Bootcamp Partition Doesn't Appear in Startup Disk

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Bootcamp Partition Doesn't Appear in Startup Disk

I just installed Bootcamp and a Windows 7 partition. After the installation, I started up in Mac OS and went to Startup Disk in order to select Mac OS as my default operating system, but I noticed that the Bootcamp Windows partition does not appear in Startup Disk. I had installed NTFS for Mac OS X before installing Bootcamp (a third party app that allows me to read and write files from a Windows formatted external hard drive). Could this be preventing the Bootcamp partition from appearing in Startup Disk? If so, how do I correct this so that the Bootcamp partition appears in Startup Disk?

I have read somewhere that "disabling NTFS-3G completely (through the system prefs) or just for that partition (again through the system prefs)and then unmounting and re-mounting using Disk Utility" will resolve this problem. I'm a computer novice and so I don't really understand what this means and I don't want to mess around with my MacBook and end up screwing it up. Does unmounting and remounting erase the Windows partition? I've just finished loading software on the Windows partition and adjusting the settings and I'd really prefer to avoid doing all of this over again. If this is the solution, could someone explain clearly how I would go about doing this so that I can correct this problem?

I'm planning to install Parallels Desktop 6.0 for Mac and I understand that it's very difficult to use the Bootcamp partition as the virtual hard drive since Parallels cannot find it when the Bootcamp partition doesn't appear in the Startup Disk. Thanks very much for your help!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Dec 6, 2010 7:55 PM

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Answer 1

Fortuny

Level 7

21,455 points

Dec 6, 2010 10:18 PM in response to SckMnky

Hi,

SckMnky wrote:
I just installed Bootcamp and a Windows 7 partition. After the installation, I started up in Mac OS and went to Startup Disk in order to select Mac OS as my default operating system, but I noticed that the Bootcamp Windows partition does not appear in Startup Disk. I had installed NTFS for Mac OS X before installing Bootcamp (a third party app that allows me to read and write files from a Windows formatted external hard drive). Could this be preventing the Bootcamp partition from appearing in Startup Disk? If so, how do I correct this so that the Bootcamp partition appears in Startup Disk?

Yes, that's correct.
Currently all NTFS drivers for OSX show this behaviour and also currently there is no cure for this.

I have read somewhere that "disabling NTFS-3G completely (through the system prefs) or just for that partition (again through the system prefs)and then unmounting and re-mounting using Disk Utility" will resolve this problem. I'm a computer novice and so I don't really understand what this means and I don't want to mess around with my MacBook and end up screwing it up. Does unmounting and remounting erase the Windows partition? I've just finished loading software on the Windows partition and adjusting the settings and I'd really prefer to avoid doing all of this over again. If this is the solution, could someone explain clearly how I would go about doing this so that I can correct this problem?

Haven't tried that cause I don't have/need NTFS for OSX drivers.

I'm planning to install Parallels Desktop 6.0 for Mac and I understand that it's very difficult to use the Bootcamp partition as the virtual hard drive since Parallels cannot find it when the Bootcamp partition doesn't appear in the Startup Disk. Thanks very much for your help!

Might be better to ask this in the Parallels Support Forum.

Regards

Stefan

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Answer 2

Sven G

Level 1

45 points

Dec 7, 2010 4:36 AM in response to SckMnky

You could do it in this way (no risk of erasing your Boot Camp partition):

open the NTFS-3G control panel in System Preferences;

authenticate with the lock icon on the lower left;

select your Boot Camp partition in "Mounted NTFS-3g volumes" (it should already be selected if it is the only NTFS partition);

select "Disable NTFS-3G for the volume";

exit System Preferences;

drag your Boot Camp partition to the Trash/Wastebasket (i.e., unmount it);

open Disk Utility and remount (activate) it from there (or simply logout/in or reboot).

That should do it...

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Answer 3

SckMnky Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 7, 2010 7:50 PM in response to Sven G

Thank you for the helpful information. Sven, I have Paragon NTFS for Mac installed on my MacBook, not NTFS-3G. However, I assume that both serve the same purpose, yes? I am not familiar with NTFS-3G so I'm wondering if this is somehow preferable to Paragon NTFS for Mac.

I was able to get the Bootcamp partition to appear in the Startup Disk pane by opening the system preferences for NTFS for Mac, disabling the driver software, and then restarting my computer. I also installed Parallels without any issues and have Parallels using the Bootcamp partition as the virtual hard drive.

I have an additional question, however. If I enable the NTFS for Mac drivers again, will this somehow cause conflict issues with Parallels, since I assume that the Bootcamp partition will again disappear from the Startup Disk pane and therefore (I assuming) Parallels will not be able to locate the partition? I'm a little hesitant to use trail and error here since I don't want to screw up the Parallels configuration. If anyone has some insights, please let me know. Thank you!

