Looking for Advice for Reformatting and Partitioning

Hello! New to the Forums.

I would like to partition my harddrive using Bootcamp to also run Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. I am running OS X Lion. I tried to partition a short while ago but I received an error message saying that:

The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved.

Click to expand...

It says to back up the disk and reformat it as a single Mac OS Extended Journaled Volume and restore the information to use Boot Camp Assistant Again. This all makes sense to me because the drive is fragmented and it needs continuous space to partition (correct?).
I have a few questions, though:

1. To reinstall Lion, am I correct in that I hold command+r during start up? I just read this on the support page for Lion. (I'm asking because I have no physical disc to boot from).
2. I'm using an External Hard Drive with Time Machine to store my data. If I restore my data using Time Machine will this "muddy" down my system in any way and make it slower? Would it be better to be more selective in which data I would like to reintroduce to the newly reformatted drive?

Thanks for the help!

albenesi said:

Hello! New to the Forums.

I would like to partition my harddrive using Bootcamp to also run Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. I am running OS X Lion. I tried to partition a short while ago but I received an error message saying that:

It says to back up the disk and reformat it as a single Mac OS Extended Journaled Volume and restore the information to use Boot Camp Assistant Again. This all makes sense to me because the drive is fragmented and it needs continuous space to partition (correct?).

Click to expand...

Yes, that's likely the case. You can either defragment, using a tool like iDefrag (only if you have a normal HDD, not an SSD), or you can make a backup and restore (probably the easier approach).

I have a few questions, though:

1. To reinstall Lion, am I correct in that I hold command+r during start up? I just read this on the support page for Lion. (I'm asking because I have no physical disc to boot from).
2. I'm using an External Hard Drive with Time Machine to store my data. If I restore my data using Time Machine will this "muddy" down my system in any way and make it slower? Would it be better to be more selective in which data I would like to reintroduce to the newly reformatted drive?

Thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

On question 1, you should probably create a Lion install disc or flash drive:

How to make a bootable Lion install disc or drive | Macworld

On question 2, no. A sweeping restore will write to the drive in a contiguous manner and it should be fine.

Important Note: To keep fragmentation in check, I highly recommend maintaining at least 20% free space at all times on the OS X system partition.

You may also consider using a virtualization tool to install Windows. This would be the most practical approach, assuming you don't intend to use Windows to play high-end games.

Thanks for the reply! That was exactly what I needed.

Question though: Why would a virtualization tool be the most practical approach, and which tool would you recommend?

Question though: Why would a virtualization tool be the most practical approach, and which tool would you recommend?

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No partitioning required, no rebooting to get into Windows. I recommend VMWare Fusion which is what I use, however, there is also Parallels, and VirtualBox. Fusion and Parallels offer a free trial so you can try before you buy. VirtualBox is free.

albenesi said:

Thanks for the reply! That was exactly what I needed.

Question though: Why would a virtualization tool be the most practical approach, and which tool would you recommend?

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Well, because you don't need to modify the host OS or the partitions at all, as a virtual machine will use a single file for its virtual HD. You can add and delete virtual machines at will. So, whether you want to run Windows, Linux or just build yourself a sandbox of some sort, you can do those things without any worry about the host OS.

Additionally, you don't need to semi-permanently commit a sizable chunk of your HDD. And of course, you can resize the virtual disk to suit your needs, without any partitioning.

Modern virtualization runs at near-native speeds, so the only real downside is if you need to run software that requires heavy 3D acceleration (like modern games).

Personally, I use VMWare Fusion as I'm familiar and comfortable with VMWare's software in my working life. But Parallels Desktop is a great alternative. And if you don't want to spend any money, VirtualBox is free - albeit a bit less user-friendly.