Windows partitions + Mac Os

[SunnyBirch]

Hi all,
i have 256gb SSD with Windows installed (C + 1TB HDD backup drive (D.
If i resize create another partition on SSD for El Capitan, is it possible to install El Capitan on that partition (dual boot)? And will i be able to use 1TB D: from Windows and El Capitan?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ndog]

The answer to your question is yes. In fact there are many examples of this on youtube.
If you want to keep your existing windows install without losing anything that is another question altogether.

 

[SunnyBirch]

I would like to keep existing windows installation > im not sure is it faster to start from scratch and install El Capitan first, then Windows; or to somehow install El Capitan along existing Windows installation

 

[Going Bald]

I would like to keep existing windows installation > im not sure is it faster to start from scratch and install El Capitan first, then Windows; or to somehow install El Capitan along existing Windows installation

See the pinned guides in the Multi Boot forum.
There are multiple problems with existing Windows installations and attempting to install Mac OS on the same drive and with sharing a drive.
1. Is Windows installed Legacy on MBR or UEFI on GPT? If Legacy on MBR complete reformat/reinstall is required.
2. If Windows is installed UEFI, is the EFI partition the first partition on the drive and is it larger than 200MB? If it is not the first partition Clover does not like it and if it is smaller than 200MB Mac OS installer will refuse to install even if the partition is GPT+
3. When updating/upgrading either OS on the same drive it sometimes overwrites your boot files and one ot the other OS will no longer boot, so you have to troubleshoot the problem and fix it, which is time consuming.
4. If you want to share a drive there are basically 2 formats for the drive you can use - MSDOS FAT (FAT32) or EXT4. EXT4 has an advantage with large drive sizes, but is inherently prone to corruption. MSDOS FAT, OTOH, works well with both Win and Mac OS, but is limited to 1TB or smaller drive partitions.

The first thing you need to do is determine how your exisitng Windows is installed, so run msinfo32 and find out. Then run your disk management app and take a look at your drive structure.

 

[SunnyBirch]

Unfortunatelly, Windows is installed Legacy on MBR partition table. So, ill have to perform a complete reformat. I will build a new system - fresh format and install of MacOS, then use BootCamp for Windows 8.1. This will be the most painless procedure
Thank you for the information provided!

 

[Going Bald]

Unfortunatelly, Windows is installed Legacy on MBR partition table. So, ill have to perform a complete reformat. I will build a new system - fresh format and install of MacOS, then use BootCamp for Windows 8.1. This will be the most painless procedure
Thank you for the information provided!

Bootcamp does not work on PC-Macs.
Save yourself some - get a separate SSD for Windows and or one for Mac OS Sierra.

 

[SunnyBirch]

Thanks for the reply!