Dual Boot Macbook

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I bought a 13 inch Macbook that was in the local campus newspaper just before the end of the school year. The Macbook is partitioned with Windows XP Pro. I can access either OS by holding down the option key on boot.

Here is the problem though. The XP OS has only a 5g drive and I really need a larger Windows drive. I have read about Boot Camp and how to add the Windows OS but can I re-partition the drive and make it bigger now that the Macbook has the two OS’s or do I need to start all over?

The other problem I have is my new Lab puppy got a hold of my Mac OS disk and has destroyed the DVD… The current OS version on the Mac is, Mac OS X, 10.4.11. The Macbook is a 2 GHz Intel Core Duo.

I would really like to wipe the entire drive clean and start completely over, but this will require me buying a new OS. This brings me to ask this question, what OS should I buy and will I be able to completely wipe the drive clean? Or should I just partition the drive to a larger drive?

Personally I would like to begin anew and have a fresh new install… ;D
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook4,1 2.4Ghz C2D 4GB RAM 160GB HD OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard | iPod Touch 16gb 2G
I don't think you can increase the partition once it has been partitioned (not positive about this but am sure someone else on here knows).

You have Tiger so you cannot directly upgrade to Snow Leopard. Your best bet would be to buy the mac box set which includes Snow Leopard, iWork 09 and iLife 09. As you will probably end up wanting these programs anyway!

If you want to start fresh (which is probably a good idea) then go into boot camp assistant and unpartition the disk and then install Mac OSX fresh. If you do get Snow Leopard don't insert the disk when you are logged on as this will do an upgrade install. Switch on, hold the option key, and insert the disk.
 
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Then, like u said you'll have to buy yourself a new Install DVD.
Just remember that if you want to dual boot, you should also own/get a microsoft licence to run windows.

The other way is to open Disk Util and make a copy of the Bootcamp partition on an ext HDD, repartition your drive in Bootcamp, and then restore the disk image into the Bootcamp partition.

Hope this helps...:)
 
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I am a Windows guy wanting to make a move over to see the other side. I do own my own versions of Windows. If I understand correctly I can not do an upgrade of which is fine with me. I would rather do a new clean install.

So I can buy, Snow Leopard, iWork 09 and iLife 09 as a package deal and install with no problems? Will this completely wipe everything from the previous owner? Currently his name is embedded at boot, will the new install bring the computer back to like new?

Sorry for the dumb questions... Mac is entirely new to me and a different breed from Windows... :)
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook4,1 2.4Ghz C2D 4GB RAM 160GB HD OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard | iPod Touch 16gb 2G
If you have your own windows versions, then it would be best to start over. Buy the mac box set and then do the following:

  1. Go into Boot Camp Assistant in the utilities folder which is located in Applications, and remove the windows partition.
  2. Shut down your computer and insert the snow leopard disk.
  3. Boot up your computer whilst holding the option key.
  4. Select the Snow Leopard disk when presented with options to boot from.
  5. Follow the instructions to install OS X.

Don't forget to backup any data that you want that is on the computer, before doing this.

Doing a clean install will make the computer boot up as if it was new.

You can then go into the boot camp assistant again and partition the disk and install windows.

Hope this helps.
 
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Mike,

If I understand correctly I need to enter Boot Camp Assistant and delete the partition before I do a new fresh install so that the OS X recognizes the entire drive, is this correct? If so when I tried to start BCA I get a message that BCA is a beta version and the software does not work any longer.

Here is what I have…

I have a new disc of Mac OS X Snow Leopard
I have Windows XP Pro SP3
I have what I think is the latest Boot Camp 2.1

I also read that not to worry about Boot Camp as it will get installed once I put the new OS, but I want to make sure I have full access to the entire hard drive. So what should I do? Do I just install the new OS and then open BCA then delete the partition and then do another new install?
 
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Yepz, that's exactly what you should do...:)

make a fresh install, and you should be able to use bootcamp, although I'm not sure why you cannot use it now, did you download this one?

hope this helps
 
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When I bought the Macbook Windows XP was already installed as was Boot Camp. I tried again to start BCA and I get the same message that its a beta version and is nolonger available to run...

Can I re-install BC? if so how do I run it? I download BC to a thumbdrive and have the 215MB EXE file... I am completely new to Mac's....
 

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