Best approach for: Dual boot Mac OS and Win 10 And shared files volume
I've got a somewhat older macbook pro (mid 2014) and it starts lagging. And since I'm working professionally on it I'm thinking of buying a new macbook or Win laptop. But since I never had a clean install I first want to try a few things.
Clean up internals, new cooling paste and clean OS install. But since I'm also thinking of switching from Mac to Windows I also want a dual boot of Win10. So I can try working with Windows for a month. Since I will be switching between operating systems I want to have an additional volume for all my work files.
But I'm not sure how to partition the 1tb ssd.
- What partitions would I need and what type
- Would there be performance issues working on a volume type that one of both don't prefer?
I'm thinking of, first make 3 volumes, install Mac OS, then on create a boot camp with Boot Camp Assistant.
Any help would be welcome
Steps to do a clean install of macOS and Windows
To do a clean install of the current versions of macOS and Windows, preform the following steps.
- Boot to a macOS installation media. For example, this could be a Mojave recover volume, internet recovery or a installation flash drive.
- Use the Disk Utility to erase the drive and create a single APFS volume.
- Install Mojave to this volume.
- Use the Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10. Include space for the
MS-DOS (FAT)
orExFAT
volume to be shared.
Steps to create a shared volume
This is to be done after installing macOS and Windows.
To create a MS-DOS (FAT)
or ExFAT
volume to be shared, preform the following steps.
-
Under Windows 10, open Disk Management. Highlight the BOOTCAMP volume and select
Shrink Volume…
, as shown below. -
Select the desired size, as shown below. Next, select the
Shrink
button, -
Highlight the unallocated space and select
New Simple Volume…
, as shown below. -
When the image shown below appears, select the
Next
button. -
When a image similar to the image shown below appears, select the
Next
button. -
In desired select a different drive letter, then select the
Next
button. -
Select
FAT32
and enter a volume label, as shown below. When finished select theNext
button. -
When a image similar to the image shown below appears, select the
Finish
button. -
The result is shown below.
-
If you wanted ExFAT format, then restart back to macOS. Use the Disk Utility to erase the volume. Enter a name and ExFAT format, as shown below. When finished, select the
Erase
button.
Note about the Golden Rule
There is a Golden Rule which can be loosely stated as:
Never change the partitioning on a Mac from Windows.
In this case, the Golden Rule does not apply for the following reasons.
- There no
Mac OS Extended
volumes on the drive. - Windows is installed to UEFI boot.