[thelostgeek]

Hi All,

I just bought a new MBP 13" a week back ( My first mac) . So far so good. Today , i tried to install my Mobile broadband (Huawei EC1260) Data Card but could not succeed. It somehow did not recognize the device at all. I just took it to the apple service center. They did some check and said it might be some driver compatibility issue. They asked me to backup the files and bring it so that they can reinstall the OS. Now comes my question , I just did all my app. installations, copied all my media , personal files (Huge amount of data). Took me around 15+ hours. i do not want to get onto similar situations again. so i was thinking of having two separate partitions one for OS X- system and app and other for the DATA . I will try to link the user account home , downloads, iTunes media , etc., folders to the data partition. I have got few queries on it -

1. Will there be any issues if i have this kind of setup - Two (System , Data) partition with folders linked to data partition ?

2. When we use the os install discs provided ,to reinstall OS X will it erase any data partitions if i had created one earlier ?

3. What can be the suggested minimum OS X system partition if i have 320GB HDD ( I would want to have iLife, Microsoft office and other applications on it. )?

4. Will there be any specific problems with Timemachine on this setup ?

5. Will there be any issues if i want to use bootcamp later in stage ?

6. Incase of any os x reinstallation, will there be any problems in accessing the DATA folder ? like Permission issues? even if i use the same uid for my user account on the new installation or run a chown -r on the whole directory later.


Appreciate any other inputs and suggestions.

Thanks & Regards,
~TLG

[Waragainstsleep]

I've never tried using a folder alias for an entire user folder before, I just assume its asking for trouble a bit. To keep it simple, I would say just move your documents, music, movies and pictures folders to the data partition. Leave the rest (specifically the Library) on the boot disk.

All that said, Apple should be able to reinstall the OS without erasing the your user data and apps.
Time Machine should have no issue as long as you don't exclude the data partition.

I would say 60GB is probably plenty for an OS partition, you might get away with less or you might need a little more depending on your usage. If you have a massive amount of emails in Apple Mail or you use Steam, or if you have a lot of big apps installed (FCS with all the bells & whistles for example) you may want more room than that. If your main uses are things like CS5, Aperture, iPhoto, iTunes etc, you should be fine with 60GB for OS.

Doing an erase and install of the OS will involve replacing the user folder on the OS partition and rebuilding the links to the data partition and reimporting apps. Doing and archive & install should be as seamless as usual.

[thelostgeek]

Thanks Waragainstsleep. This perfectly answers my queries. Highly appreciate your help.