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Blazer 77 · Mar 12, 2003, 02:54 AM

just got my new iMac 1ghz from an Apple Center. the hard drive came partitioned as i requested. [A] at 20 gig and [B] at 60 gig. I planned to have all program files in [A] and my "user" folder in [B]. However, the techie installed OS X system and software files and OX 9 system and software files in [B], instead. Question - can I move the system and sofware files to [A]?

bradoesch · 02:02 PM

You might be able to use a program called Carbon Copy Cloner to do this. I know it can move OS X installs, but I don't know if it will overwrite what's on the destination partition.

Brad

Blazer 77 · Mar 13, 2003, 05:39 AM

Brad, thank you. will a "move" from my partition [B] to [A] also do? let's say i move "applications" and "libary" folders to [A], and retain the "systems " and "users" folders in [B]? i am a bit scared to try other ways this time. i am new to Macs.

bradoesch · Mar 13, 2003, 04:29 PM

Originally posted by Blazer 77:
[B]Brad, thank you. will a "move" from my partition [B] to [A] also do? let's say i move "applications" and "libary" folders to [A], and retain the "systems " and "users" folders in ? i am a bit scared to try other ways this time. i am new to Macs.

To be honest, I really don't know. Surely someone who has used the program will know, or you could contact the author of the program for further assistance.

rotomas · Mar 13, 2003, 04:34 PM

Blazer,

I'd be careful about doing that. I wanted to do the same thing, so I installed OS X on one volume and then moved the applications and library to my second volume. Most everything worked fine, but there were a bunch of little bugs. For example, System Preferences worked fine, but when I pulled up displays and pushed the Calibrate button nothing happened - no error messages but no action either. I ended up re-partitioning the disks and installing everything again and everything's peachy now.

bradoesch · Mar 13, 2003, 07:22 PM

I found some instructions on how to move your home folder. It's mostly terminal commands. Kinda tricky stuff.

http://www.bombich.com/mactips/homedir.html

Blazer 77 · Mar 13, 2003, 07:59 PM

Brad, Rotomas
I tried to move the "Library" and "User" folders to a new partition. No can do. I changed owner from Systems to Admin (under Getinfo). The move did not execute, and I got a message that there are hidden files. I guess I'll have to live with my current setup, or reload OS X again at the right paritions. I planned to do lots of movie editing and wanted a separate partition for all my movie files. Thanks again for your help.

bradoesch · Mar 13, 2003, 08:39 PM

You're welcome.

Leonard · Mar 14, 2003, 03:37 PM

IT's best to keep the applications folder on the same partition as the OS X as I believe Software Update expects these on the same partition.

By the way, if you want to change the partition that OS X is on, on a brand new Mac, why not just reformat the drive and reinstall OS X. That's probably the safest way.

I don't know why people still partition their hard drive anyways. Unless your a techie geek (who likes having multiple OSes and testing things out), it's probably not necessary.

Blazer 77 · Mar 18, 2003, 10:28 AM

Leonard, that's exactly what I did. I reformatted the disk, took out the partitions and reinstalled everything. Now it works fine and am able to optimize the HD. I also read in the "missing manual" that with the stability of OS X, there really is no need to partition drives anymore, unless one wants to boot from OS 9. In my case, I do not boot from OS 9, so zapping the double partition was best. thanks for your note. I have a question on internet connection, but that would be a separate thread.

pliny · Mar 19, 2003, 08:39 AM

You can change the location of the user folder to anywhere you like, you just need to to let the system know where it is. Do it in NetInfo Manager.

(The example here is for changing root password, but the image is good for just pointing you around.) In the directory browser you would choose your user account, then down below in the "home" field, set the directory for your user (your home) folder.

Blazer 77 · Mar 24, 2003, 09:19 AM

pliny, this is very useful info. there are three of us who share our iMac (no, this is not a triangle romance). we were thinking of setting up a "Common" user with "Shared" files/library as home. Then we can use the "common" user to load tunes or download internet files that we want shared amongst us. This way we avoid sending files between us. will this work?

pliny · Mar 24, 2003, 08:08 PM

Originally posted by Blazer 77:
[B will this work? [/B]

Sure, you can set up a user directory as any directory you like for whatever purpose you like. In your case though why just not establish a folder that every user has access to, in a convenient location, say, /Common?

Blazer 77 · Mar 24, 2003, 09:16 PM

good idea. one less user. thanks again.