disk partition on iMac

[tape]

My current 500 gig PC is partitioned with 100 G for OS/programs and 400 for all docs/pics/music/video
Just got 1T imac and want to know best partition sizes. I am thinking 1 for the OS/programs, 1 for my documents & 1 for bootcamp. I will be installing parallels-do I need a partition for that as well? I am also wondering about sizes

[Nuclear Krusader]

It all depends on how much personal stuff you have and how many programs you're gonna install on both OSes.

[jdeb]

I would use a 4 partition setup but I am not sure how much space Mac reqiures.

OS partition: probably 10 to 20GB. Boot loader will probably default to the beginning of this partition.

Maintenance partition (enough to hold image of OS, maybe 10gb?)

Program partition depending on number of programs (100 gb ?)

Data Partition: Remainder of space

[tape]

My current 100 gig OS partition is 1/2 full. Since most of those windows programs will be reinstalled as MacOS, I plan to create a 64 gig partition for bootcamp & my Win7pro. I guess my ? is whether I would need more than 100 gig for MacOS plus included Mac apps, Photoshop, Lightroom MSOffice & iTunes + a few odds & ends. Do I need a separate partition for parallels?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Parallels is a virtual machine, and it's installed on the OS partition. Your best bet is to divide that drive by half: one for OS X + Parallels (which includes Windows and all its programs) and one for your data.

http://download.parallels.com/deskto...%20Desktop.pdf

[tape]

jdeb-is the maintenance partition you speak of the same as the recovery partition on a PC? Wouldn't such be created automatically?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by tape jdeb-is the maintenance partition you speak of the same as the recovery partition on a PC? Wouldn't such be created automatically?

yes but I am not a mac guy so I am not sure if it's installed automatically. It is not in Windows, Linux, or eComStation.

[Nuclear Krusader]

If you have Lion, then yes, the OS has set up a hidden partition for the recovery. This is why I'd advise not to mess with the partitioning scheme too much, which you shouldn't have to, if you're using Parallels.

Honestly, the best thing is to just leave the drive as it is. Just install Parallels. Leave the User folder and its contents as default.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader If you have Lion, then yes, the OS has set up a hidden partition for the recovery. This is why I'd advise not to mess with the partitioning scheme too much, which you shouldn't have to, if you're using Parallels. Honestly, the best thing is to just leave the drive as it is. Just install Parallels. Leave the User folder and its contents as default.

Interesting.

[tape]

jdeb & nuclear k: thanks for your input. I don't want to get carried away with partitions. I mis-read a post a while back that suggested the parallels program and the win programs associated with it should be on its own partition. Perhaps I was confusing it with Bootcamp. On my PC, I like to keep OS/programs separate from all documents in that I seem to rebuild the system every 3-4 months and by doing so from a recently saved disk image of that partition makes it so much faster and easier. My documents are backed up much more often on portable drives. Thinking that is minimally what I should do on new iMac. Thoughts?

[jdeb]

I would follow Nukes advise as he is the Mac Man. I did not realize that Lion automatically created a restore partition which I find a nice feature. I Lay out 50% of my builds with the 4 partition setup I described but I do not do any Mac builds, if there is even such a thing. I keep it simpler for the older folks or technically challenged.

[Nuclear Krusader]

The chief purpose of keeping the user's data in a different location than the OS is to protect the data; but this is best done by keeping the OS and the personal data on separate drives, not partitions. The iMac doesn't lend itself for this kind of file organisation, as you cannot add another hard drive, and it's not wise to mess around with the OS drive's partitioning. For the optimal kind of arrangement you'd need a Mac that has more than one drive bay, id est the Mac Pro.

Fortunately, OS X is not as messy as Windows and it does keep all the user's files in… the User folder! Such folder—which contains not only your files, but also all your customisations (since OS X has no registry, thank God)—can be easily backed up, copied or moved.