Lost Mac OS Big Sur -and- lost bootcamp utility after Windows 10 install. Am I now stuck with having only Windows 10 for life?

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Lost Mac OS Big Sur -and- lost bootcamp utility after Windows 10 install. Am I now stuck with having only Windows 10 for life?

A few months ago, I purchased a 27" late 2014 iMac 17 Core with Big Sur pre-installed and absolutely love it. I needed to run some windows-only programs so I bravely attempted to install Win10 via boot camp. I followed all the instructions, created and selected the sizes of partitions and Windows 10 was installed without error. When I went to boot back to mac OS via the boot camp utility, the only choice for drives was the windows drive. Checking system config in windows, only one partition existed and its for Windows. A few days later, after installing a windows program, I kept receiving a windows error 87 conflict. After hours of trying to resolve the error, I reset Windows which in turn re-installs Windows 10 and now the boot camp utility is also gone. Can this be fixed or am I now stuck with Windows 10 for life? I so regret installing Windows on my beloved iMac. Its on my top 10 list of worst mistakes I've made in my life. LOL Any help is greatly appreciated, and just an FYI, I have no files that I'm worried about saving so if files get lost during repair, it's not a problem. Thanks in advance for any help and advice I can get.

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 31, 2022 5:52 PM

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Answer 1

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:36 PM in response to Barney-15E

I'll give it a try now and report my results. BTW, I was able to reinstall boot camp utility and in this is what it shows in the control panel. I had a USB thumb drive installed during my Windows 10 installation and during the install process, it installed various APPLE files onto my thumb drive automatically. Boot camp installation was one of those files.

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Answer 2

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:45 PM in response to Barney-15E

Okay, first, it will not boot into internet recovery. I have a PC keyboard so I held down CTRL + ALT + R instead and it just ignored the 3 held down keys and booted directly to Windows 10. The other problem is that I purchased my iMac on eBay from the seller FREE GEEK with Big Sur OS pre-installed and so I don't have an actual copy of any macOS.

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Answer 3

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:56 PM in response to Barney-15E

Okay, I read online the PC "ALT" key is the same as Mac's "Opt key and the "CTRL" key is the same as Mac's Cmd key. I guess that info is wrong. I'll find a cheap Mac keyboard and get back on here after attempting again. Thanks

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Answer 4

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2022 2:33 PM in response to MoloneyMac

I was able to boot to internet recovery pressing the ALT + WINDOWS + R keys on my Windows keyboard, however, it never completes the process. I gave 3 attempts and finally gave up. First attempt, the bar got to halfway and stayed there for 8 hours. I restarted. During the 2nd and 3rd attempts, the bar never moved for over 18 & 24 hours respectively. So, I'm now assuming that Internet Recovery is no longer a viable option. Any other encouraging advice from anyone? Thanks...Kevin

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,746 points

Feb 2, 2022 4:37 PM in response to MoloneyMac

It may be viable on a different network. A bit difficult taking an iMac somewhere else, though.

You can try restarting your modem and router. If your router runs any kind of firewall or other internet security software, turn those off.

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,746 points

Feb 3, 2022 8:54 AM in response to MoloneyMac

MoloneyMac wrote:

No firewalls are on. I have high speed internet and I restarted the router. No luck. Is there another method that can be performed using a flash drive with Windows 10 as my only OS?

No. If you have another Mac available you can download the installer and create a bootable USB installer. It cannot be done from windows

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Answer 7

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,746 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:19 PM in response to MoloneyMac

Can you boot into Internet Recovery? Hold down cmd-opt-R on restart.

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Answer 8

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:07 PM in response to MoloneyMac

This is what Disk Management currently shows on iMac running Windows 10. Pretty sure I'm screwed!!!

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Answer 9

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,746 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:40 PM in response to MoloneyMac

Yes, you have deleted all of macOS. That was evident from your first post.

If you can boot into Internet Recovery, you can erase the drive and install macOS.

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,746 points

Jan 31, 2022 6:46 PM in response to MoloneyMac

so I don't have an actual copy of any macOS.

Nobody does. It is only available via Apple's servers.

A windows keyboard will likely not work. Get a Mac keyboard.

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Answer 11

MoloneyMac Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2022 8:15 PM in response to Barney-15E

No firewalls are on. I have high speed internet and I restarted the router. No luck. Is there another method that can be performed using a flash drive with Windows 10 as my only OS?

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Lost Mac OS Big Sur -and- lost bootcamp utility after Windows 10 install. Am I now stuck with having only Windows 10 for life?

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