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Restoring to single partition?

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to Mac, so bear with me if I say anything utterly ignorant.

I previously tried to partition my Macbook to create a Windows partition, but the Windows disk I used turned out to be damaged so setting up Windows failed. I was told that before trying again with a new disk I should use Boot Camp to restore my disk to a single volume...which seemed easy enough. I basically clicked the button in Bootcamp to restore to a single volume, but...now it's been processing for over an hour with no change. Is this normal? I don't remember it taking nearly this long when I initially created the partition, even with the messed up Windows disk.

Macbook

Posted on Jan 23, 2009 6:45 PM

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Posted on Jan 23, 2009 7:28 PM

This sounds like there's a problem with the Windows partition. It should not require this amount of time to remove the partition in Boot Camp. Perhaps the partition was damaged by your failed Windows installation attempt. If Boot Camp never does succeed in removing the partition there is another way to do it using Disk Utility. I suggest you first backup your OS X partition by cloning it to an external hard drive. This is a precaution in case the ensuing procedure fails.

How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility

1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the drive to which you will clone.
Source means the drive from which you are cloning..


To restore your drive to one partition follow this procedure:

1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. You will see a partition display window that should show two partitions. The topmost one is your OS X partition. The bottom one will be the one made by Boot Camp. Click the mouse inside the bottom partition. The rectangle will become outlined in blue. Click on the [-] button to delete the partition. Click on the Apply button and wait until the removal process is completed.

4. In the lower right corner of the remaining OS X partition you will see a small re-sizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and drag down to the bottom of the partition window until you cannot drag any farther. Click on the Apply button and wait until the partitioning has completed. This should restore your drive to one partition.
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Question marked as Best reply

Jan 23, 2009 7:28 PM in response to Kagmi

This sounds like there's a problem with the Windows partition. It should not require this amount of time to remove the partition in Boot Camp. Perhaps the partition was damaged by your failed Windows installation attempt. If Boot Camp never does succeed in removing the partition there is another way to do it using Disk Utility. I suggest you first backup your OS X partition by cloning it to an external hard drive. This is a precaution in case the ensuing procedure fails.

How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility

1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the drive to which you will clone.
Source means the drive from which you are cloning..


To restore your drive to one partition follow this procedure:

1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. You will see a partition display window that should show two partitions. The topmost one is your OS X partition. The bottom one will be the one made by Boot Camp. Click the mouse inside the bottom partition. The rectangle will become outlined in blue. Click on the [-] button to delete the partition. Click on the Apply button and wait until the removal process is completed.

4. In the lower right corner of the remaining OS X partition you will see a small re-sizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and drag down to the bottom of the partition window until you cannot drag any farther. Click on the Apply button and wait until the partitioning has completed. This should restore your drive to one partition.

Jan 23, 2009 7:41 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks so much for the suggestion!

Er...here's another question: if my system still hasn't moved anywhere and it won't let me actually quit Boot Camp, but it will let me use other applications in the meantime, how exactly to I exit this failed restoration without damaging my current partition? Will force quitting screw things up?

Jan 23, 2009 7:51 PM in response to Kagmi

Boot Camp is a normal application. You can quit it in a number of different ways:

1. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on Boot Camp's Dock icon and select Quit or Force Quit from the contextual menu.

2. Press COMMAND-OPTION-Esc, select Boot Camp from the applications list, then click on the Force Quit button.

3. Open Activity Monitor in your Utilities folder, select All Processes from the Processes drop down menu, click once on the Process column, select the Boot Camp entry and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button.

Jan 24, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks, I quit the application without any trouble.

Now I have one more stupid question...are my Mac drivers located on the Install Disk 2, or are they on a separate disk labeled "Drivers?" I've gone digging for my driver disk to take yet another shot at the partitioning thing, and all I can find are my install disks 1 and 2. Is that correct, or am I missing something?

Restoring to single partition?

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