Dual boot windows 7 and mac os x

[wallop]

Hello, I am a new user of this forum and I have grown fond of mac os x. Can someone guide me into dual booting this?
I have windows 7 installed now on a SSD and my other data on a 2TB hdd. I would like to boot mac os x from that 2TB hdd and also keep windows 7. ( I also want to keep my data ).

My specs are:

i7 3770k @ 4.2 mhz
GTX 670 2gb
16 gb ram @ 1866 mhz
Asrock extreme 4 z77 motherboard

Thanks.

 

[RehabMan]

Hello, I am a new user of this forum and I have grown fond of mac os x. Can someone guide me into dual booting this?
I have windows 7 installed now on a SSD and my other data on a 2TB hdd. I would like to boot mac os x from that 2TB hdd and also keep windows 7. ( I also want to keep my data ).

My specs are:

i7 3770k @ 4.2 mhz
GTX 670 2gb
16 gb ram @ 1866 mhz
Asrock extreme 4 z77 motherboard

Thanks.

It would be best if you backup the data you have on your 2TB HDD, then repartition that drive...

Because:
- need a GPT partitioned drive to install OS X using the guides on this site
(there are ways around this, but doing so involves using advanced tools (Linux gdisk), and with advanced tools the chance of user error is great, so you'll need a backup anyway)
- will get best performance if your OS X partition is first on the 2TB drive
(although you could shrink/move partitions around to accomplish this, again it is dangerous and error prone, so easier/safer to repartition and restore from backup)

 

[wallop]

Wouldn't it be easier to shrink my 2TB hdd and make a 250 gb partition where I could install mac os x? dual boot windows 7 from the ssd and mac from the newly created partition. Any simple way to do this? and will I be able to get sound from my dedicated sound card? ( asus xonar d1 ) ?

I have too many gigs to back up, and nowhere to back it.

 

[RehabMan]

Wouldn't it be easier to shrink my 2TB hdd and make a 250 gb partition where I could install mac os x? dual boot windows 7 from the ssd and mac from the newly created partition. Any simple way to do this? and will I be able to get sound from my dedicated sound card? ( asus xonar d1 ) ?

You could do that, but performance would suffer. HDDs have slowest access for partitions that are "at the end."

And there is no simple way. In that scenario, you must either patch the OS X installer (google it) to allow installation to MBR or convert the drive to GPT using Linux gdisk. One bad move and your data is gone. In addition, your SSD is still the boot drive, so you're going to have to install Chimera (manually) to it so you can boot either Windows or OS X.

And you should use google to find out about your xonar (my guess is no, unless there are OS X drivers for it).

I have too many gigs to back up, and nowhere to back it.

You're just asking for disaster. Hard drives can/will fail at any moment and without warning. And then there is user error... If you care about your data at all, you should have a backup.

Another possibility is purchasing/using another HDD or SSD and putting OS X on the new drive.

 

[wallop]

I understand. thanks