The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition

[Pakolo]

Hi, im newbie here. i want ask some questions, i try to install windows 8 to my MBA early 2015 i follow the instruction and then when i already in selection partition disk on windows there is some error message "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" i try to fix the problem and i choose format -> delete -> new but nothing happened. so i decide to start with my yosemite and try to delete the partition. when i open bootcamp assistant it can't be delete and show error message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition the start up disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS extended (journaled) volume or already partitioned by bootcamp assistant for installing windows ". can someone help to fix the problem ? Sorry for my bad english

MacBook Air Early 2015, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

 

[Slydude]

It sounds like the disk drive is a bit fragmented or an extra partition has been inadvertently drive looks like the one in the picture. Have a look at these directions from Apple. Be very careful not to delete the OS X partition.

 

[Pakolo]

i already follow the direction from apple, but i can't remove the partition (blue highlight) 39.51 free space but there is no option to remove (-). when i try to access bootcamp assistant, the mesaage still same. whether there is another way to solved this problem ?

 

[chscag]

There's nothing you can do in that situation (without risking your data) to remove the partitions. Backup your OS X partition and then boot to Recovery. (command + r) Enter Utilities, Disk Utility, and erase the drive. Format the entire drive as one partition (Mac OS Extended Journaled) and reinstall Yosemite. After Yosemite is reinstalled, restore data from your backup (Time Machine).

 

[Pakolo]

Thank for the advice and i will try with you instruction but how about the yosemite, i don't have the installation. should i download and make a bootable flash disk to install it ?

 

[Zoolook]

Before you start from scratch, try the following. Boot up Yosemite into recovery mode (hold Cmd -R during startup, or Cmd-Option-R to see all of the startup disks) and then select disk utility. Repair the disk before trying anything, then try and remove the non-OS X partitions from the recovery tool. Once that's done boot up normally and see if you can recover to one partition and start the process again.

Make sure you back up before trying this. Also, you can restore your entire OS on a clean install from a time machine backup this way without downloading it again.

 

[Pakolo]

hi, i already do clean install, but the problem still same, the capacity of hardisk must be 121GB instead of 79.59GB and when i try to using bootcamp the error message still same. can i recover the rest of 35GB i mean the capacity of hardisk return to default 121 GB or it just lost and there is no way to recover ? I'm really frustration about this

 

[harryb2448]

You have to remove disk 04 and 05 in Disk utility. To run BootCamp your hard drive needs to be in one signle +HFS partition. For what it is worth, suggest your hard drive is not nearly big enough torun BootCamp. Your Macintosh HD is set up at about 80GB which does not leave much room for Windows, and applications you will need to install on it.

 

[chscag]

hi, i already do clean install, but the problem still same, the capacity of hardisk must be 121GB instead of 79.59GB and when i try to using bootcamp the error message still same. can i recover the rest of 35GB i mean the capacity of hardisk return to default 121 GB or it just lost and there is no way to recover ? I'm really frustration about this

Doing a clean install means nothing unless you erase that entire disk first, format it as one partition and then reinstall Yosemite. You have 4 partitions on that drive when you should only have 2: OS X and Recovery.

 

[Pakolo]

Doing a clean install means nothing unless you erase that entire disk first, format it as one partition and then reinstall Yosemite. You have 4 partitions on that drive when you should only have 2: OS X and Recovery.

Can you show the step ? I'm very frustration about this.

 

[harryb2448]

Have a read through this starting at 'How to Perform.......':-


How to Clean Install OS X Yosemite

 

[Pakolo]

i already follow the direction to clean install but nothing changed, still there is "ghost" space 40 GB. anything i can do to recover the 40 GB ?

 

[chscag]

You are not correctly erasing the disk. Unless you erase the disk and format as one partition, doing a clean install will not work to regain the space you lost.

 

[Pakolo]

You are not correctly erasing the disk. Unless you erase the disk and format as one partition, doing a clean install will not work to regain the space you lost.

I try to erase the disk and format as single partition but it can't happen because there is no option to remove it (-) i mean the free disk (40gb). do you have the step to recover my free 40gb? Really appriciate

 

[docx]

i Had this problem The answer was to create a USB installer Then boot from that and use disk utility to resize the partition so that you have just one. i believe the problem is that you cannot resize the partition while the disk is in use.

 

[chscag]

i Had this problem The answer was to create a USB installer Then boot from that and use disk utility to resize the partition so that you have just one. i believe the problem is that you cannot resize the partition while the disk is in use.

While that will certainly work, he should be able to do the same thing from his recovery partition. His disk is not mounted when using Disk Utility from recovery.

 

[Pakolo]

all the way i try to do, but theres is no changes, still have free space 40GB and i can't remove it. what should i do ?

 

[Pakolo]

can someone help to fix this, I'm really frustrated about this. what I must do ? i already installed os el capitan.

 

[chscag]

Boot to Recovery (command + r), open Disk Utility, click on Partition, and take a screen shot. Let's see what the drive looks like. That 40 GB partition should be able to be removed.

 

[Pakolo]

Boot to Recovery (command + r), open Disk Utility, click on Partition, and take a screen shot. Let's see what the drive looks like. That 40 GB partition should be able to be removed.

since i already update to el capitan, the disk utility theme has changed. there is no show free 40 GB. just 80 GB, but it should be 121 GB. kindly your help.