case.

Nope. Once the partition is created with Boot Camp Assistant, relaunching the app gives you 2 options: 'Create or Remove a Windows Partition', or 'Start the Window Installer'.

There may be other ways to expand the drive, but then you're messing with the Master Boot Record and can cause problems if you want to remove the Windows partition altogether without having to reformat the whole hard drive.

ghporter · Nov 27, 2008, 09:21 AM

Welcome to our forums!

Please disregard any harshness that shows up in reference to your spelling of the computer or operating system name. Technically they are "MacBook Air" and "Mac OS X" and that makes a great deal of difference to some people.

And while Simon is correct about the need for enough free space on your OS X partition, it's not as simple as plugging in a few options in a utility. You pretty much have to either use Terminal to run Disk Utility and a not too obvious option, or go through a several-step process: image your Windows partition, use Boot Camp Utility to delete it, use BCU to make a new, larger partition, then restore the image in the larger partition. It's a pain either way.

cgc · Nov 27, 2008, 11:37 AM

1. Use WinClone to backup your BootCamp partition
2. Use BootCamp Assistant to delete the old (small) BootCamp partition
3. Use BootCamp Assistant to create a larger partition
4. if you run into problems with step 3, use CarbonCopyCloner to clone your hard drive to an external (if available), then use it again to restore it to the internal drive (tedious, I know)
5. Use WinClone to restore your original Windows OS to the now larger BootCamp partition

Art Vandelay · Nov 27, 2008, 12:09 PM

I tried that before with WinClone and it just cloned back to a partition of the same size as before. The extra space I created for the Boot Camp volume just became unallocated space.

cgc · Nov 28, 2008, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

I tried that before with WinClone and it just cloned back to a partition of the same size as before. The extra space I created for the Boot Camp volume just became unallocated space.

Funny...I've resized my BootCamp partition numerous times with the steps I listed above. Are you deleting the BootCamp partition then creating a larger one?

Art Vandelay · Nov 28, 2008, 07:51 PM

Yup, i just end up with the same size Windows partition in the end and a bunch of unallocated space.

cgc · Nov 29, 2008, 10:59 AM

Here's my version and preferences...never had anything other than success and I resized my NTFS BootCamp partition numerous times as I added more and more games.

Art Vandelay · Nov 29, 2008, 12:11 PM

Same here except I was running 2.0.9 at the time since 2.0.10 is a recent release. But I think the critical difference is the format. I was using Fat32, you're using NTFS. That's most likely the reason it's not resizing for me.

It's a moot point for me anyway. I no longer have it on my media Mac since Netflix streaming is now Mac-compatible.

Cold Warrior · Nov 29, 2008, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

Same here except I was running 2.0.9 at the time since 2.0.10 is a recent release. But I think the critical difference is the format. I was using Fat32, you're using NTFS. That's most likely the reason it's not resizing for me.

You are correct.

Originally Posted by Winclone readme

When restoring a FAT32 bootcamp partition, you must restore on to a partition that is the same size or larger as the original partition. If you restore it onto a partition that is larger, the partition will shrink to match the size of the original partition, and you will not be able to expand it. If you want the ability to increase the size of your Windows partition, convert it to NTFS. Winclone will then expand the image on restore to take up all the space on the partition.

Art Vandelay · Nov 29, 2008, 02:18 PM

Bah! If they wanted you to read it, they wouldn't call it a ReadMe.

It wasn't a big enough deal for me to pursue further. I just needed a little more room for a Netflix streaming movie so I just went with a hatchet through the Windows install to make more room.

cgc · Nov 29, 2008, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

Bah! If they wanted you to read it, they wouldn't call it a ReadMe.

Yup

slogan · Nov 29, 2008, 09:36 PM

I have done everything and made max for windows. but now when i try to install windows using bootcamp i found the error "You must update your system software before using this setup assistant..".. I also updated Mac online. but still found error

So can u guys also help me in installing windows OS...
Is there any other way to install windows without bootcamp?...

T&R,
Slogan

cgc · Nov 30, 2008, 02:41 PM

Not sure what that error message means but the two issues I always run into when installing Windows are:

1. I leave my wireless mouse plugged in (Windows XP needs a wired mouse to install)
2. I forget the have the Windows Installer (not BootCamp) do a complete format the Windows partition

64stang06 · Dec 1, 2008, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by slogan

I have done everything and made max for windows. but now when i try to install windows using bootcamp i found the error "You must update your system software before using this setup assistant..".. I also updated Mac online. but still found error

So can u guys also help me in installing windows OS...
Is there any other way to install windows without bootcamp?...

T&R,
Slogan

Look in your Utilities folder and look for any firmware update apps in there. Run those if needed (AND READ THE INFORMATION BEFORE APPLYING) and then try the Boot Camp Assistant if needed. If I remember correctly, when Apple first released BCA when it was in beta, they also released a bunch of firmware updates for the early Intel Macs so that they could run Windows.

slogan · Dec 2, 2008, 01:04 AM

i re-installed OS X again... so now i want to install windows XP in it... help me out faster plz. its urgent

solofx7 · Dec 2, 2008, 01:06 PM

i have been wanting to have the ability to resize partitions for a while, without all of the extra work...

cgc · Dec 2, 2008, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by slogan

i re-installed OS X again... so now i want to install windows XP in it... help me out faster plz. its urgent

Step 1: double-click on BootCamp Assistant (in your \Applications\Utilities folder) and then click on "Print Installation and Setup Guide."

Step 2: follow the directions in the guide...make sure you have the Windows Installer format your BootCamp partition (even though it looks like it's already formatted)...make sure you select the BootCamp partition to format

Step 3: once Windows installs, install a security suite and enjoy