Hi... I'm trying to install XP on my new iMac for the first time and I'm confused. Do I need a partition? If I choose to just install on the unpartitioned space, it prompts me to format... if I format this space, I'm not harming my Mac OSX files? I'm treading very carefully here... your help is greatly appreciated.
Just to double check what you've done so far ... is this in the Parallels VM? That is, you started up parallels, set up the virtual machine settings, clicked the green triangle, and you now see the blue XP install screen in a separate window on your Mac? Does the size of the unformatted partition match the size you set in the VM setup? If so, then it's ok to continue. All formatting is done within the virtual hard drive. It is somewhat scary, I double checked everything every step of the way, mainly because I'm used to installing XP on a real hard drive, where formatting does wipe everything on the disk.
Ummm. Are you running Parallels and installing XP therein? Or did you install bootcamp? They're not the same, nor is the process for installing. BIG CAVEAT: Boot Camp and Parallels are beta software. That means that if you're installing it, you should have a current backup of your data. If you do not, then you're asking for a hearbreak. When a new partition is created (boot camp creates a real partition on your hard disk, Parallels creates a virtual partition, that resides in an empty data file), it is unformatted by nature. Therefore, you have no choice but to format it. Use Windows installer to format it. If you're in Parallels, you've not got to worry too much because the "partition" that Windows wants to format is in actuality a simple data file on your Mac OS hard drive.
