Windows partition

Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hey guys, first post here.
I got a macbook pro retina 13 running OS X El Capitan 10.11.03
I partitioned my SSD to install windows on it, it worked like a charm for a while, i had some problems with windows, and ended up erasing the partition, now i got my SSD partitioned and i cant seem to restore it, neither with boot camp nor with disk utility. Using disk utility when i try to repartition it says "operation failed". And when I try to use boot camp it says "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition." "The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."
I tried running into recovery mode, but still got the same error message from disk utility.
Any help??
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,595
Reaction score
1,071
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
Is Disk Utility reporting any errors when you check the drive? If so, try and repair the drive first. Fixing those errors may solve the problem. You'll need to boot from the recovery partition to do that.

When you initially tried to delete the windows partition which program did you use first Disk Utility or the BootCamp Assistant? If you used Disk Utility first that may be the problem.Usually it is possible to run the BootCamp Assistant and let it recreate the Windows partition. After that you can re-run the BootCamp Assistant and delete the Windows partition the correct way.

If you cannot get the Windows partition using BootCamp Assistant then your best option is probably to clone your OS X partition, boot from the clone, then erase the OS X partition on the main drive. Stay booted from the clone and then you should be able to clone from the external drive you are booted from back to the original internal boot drive.

There are two caveats to this operation:
1. Make sure you have backs
2. Use Carbon Copy Cloner for the clone. It will clone the entire OS X partition including the recovery partition.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
We do see a lot of this problem. Best suggestion print and read the BootCamp Assistant guidelines. Bit late afterwards.
 
OP
C
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I used disk utility First aid, and it reported no errors. At first I used boot camp and it gave me an error, so I stupidly decided to erase the partition by myself using disk utility. The only option is to clone it, how do I d that ??
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top