Partitioning - New to mac's - Please Help

[MDodd02]

Howdy - I just picked up an iMac G4 for free from my mom's work. It has a 40 gb HD and a CD rom/burner. I got the computer for the sole purpose of storing all my music on iTunes, and will be getting an iPod shortly. I have a problem/question - The HD came partitioned into three drives, each is about 13 gb (+/-). Last night I started copying my music onto one of the drives, which now only has about 5 gb of space left. How do I delete the partitions so that I have only 1 drive with 40gb of space, instead of three? I don't want to run out of room on the HD I am using for iTunes right now. Do I even need to worry about deleting the partitions, will the iTunes folder just carry over to the other partitions? Also, if I have to delete the partitions and create one HD, will all my music that has already been uploaded be deleted? Thanks!!

Sorry, my verbage may not be correct, but hopefully you can get the gist of what I am trying to say. Thanks for the help?

 

[robbieduncan]

The only way to alter the partitions is to wipe the disk totally and repartition it with a single partition.

Then you will need to reinstall the OS, any additional apps and retreive your data from backup.

 

[wiseguy27]

Howdy - I just picked up an iMac G4 for free from my mom's work. It has a 40 gb HD and a CD rom/burner. I got the computer for the sole purpose of storing all my music on iTunes, and will be getting an iPod shortly. I have a problem/question - The HD came partitioned into three drives, each is about 13 gb (+/-). Last night I started copying my music onto one of the drives, which now only has about 5 gb of space left. How do I delete the partitions so that I have only 1 drive with 40gb of space, instead of three?

You would be able to combine partitions 2 and 3 (the ones other than the main boot partition) if you use "Disk Utility" (http://guides.macrumors.com/Disk_Utility) to delete the partitions first and then combine them. You cannot change partition schemes without losing data (at least not without any commercial tools) - so making it a single partition system would involve backing up all your data, reinitializing the drive into one partition and reinstalling the OS and all applications. Even if you decide to combine only partitions 2 and 3, backup all required data on those and then proceed with using Disk Utility.

I don't want to run out of room on the HD I am using for iTunes right now. Do I even need to worry about deleting the partitions, will the iTunes folder just carry over to the other partitions?

No, nothing would "carry over" to other partitions automatically - in this case you'd have to manually store the files in different partitions.

Also, if I have to delete the partitions and create one HD, will all my music that has already been uploaded be deleted? Thanks!!

Yes (as mentioned above). If you buy some commercial tools that can repartition without the loss of data, that could help.

 

[MDodd02]

if you use "Disk Utility" (http://guides.macrumors.com/Disk_Utility)

I clicked on that link but could not find any sort of tutorial for combining the partitions...

 

[MDodd02]

If I were to get an external HD is it possible to install iTunes directly on the HD, and not have to worry about any partitioning or any of that??

I dont really need an external as I wont use the space, but for the future it would be good to know.

Also, will iTunes reckognize music from different places, or does it all have to be in one folder?

Thanks, I know the questions are very elementary.

 

[wiseguy27]

if you use "Disk Utility" (http://guides.macrumors.com/Disk_Utility)

I clicked on that link but could not find any sort of tutorial for combining the partitions...

Well, that wasn't meant to be a tutorial on partitioning. It was just an introduction to it, since I didn't know your level of knowledge in using a Mac. Run Disk Utility and check the help - you should be able to figure it out (you will be able to see the options related to partitioning in the main window). Just remember that you'd lose data if you delete/create a partition.

[When I have some more time I'll expand that article to include specific steps for the different things Disk Utility can be used for - but don't wait for that - it's pretty easy to use]

 

[MDodd02]

Well, that wasn't meant to be a tutorial on partitioning. It was just an introduction to it, since I didn't know your level of knowledge in using a Mac.

Haha, I have no knowledge, but I am pretty good with PCs, so I am sure I can figure it out. Thanks!!

 

[wiseguy27]

If I were to get an external HD is it possible to install iTunes directly on the HD, and not have to worry about any partitioning or any of that??

You don't have to "install" iTunes on the external HDD (unless you really want it that way). The iTunes application is, by default, installed on your main drive - you can store your music in any folder (across different disks too).

Also, will iTunes reckognize music from different places, or does it all have to be in one folder?

Yes, you can add music from different locations. Just make sure that the option (in iTunes menu, Preferences sub menu) to "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to Library" is disabled. If you enable this option, then it'd copy any music files you add to it's own (single) internal directory location. Otherwise it would just make a note of where the added music files exist (even across drives). If you need more information, check iTunes help and the section related to iTunes preferences.

 

[MDodd02]

Ok, so I went home and tried the disk utility function and could not figure out how to combine the three hard drives.

What I really want to do is completely start over (combine the three hard drives and erase all data). Is there a tutuorial somewhere as to how I should do this? I got a copy of Tiger and was thinking I would just install that to erase everything, but I think I need to combine the three HD's first, am I right?

 

[robbieduncan]

Boot off the Tiger install DVD. Before installing you should be able to start Disk Utility from the menus and wipe the drive and setup a single partition then instal Tiger. This will destroy ALL data on all partitions: back up first.

 

[MDodd02]

Boot off the Tiger install DVD. Before installing you should be able to start Disk Utility from the menus and wipe the drive and setup a single partition then instal Tiger. This will destroy ALL data on all partitions: back up first.

I want to destroy all data on all partitions, and create a single HD space. Will I start Disk Utility off the DVD? Will there be a prompt asking me to do this, or is there a command I need to use? I am kind of weary of Disk Utility as I tried to sort through it, but I couldn't find anywhere how to remove the existing partitions and set up a single HD (which is most important).

 

[robbieduncan]

I want to destroy all data on all partitions, and create a single HD space. Will I start Disk Utility off the DVD? Will there be a prompt asking me to do this, or is there a command I need to use? I am kind of weary of Disk Utility as I tried to sort through it, but I couldn't find anywhere how to remove the existing partitions and set up a single HD (which is most important).

As I said you can start it from the menus once booted into the installer DVD. There is not a prompt. As I said you need to do it before starting the install process.

To spell it out more clearly: place the DVD in your drive and restart. Hold down C to boot of the DVD. Once booted but before clicking on anything look through the menus for Disk Utility. Start it and do the partitioning.

 

[MDodd02]

Ok, I will try that. Last time I tried to remove the partitions through Disk Utility and couldn't figure it out, but I will try again. Hopefully it will be more obvious booting from the DVD.