[Akdark]

For school I have to install a program for stats class but its only for windows. So I bought windows vista and started up bootcamp and clicked partition, and it told me that some files could not be moved, and I would have to move my hard drive to an external disk, reformat the HD on my laptop, and then I could use bootcamp to partition part of the HD for the Windows and then move the copied HD from the external hd back to the laptop. Problem with this is that I don't have an external hard drive that can hold my whole HD, and I was wondering if this is a normal problem and there is a way to get around it or if I really have to backup, reformat, then xfer back all my stuff.

[SammySlim]

Sounds to me like what you should try first is to defragment your Mac hard drive, then try Boot Camp again. The "files can't be moved" error usually means a fragmented drive. Here is the Apple discussion of the problem - which says EITHER defrag your disk (easy) or go through the complex re-initialization process you describe (hard). Defragmenting your Mac's hard disk

Most folks on the forum have recommended iDefrag: Coriolis Systems :: Products :: iDefrag

It is not free, however, and there may be other solutions. Also, I am not certain whether it works with Snow Leopard, so if you have upgraded to SL you should be careful.

Anyway, take a long look at defragmenting and I would try that first.

Cheers