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Partitioning the non-start-up drive? #31704 11/04/14 07:17 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK iBozz OP
OP iBozz Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK	On a Mac with one Tiger partition, is it possible to partition that drive when booting from a bootable Snow Leopard USB connected external drive without having to reformat the HD? The Snow Leopard Missing Manual mentions partitioning "on the fly" but doesn't really make it clear whether it will work for the drive from which you did not boot. Last edited by iBozz; 11/04/14 07:19 PM. iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB

Re: Partitioning the non-start-up drive? iBozz #31705 11/04/14 07:37 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas joemikeb Moderator
joemikeb Moderator Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas	It will work, but you would be well advised to make a full backup of the drive before repartitioning. One glitch and you risk losing everything currently on the drive. Partitioning has generally fallen out of favor with many users. Why do you want to partition the drive? Specifically what do you hope to accomplish. If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? — Albert Einstein

Re: Partitioning the non-start-up drive? joemikeb #31706 11/04/14 07:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK iBozz OP
OP iBozz Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK	My friend wants to upgrade the OS yet still run some important yet old applications which can only run on Tiger - the idea behind two partitions is to be able to have both OSs available at boot time on the Mac's partitioned HD. The HD currently is one partition with Tiger which OS cannot partition on the fly. iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB

Re: Partitioning the non-start-up drive? iBozz #31707 11/04/14 09:46 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas joemikeb Moderator
joemikeb Moderator Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas	What computer model with how much memory and storage does your friend have and which OS X version does your friend want to upgrade to? The bigger the jump the more forward and/or backward incompatibilities your friend will encounter. In any case an external drive with the "other" OS might be a preferable alternative. If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? — Albert Einstein

Re: Partitioning the non-start-up drive? joemikeb #31708 11/05/14 05:57 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK iBozz OP
OP iBozz Joined: Aug 2009 NW UK	Hi, joemikeb He replies ... Quote: ... please tell him it's very kind of him to respond to my questions. Hopefully I'll be able to 'grasp the nettle' in the next few days. Model iMac 24 - purchased new April 2007 IGb RAM 250 Gb HD - Used 60Gb - Free 170Gb OS 10.4.11 (Tiger) Also running USB external 150Gb free. (less small space for Snow Leopard) Running on the External is a bootable 10.6? Snow Leopard OS Concept / Objective. To Partition iMac HD to approx 125 / 125 - 2 partitions. Run existing Tiger system on existing HD. on 125Gb Partition existing Tiger HD to 125/125 Gb. On second Partition load and run Snow Leopard. Gradually upgrade and move all publishing applications to run on Snow Leopard on OS 10.6. - After a year or so - remove Tiger. This proposition looks possible as IF I boot up from Snow Leopard the OS 10.6 'Disc Utility' appears to enable me to partition the Tiger (internal HD) disc without loss of data. This is made possible by 'highlighting' the Tiger 10.4 HD and using the + option. This provides a 2nd Partition and it appears as if it will NOT destroy data on the HD. I would just like confirmation that this will be the case. In effect I am partitioning an 'internal (on board HD) from Snow Leopard running on an external Be pleased to hear that you think my 'plan' / 'method' will work...... Obviously I should / must back up every thing first - There is enough space for me to do this on my USB external. Thanks again - will await news / views / advice. Cheers John P I haven't yet managed to convince John to join this highly esteemed and august forum and post himself - but I'm working on it! Thanks for putting up with me as "middleman"! Last edited by iBozz; 11/05/14 05:58 PM. iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017); 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5; 2TB HD; 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM; Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. iPad Pro 10.5" Model MPME2B/A with 512GB capacity; iPhone SE 2020 256GB

Re: Partitioning the non-start-up drive? iBozz #31709 11/05/14 07:26 PM
Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas joemikeb Moderator
joemikeb Moderator Joined: Aug 2009 Likes: 16 Fort Worth, Texas	Originally Posted By: John P Model iMac 24 - purchased new April 2007 IGb RAM 250 Gb HD - Used 60Gb - Free 170Gb OS 10.4.11 (Tiger) Also running USB external 150Gb free. (less small space for Snow Leopard) Running on the External is a bootable 10.6? Snow Leopard OS Comment:1 GB of RAM is not enough memory for satisfactory performance. According to MacTracker that iMac is capable of running 6GB of RAM (officially only 4GB but it will handle 6). A 4GB upgrade would run $55 to $60 and going all the way to 6GB a little more than twice that much from Other World Computing. With that much RAM his iMac is capable of running Yosemite (OS X 10.10) which would be a FREE upgrade. Originally Posted By: John P Concept / Objective. To Partition iMac HD to approx 125 / 125 - 2 partitions. Run existing Tiger system on existing HD. on 125Gb Partition existing Tiger HD to 125/125 Gb. On second Partition load and run Snow Leopard. That is certainly doable. Originally Posted By: John P Gradually upgrade and move all publishing applications to run on Snow Leopard on OS 10.6. - After a year or so - remove Tiger. This proposition looks possible as IF I boot up from Snow Leopard the OS 10.6 'Disc Utility' appears to enable me to partition the Tiger (internal HD) disc without loss of data. This is made possible by 'highlighting' the Tiger 10.4 HD and using the + option. This provides a 2nd Partition and it appears as if it will NOT destroy data on the HD. Theoretically it is possible to repartition without losing data, but it is risky. Originally Posted By: John P I would just like confirmation that this will be the case. In effect I am partitioning an 'internal (on board HD) from Snow Leopard running on an external You can partition the internal drive while booted from an external drive and you would definitely want to use the Snow Leopard disk utility to do it. However that will put Tiger and all your data files on the first partition. Later when you decide to delete Tiger you will find you cannot remove the first partition on a partitioned hard drive. So you want Snowy on that first partition not Tiger. COMMENT: I have to question the wisdom of planning on using an already obsolete and no longer supported OS two years and at least one more OS version from now. Remember Apple is committed to an 18 month OS release cycle. In two years Snow Leopard will be five releases behind the power curve. Originally Posted By: iBozz I haven't yet managed to convince John to join this highly esteemed and august forum and post himself - but I'm working on it! Thanks for putting up with me as "middleman"! iBozz, you have been a good middleman, Tell John P he would be welcome and remind him that signing up to post on FineTunedMac is free and will not expose him to any third party spam as we do not sell or otherwise exploit the membership information. If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? — Albert Einstein

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