HELP: Want to install Snow Leopard as dualboot

[ShadowofReason]

Hello.
I have an existing Windows 8 installation but i do not wish to modify it.
I am willing to split my main partition so the OS X installation would have 200GB of HDD but the question is.. how do i install SL ( Snow Leopard ) as dual boot in such a way so i wouldn't lose any of my data or access to Windows 8 ? .

All help is appriciated.
Carl.

 

[RehabMan]

Hello.
I have an existing Windows 8 installation but i do not wish to modify it.
I am willing to split my main partition so the OS X installation would have 200GB of HDD but the question is.. how do i install SL ( Snow Leopard ) as dual boot in such a way so i wouldn't lose any of my data or access to Windows 8 ? .

All help is appriciated.
Carl.

If your Win8 install is UEFI (and thus on a GPT partitioned drive), you might be able to install OS X there, but you would not be able to boot Win8 via Chimera/Chameleon. Chimera can only boot Windows installed in legacy mode. You would have to use the BIOS hotkey to select the Windows Boot Manager.

If your Win8 is installed in legacy mode (and thus on MBR partitioned drive), you can install OS X to that drive only by patching the OS X installer, which is not recommended. The OS X installer will only install to a GPT partitioned drive.

The other way would be to install OS X to a separate HDD (partitioned as GPT).

 

[Adrian B]

Cannot really tell you much if we do not know what your hardware is. Please take two minutes to fill out your profile - move your cursor over your name towards the top right of the screen, select settings.

Is this a desktop system or is it a laptop?

Sandy Bridge is the last hardware that will run properly on Snow Leopard. If your hardware is newer then you should use Mountain Lion.


Adrian B

 

[RehabMan]

Please note also, this forum is really only dedicated to the configuration of partititons/bootloader/etc for multi-boot systems. Actually installing the various systems whether it is OS X/Windows/Linux/whatever is a separate issue unrelated to "Multi Booting."

When first installing OS X it is best to install only OS X and save the installation of other systems and configuration of multi-boot a task for after you determine how to get OS X installed reliably.

 

[ShadowofReason]

If your Win8 install is UEFI (and thus on a GPT partitioned drive), you might be able to install OS X there, but you would not be able to boot Win8 via Chimera/Chameleon. Chimera can only boot Windows installed in legacy mode. You would have to use the BIOS hotkey to select the Windows Boot Manager.

If your Win8 is installed in legacy mode (and thus on MBR partitioned drive), you can install OS X to that drive only by patching the OS X installer, which is not recommended. The OS X installer will only install to a GPT partitioned drive.

The other way would be to install OS X to a separate HDD (partitioned as GPT).

But the MBR is on the "System Reserved" partition ? .. which is around 200mb and i guess for that there might be universal bootloaders ?
Correct me if i'm wrong!

 

[ShadowofReason]

Please note also, this forum is really only dedicated to the configuration of partititons/bootloader/etc for multi-boot systems. Actually installing the various systems whether it is OS X/Windows/Linux/whatever is a separate issue unrelated to "Multi Booting."

When first installing OS X it is best to install only OS X and save the installation of other systems and configuration of multi-boot a task for after you determine how to get OS X installed reliably.

Yes! Thank you for pointing that out!
I'm new here.
Also i updated my profile as needed

 

[RehabMan]

But the MBR is on the "System Reserved" partition ? .. which is around 200mb and i guess for that there might be universal bootloaders ?
Correct me if i'm wrong!

"System Reserved" has nothing to do with MBR. MBR can refer to two different things: 1) master boot record (the first 512 bytes on a disk), and 2) a type of partitioning (stored in part of the first 512 bytes of a disk).

"System Reserved" is the partition used for the Windows boot files (in \BOOTMGR and \BOOT\*) in a two partition legacy Windows install.

 

[Going Bald]

Hello.
I have an existing Windows 8 installation but i do not wish to modify it.
I am willing to split my main partition so the OS X installation would have 200GB of HDD but the question is.. how do i install SL ( Snow Leopard ) as dual boot in such a way so i wouldn't lose any of my data or access to Windows 8 ? .

All help is appriciated.
Carl.

Your best bet is a separate SSD/HDD. There is a way to do what you want, but it still requires another SDD/HDD to do it and there are several disadvantages to doing it this way. This method was mainly for laptops where you could not add a second drive rather than for desktop systems. As always, backup - BACKUP - BACKUP before trying this. I would suggest you create a Windows disc image of the entire drive and save it to an external drive so you can restore using the tools on the installation DVD. There are no guarantees it will work for you.

External drive method to get OS X on MBR drive with Win8.
1. Use Win8 disk management tools to create a partition for OS X.
2. Use OS X disk utility to format the Win8 drive partition Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
3. Use OS X disk utility to format external drive in 2 partitions, GUID Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
4. Install OS X to first partition. Download your favorite cloning software (CCC or SuperDuper will work).
5. Create a backup on the second partition.
6. Restore the backup to the Win8 drive partition.

Cons to doing it this way:
Apple update won't work. You will have to download individual and combo updates and install manually.
It is not as stable as installing on GUID.
Troublesooting boot problems for either OS is much harder.
If one OS needs to be re-installed, chances are you will have to re-install both.