Hi Robert,
I haven't tried any virtualization software yet -- I will probably
give Parallels or VMWare a shot at some point, but for now, the dual-
boot solution is best for the things I need to do under Windows.
The problem with NTFS is that, as far as I know, it is inaccessible to
the Mac OS X filesystem, which means I don't have access to the
Windows partition when booted in OS X. Both my boot partition and my
FireWire HD use FAT32, which may be inefficient, but is at least cross-
compatible.
As far as installing the Boot Camp, here's what I found:
The Boot Camp Assistant can partition your internal Mac HD without
erasing any existing data -- but the free space for the Windows
partition must be contiguous, which means you very likely need to use
TechTool Pro or similar to defrag your HD first. This can take an
*extremely* long time -- over 8 hours to defrag my 120 GB laptop drive.
And although the Boot Camp Assistant creates the partition in the
first place, you must then allow the Windows installer to reformat the
Boot Camp partition before installing. And choosing the "Quick Format"
option does not work (as I discovered) -- you need to let the
installer run a full FAT32 or NTFS format of your Boot Camp partition.
And, as I said, I recommend making the Windows partition at least 20
GB, even if you are shooting for a bare-bones, minimal install of
WinXP. Windows nags you constantly if your free space ever drops below
200 MB, which it will do about three minutes after installing XP if
you only opt for the minimum partition size (5 GB).
Cheers,
- Darcy
-----
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brooklyn, NY
On 27 Jan 2008, at 9:08 PM, Robert Patterson wrote:
One other Boot Camp tip from my colleague: Boot Camp creates the
Windows partition as FAT32, which is extremely wasteful of space.
When you install Windows, DO NOT allow the Windows installer to
repartition the drive to NTFS. (Boot Camp cannot tolerate any other
program partitioning the drive.) Instead, elect to reformat the
drive as NTFS (without changing the partition) as part of the
Windows install. If you haven't done this, doing so could save you a
lot of space in the long run, not to mention providing much better
performance and reliability.
FWIW: The first time around, my colleague allowed the Windows
installer to partition his drive and ended up losing all his data.
Have care (and have a backup).
If you elect to use VMware, install it after you have your Boot Camp
up and running. According to my colleague, it will automatically
find your Boot Camp partition when you install it.
_______________________________________________
Finale mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
