reclaiming my bootcamp partition

So a few months ago i had windows installed on bootcamp, with a partition of 20 GB. I tried getting rid of the partition via disk utility, which i then learned makes it impossible to actually reclaim the partition space since you can only do that via bootcamp assistant. I found out that that the only way to reclaim the space is to reinstall snow leopard, but i've since lost the installation disc.

If I install Lion via mac store, is there some way I can reclaim the disk space?

If I install Lion via mac store, is there some way I can reclaim the disk space?

Click to expand...

Yes, if you remove the BC partition, make the drive into one partition, erase it completely, and install Lion clean. Best bet is to replace the missing Snow Leopard DVD.

joegamer95 said:

So a few months ago i had windows installed on bootcamp, with a partition of 20 GB. I tried getting rid of the partition via disk utility, which i then learned makes it impossible to actually reclaim the partition space since you can only do that via bootcamp assistant. I found out that that the only way to reclaim the space is to reinstall snow leopard, but i've since lost the installation disc.

If I install Lion via mac store, is there some way I can reclaim the disk space?

Click to expand...

You don't have to re-install but you do need to be able to boot from the SL disc to access Disk Utility that way.

Is there a disc you could borrow just to run Disk Utility from?

No there isn't unfortunately, I'm new to area where I'm living right now

I'm upgrading to Lion soon, is there any way I can just restore + reinstall that?

You can (as suggested by chscag) do a clean install by making a bootable Lion disc.

Ok, yes. Last post was September, but I do have a follow-up question in regards to this exact question.

I am getting ready to replace the last piece of software that I required Win7 Bootcamp for. Once that happens, I want to reclaim my 100GB Bootcamp partition. If what I read above is correct, I would need to boot with my SL (Lion was not out when I bought my MBP) and run the disk utility. My question is this, since I have upgraded to Lion, I have the Recovery Partition that is in my Boot List when I hold down Opt. Will that work the same way as using the SL boot disk?

It should work the same way. But be careful.... I'm not certain it will do the job non-destructively. In other words, without harming any data on the OS X partition. But you're savvy enough to know that making a backup before attempting any kind of hard drive maneuvering is a must. ;D

Reclaiming partition space.

chscag said:

Yes, if you remove the BC partition, make the drive into one partition, erase it completely, and install Lion clean. Best bet is to replace the missing Snow Leopard DVD.

Click to expand...

After erasing the install can be done from an external backup I would think?

Braxoyd said:

After erasing the install can be done from an external backup I would think?

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Yes, certainly. That's why we always recommend making a backup first before doing anything that could impact the data. I find Time Machine is the best way to do a full backup and have it on hand in case you need to restore. You could also use one of the two popular cloning programs: Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.

If you wish to remove the Bootcamp partition, simply go into utilities > Bootcamp Assistant > Continue > Remove Bootcamp and that is all that is necessary. Then Repair Permissions.

harryb2448 said:

If you wish to remove the Bootcamp partition, simply go into utilities > Bootcamp Assistant > Continue > Remove Bootcamp and that is all that is necessary. Then Repair Permissions.

Click to expand...

Ok, so this will reclaim the space and allow me to have the whole hard drive back for OSX? Since I finally got rid of the last piece of software tying me to Windows 7, I want to pull it off the machine.

I do not, however, want to go back and redo my whole system from scratch, even with Time Machine being up to date.

Yes that will remove the Bootcamp partition and show a single drive. it will not format the drive.

Did this last night, I am now back to having 500GB Macintosh HD rather than 400/100 split. Thanks!

Made me nervous, really didn't want to reinstall everything.

My pleasure Deckyon. Not that difficult was it?

No, but considering re-partitioning to a single usually requires a full reimage, you see my hesitation. All is good, tho. All is good.

Well look at it this way. You did not actually re-partition but simply freed up some space Bootcamp was using.