[preslove]

Hi, I got my macbook this afternoon and just set up the office, including my external seagate drive. I had alreadty partitioned half the drive with ntfs and want to partition the rest of the drive for mac. Disc utility looks like it wants to erase my first partition and I can't figure out how to just say "format that last bit there." Man, in windows xp partitioning is freaking obvious and easy

[romeosc]

Originally Posted by preslove

Hi, I got my macbook this afternoon and just set up the office, including my external seagate drive. I had alreadty partitioned the drive with ntfs and want to partition the rest of the drive for mac. Disc utility looks like it wants to erase my first partition and I can't figure out how to just say "format that last bit there." Man, in windows xp partitioning is freaking obvious and easy

It will be easier when Leopard is released, but you can:

Try using Boot Camp, since it will do non-destructive partitioning, then format the partition you created with Boot Camp as HFS and then install.

[preslove]

Originally Posted by romeosc

It will be easier when Leopard is released, but you can:

Try using Boot Camp, since it will do non-destructive partitioning, then format the partition you created with Boot Camp as HFS and then install.

You mean i can format a drive for mac in windows? I guess I'll hook the drive up to my dell. I have to say that it is pretty stupid that you can't just format remaining space on a drive with disk utility.

Edit: Disk management in windows won't partition in any mac format. This is really really really really really stupid.

Edit #2: So, does anyone have a good recommendation for mac partitioning software?

[TETENAL]

Mac OS X does not come with partitioning software that allows you to partition a disk without formating (except the Bootcamp beta which can create a Windows partition). You need third-party software to do this.

Since you got your Mac just this afternoon, you most likely don't have any important data on it yet, and you could just simply use Disk Utility to partition the drive and then reinstall the OS and bundled software. Takes some time, but is cheaper than spending money on partition software you only use once.

The rule of thumb on a Mac though is: do not partition your drive. It causes more problems than it solves. The only good exception of this rule is when you need to install multiple operating systems. Let's say you are developing software you need to test against different system versions, then you have no option other than partitioning. If you want to install Windows, then you can use Bootcamp to create the Windows partition. In all other cases I strongly suggest to keep your drive a single partition.

[RevEvs]

Originally Posted by preslove

You mean i can format a drive for mac in windows? I guess I'll hook the drive up to my dell. I have to say that it is pretty stupid that you can't just format remaining space on a drive with disk utility.

Edit: Disk management in windows won't partition in any mac format. This is really really really really really stupid.

Edit #2: So, does anyone have a good recommendation for mac partitioning software?

Read his post again, - theres no mention of partitioning in windows or using a dell. Use the bootcamp installer to create a partition as if you were installing windows. then use disk utility to erase the bootcamp partition as a HFS+ one.

Partitioning empty space isnt always simple - just because you ahve 40gig spare (for example), it does not mean that it is all in one contiguous block. i.e. there could be a few gig, then a bit of empty space, then a few more gig etc.

You need special utils to do this on windows and linux also, its not mac only issue, and its not a simple issue.

[preslove]

Originally Posted by RevEvs

Read his post again, - theres no mention of partitioning in windows or using a dell. Use the bootcamp installer to create a partition as if you were installing windows. then use disk utility to erase the bootcamp partition as a HFS+ one.

Partitioning empty space isnt always simple - just because you ahve 40gig spare (for example), it does not mean that it is all in one contiguous block. i.e. there could be a few gig, then a bit of empty space, then a few more gig etc.

You need special utils to do this on windows and linux also, its not mac only issue, and its not a simple issue.

Dude, in Windows XP you just right click on the empty space in disk management and go to "new partition." Partition magic could do it, like 10 years ago. It shouldn't be difficult for a modern OS I guess I'll try bootcamp.

[amazing]

did a quick search for "partition" on versiontracker.com, seems like the 2 main candidates will do exactly what you want, iPartition and DiskStudio.

Coriolis Systems :: Products :: iPartition

Micromat - DiskStudio

[preslove]

Apparently boot camp only creates partitions on internal drives... so it won't work. All the partitioning software costs ~$50. I'm tempted to just use windows to partition the last bit as fat32 and be done with it. Is there any problem with fat 32 other than the 4gig file limit? Is it as fragmentary with apple as it is in windows (I've heard disk fragmentation isn't a problem with macs).

You would thing apple would address their terrible partitioning system before the Leopard

[ChrisF]

Originally Posted by preslove

I'm tempted to just use windows to partition the last bit as fat32 and be done with it. Is there any problem with fat 32 other than the 4gig file limit? Is it as fragmentary with apple as it is in windows (I've heard disk fragmentation isn't a problem with macs).

Once the partition is formatted as FAT32 in Windows, you will be able to erase that partition on the Mac, and format it as a Mac disk. I would not use a FAT32 disk on a regular basis on a Mac- there's no reason to do so if it's only going to be used on that Mac.