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Answer 4

Sven G

Level 1

45 points

Dec 8, 2010 3:47 AM in response to SckMnky

Sorry, I thought you had NTFS-3G installed (I have that): but, yes, they serve the same purpose, essentially...

BTW, have you tried to pose your questions - and first of all search for similar posts - on the Parallels and Paragon forums? Maybe there is also some information there...

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Answer 5

SckMnky Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2010 6:34 PM in response to Sven G

Thanks again for your help, Sven. Yes, I posted a question on the Parallels forum, but I haven't yet gotten any replies. I also contacted Paragon's technical support by email (the only type of support available) and they recommended going to System preferences, opening NTFS for Mac OS, and then selecting the Bootcamp partition and clicking "Set as startup". However, before I got their reply, I had already disabled the NTFS for Mac drivers and restarted my computer, and I was able to get the Bootcamp partition to appear in the Startup Disk. I was also able to successfully install Parallels Desktop with the Bootcamp partition as the virtual hard drive. However, I now cannot use NTFS for Mac.

Do you know whether there would be a conflict with Parallels if I again enabled the drivers for NTFS for Mac? Would it then be necessary for me to follow the steps that Paragon recommended in their reply (outlined above)? I'm hesitant to make changes without knowing what will result. Thanks again for your help!

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Answer 6

Sven G

Level 1

45 points

Dec 9, 2010 12:02 AM in response to SckMnky

I've never use Paragon NTFS, so I really don't know: I guess you'll have to experiment a little to see what the optimal settings are (and maybe there is also some form of conflict with Parallels: anyway, enabling, seeing what happens and then if necessary disabling again probably shouldn't do any harm)...

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Answer 7

Kokichi

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2010 2:36 AM in response to SckMnky

Hey SckMnky, let me know what you find out! I'm just about to undergo the same process - disable my NTFS-3G, install Windows 7 on Bootcamp, then install Parallels and make it connect to Windows 7. I really need to have that NTFS-3G enabled because I have a 1.5 TB external harddrive which I have formatted as NTFS-3G (I use it to transfer files between my Mac and my friends' PCs). I too am scared that if I re-enable the NTFS-3G then something bad will happen!

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Answer 8

SckMnky Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2010 12:15 PM in response to Kokichi

Hi Kokichi,

I sent an email to Paragon, the software company that sells NTFS for Mac, and I'm waiting to hear what they advise me to do. They're usually pretty quick about replying to support requests. If I don't hear from them in the next day or so, I'm going to just try enabling the NTFS driver software and see what happens. Hopefully it won't screw up my computer. 🙂 Either way, I'll let you know what I find out and post the outcome here.

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Answer 9

SckMnky Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 11, 2010 11:22 AM in response to SckMnky

Hey Kokichi,

I didn't hear from Paragon tech support, so I decided to try and follow the instructions they sent me in their only correspondence, hoping that this would solve my problem. Paragon told me to start up System Preferences, open Paragon NTFS for Mac, select the Bootcamp Windows partition, and click "Set at Startup". Well, first, when I opened the NTFS System Preferences window, there was no Bootcamp partition listed since I had disabled the drivers before installing Parallels Desktop. So, I enable the NTFS drivers and restarted my computer, and then chose the Bootcamp partition (which now appeared in the NTFS System Preferences) and clicked Set at Startup. After restarting the computer, this only forced my MacBook to use Windows as the default operating system when booting my computer - which I did not want. So, I used the Bootcamp System Preferences in the Windows taskbar to set my default operating system as Mac OS and again restarted my computer. When Mac OS started, I plugged in my Windows formatted flash drive and found that I could access the folders and files on the drive even when using Mac OS, which implies that the NTFS software was working properly. I then started up Parallels to see if I could access the files and folders on the flash drive while using Windows, and sure enough I could. So, it appears that the NTFS for Mac software is now working properly and that there is no conflict with Parallels Desktop 6.0.

I would suggest a couple of things to you. First, install Parallels Desktop before installing NTFS-3G. Second, after you do install NTSF-3G, follow Sven's suggestion above (he outlined some steps to take with NTFS-3G in a previous post above) in order to get your NTFS-3G software to work with Parallels Desktop (if NTFS-3G isn't working properly). Incidentally, I never asked you if you were going to use your Bootcamp partition as your virtual hard drive with Parallels. If you are not using the Bootcamp partition as your virtual hard drive, then there shouldn't be a problem using both Parallels and NTFS-3G. It's only when you choose to set the Bootcamp partition as your Parallels virtual hard drive that you run into the problems I experienced. Of course, it's possible I never would have had this problem had I installed Parallels Desktop before installing Paragon NTFS for Mac. I happened to do these in reverse, which was probably unwise in hindsight.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

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