Delete Mac OSX after Boot Camp (I searched...)

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Hello, all new to the forum, and new to Macs.

I pulled a 13" Late-2011 MBP out of a dumpster (don't judge me) that ended up having a corrupt operating system. Nuked the hard drive and installed the newest (at the time) Mac operating system. All was well. Came with the 2nd gen Core I7 and a 750 gig HDD and had 4 gigs of ram. I later upgraded the ram to 8 gigs. I discovered that you could install windows on a mac using boot camp, and I thought it would be cool to be able to use both operating systems since I am a very experienced windows user, so I installed Windows 8.1 (since there is no driver available for the sound card on my MBP in Windows 10) and have found that I have not used the Mac operating system since I installed it.

Now, before you all pull your flamethrowers out (as I have seen in the many threads I searched before posting), let me explain why I want to now remove the Mac operating system. I am a master automotive diagnostic technician and I want to use it for automotive module programming and the module programmers are not compatible with the Mac operating systems. For those of you who don't know, module programming is a very TIME CONSUMING endeavor. The faster the machine you are using for programming, the faster the whole process is. After seeing how superior the Mac hardware is, I've decided I want to use this Mac machine for programming, as I do not want to buy a new laptop since I got this one for free, is small, reliable, and is more than enough to do what I need it to do. One thing that I want to do is install a SSD to make the programming process faster, and the drive that I picked up is an OEM Apple (Toshiba) drive and is only 256 gigs. This leaves little space for a dual boot system. Also, installing all the programming software for each manufacturer will take up quite a bit of room as well. I need every bit of space I can get to be able to use it effectively as a programmer.

So now that you know WHY I want to do this, hopefully we can avoid all the flaming and preaching associated with this topic.

Here's what I've tried so far:
1. Making a copy of my Windows partition directly onto the SSD.
Result: Boot up into Windows error screen that says there is a problem with my operating system and that I need to use recovery media to repair it.
2. Making a copy of the Windows partition and the two small Apple partitions (500 MB each) directly onto the SSD.
Result: Boots into Windows but gives me a black screen that says "no operating system."

What I don't want to do:
I do not want to reinstall Windows using the UEFI method if I don't have to, but I will if it ends up being my only option. (I also fear that I will have to buy another activation key)

What I was thinking of doing next:
Making a copy of the entire hard drive onto another hard drive as a back up, and attempting to delete the Apple partitions in Windows Disk Manager.

Finally, the question:
Is there a way I can remove the Apple partitions after boot camp without having to reinstall windows using the UEFI method?

Thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy post!

-Shawn a.k.a. "The Diag Guy"
 
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What I would do, is re-do the entire drive, and make the Mac OS X/OS X/macOS partition 50GB (the size is really up to you), and make the rest into the Windows partition. This way, you will have a way to get something fixed, if it's ever needed. Just my opinion.

Also, just as an FYI, the 2011 MBP models were either early or late, no mid year model.
 
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Thanks! I fixed the original post. I'm assuming I can resize the partitions in boot camp correct?
 
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It's $24.95 now... Hmmm.... Debating just nuking the drive and going for Windows 8.1. I can get another gray market Windows key for that much.

So I'm pretty much just stuck with a few options:
1. UEFI install
2. Re-do my drive and make the Mac partition smaller
3. Buy CampTune

Question: Can I use boot camp to remove the windows partition and then reinstall the windows partition in the size I want?

Ninja Edit: Answered my own question. Yes I can. Just need to back up all the files that matter to me before I do it.

I think what I'll do is uninstall Windows and reinstall it with all the space given to the Windows OS, then copy the HDD onto the SSD. The copying program will trim the Windows partition to make it fit on the SSD.
 
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Again no. If you try to use Disk Utility or Boot camp you may well bo looking at an erase and install of OS X also. Yo can opt to save your money and try your way I guess.
 
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So wait... if I use the Boot Camp Assistant to remove the Windows partition, then use the Boot Camp Assistant again to reinstall the Windows partition it won't let me? or... it will only let me reinstall it at the same size I installed it at before? or... it'll brick my drive? Kinda lost by what would cause me to screw up my OS X install...?
 

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@TheDiagGuy Option 2 should work. IIRC I've done that before. Might be best to let other members of the brain trust chime in though.
 

Rod


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Yes I like option 2 as well. I have done this once.
I found the least complicated way was to download the installer for the OSX I was running from the Purchases section of the App Store, create a USB OSX Bootlable installer on a thumb drive, use it to boot then completely erase the Macintosh HD, partition and format the drive then install OSX on the smaller partition then go from there with Boot Camp.
I know that does sound complicated but it's a step by step process with the least number of possible complications. Lets hope the old HD handles all the changes.
 
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You will have to make the whole drive formatted as Mac, then use Boot Camp and make that partition as big as you want.
 

Rod


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Yes Bob youre right I didnt put that very well. Initially you just create one partition formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Boot Camp divides it up later.
 

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You will have to make the whole drive formatted as Mac, then use Boot Camp and make that partition as big as you want.

Doesn't work that way when the drive is formatted to APFS though. Remember, with APFS formatting you no longer have partitions per se, instead you have a container which houses your Macintosh HD. Getting Boot Camp to work with APFS formatting is a lot more involved especially if you have to remove Windows and then try to get the space back.
 

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@Charlie Doesn't Disk Utility present APFS users the option of creating either a partition or a container. I've seen that option in Catalina's beta but I think it's in Mojave as well. I haven't checked on the implications for Bootcamp though. I haven't been able to get Bootcamp working at all in some time.
 

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Based on the first post where TheDiagGuy refers to, "a 13" Late-2011 MBP out of a dumpster (don't judge me) that ended up having a corrupt operating system. Nuked the hard drive and installed the newest (at the time) Mac operating system". I assumed rightly or wrongly he would not be running Mojave. I could have been wrong there. If so it changes a few things.
 
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Based on the first post where TheDiagGuy refers to, "a 13" Late-2011 MBP out of a dumpster (don't judge me) that ended up having a corrupt operating system. Nuked the hard drive and installed the newest (at the time) Mac operating system". I assumed rightly or wrongly he would not be running Mojave. I could have been wrong there. If so it changes a few things.
Rod, that's what I was thinking also. Plus the fact that it has a 750GB HDD and not an SSD.
 
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Okay, to close this bad boy out, I ended up deleting the windows partition using boot camp utility and redoing boot camp to reinstall Windows 8.1. I decided to err on the side of caution and keep the Mac OS, but made it as small as it would let me. I then updated the Windows OS and took the drive out of my MBP and used another PC with Macrium Reflect to copy the entire drive onto the SSD. As I expected it resized the Windows partition to make it all fit. Ended up with 170 Gig of free space after all was said and done. Thanks for your help and input guys! You've been awesome.

Side note: I took it a step further and attempted to install Windows 10 after installing 8.1 using a USB to "upgrade". Crash on boot every time when boot camp would load. Ended up wiping the partition and doing what I said above. This apparently is a new problem with Windows 10 1903, and I know there is a work around for this involving getting boot camp 6 drivers which are not available outside of the boot camp utility, but I don't want to do all that and trust a download from a random person.

Also! I am running High Sierra as this is as good as it gets for my MBP. See link below.
How to upgrade to macOS Mojave - Apple Support
 
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