Can't reclaim disk space after deleting Windows Partition

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For some reason, after using the Boot Camp utility to delete my Windows partition, the space hasn't been reclaimed by OS X. I've done this before in previous versions of OS X and never had an issue.

I've already used the Disk Utility and verified and repaired the disk. Everything checks out. However, it says that my disk capacity is 379GB (500GB drive). I originally made my Windows partition for 120GB, or something like that.

Any help would be appreciated in solving this problem. I really don't want to backup, format, and reinstall to fix this problem.

Thanks in advance! :)
 

chscag

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Did you check again after re-booting? It's unusual for the Boot Camp assistant not to restore the entire drive capacity. I've seen the same thing happen when the Boot Camp assistant was not used but not when it was used.

Which version of OS X are you running? It may be possible to restore the partition to OS X without having to reinstall. Also, it would be great if you could include a screen shot from Disk Utility.
 
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Did you check again after re-booting? It's unusual for the Boot Camp assistant not to restore the entire drive capacity. I've seen the same thing happen when the Boot Camp assistant was not used but not when it was used.

Which version of OS X are you running? It may be possible to restore the partition to OS X without having to reinstall. Also, it would be great if you could include a screen shot from Disk Utility.

Thanks for chiming in...Appreciate it!

I'm currently on 10.9.2

I attached a screen shot.... I think. :Blushing:

DiskUtility.png
 

bobtomay

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Screenshot while highlighting the drive (instead of Macintosh HD) and the partition tab.
 
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Could I just drag the partition to full capacity and apply it? Seems like the right move, but I don't want to mess up anything.
 

chscag

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Could I just drag the partition to full capacity and apply it? Seems like the right move, but I don't want to mess up anything.

I don't think that will work because your Recovery partition is in the way. The empty partition (formerly Windows) is the last partition on the disk and Disk Utility won't allow you to drag past the Recovery partititon. Give it a try anyway to see what happens. Make sure you have a backup.

Other Option: Make a Time Machine backup of your Macintosh HD (OS X), boot to the Recovery partition, erase the disk, reinstall Mavericks, restore from Time Machine.

Let us know what happens.
 
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Well, it looks as though it worked.

I extended the sliding window out and clicked apply. It said that it would not erase any partitions but make the Macintosh HD partition bigger.

I now have the full capacity back after it finished. I don't know why it didn't reclaim the storage when going through Boot Camp...it's always worked before. But I'm happy none-the-less.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction everyone. :Cool:

DiskUtility2.png
 

chscag

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Yes, it looked like it worked at the expense of your Recovery partition. I didn't think it would allow dragging the OS X partition past Recovery. Try this as a test:

Reboot your machine and hold down the Command + R keys. Let's see if maybe it preserved the Recovery partition or moved it. Let us know.
 
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Yes, it looked like it worked at the expense of your Recovery partition. I didn't think it would allow dragging the OS X partition past Recovery. Try this as a test:

Reboot your machine and hold down the Command + R keys. Let's see if maybe it preserved the Recovery partition or moved it. Let us know.

That was the first thing I did (before posting earlier) and my recovery partition was still there and working fine.

It did tell me before I started that process that no partitions would be erased. That's the only reason I had the confidence to apply and continue. =)
 
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It seems to me that I manually did what the Boot Camp Utility should have done on it's own when deleting the Windows Partition.
 

chscag

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OK, great. I'm impressed that Disk Utility was smart enough not to erase the Recovery partition and allow consolidation of the partitions. Yes, it does seem as though you did what the Boot Camp Assistant was supposed to do. ;)
 

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