Reinstall OS X on a Windows 8 only computer

Question

Reinstall OS X on a Windows 8 only computer

I own a Macbook Air (latest one). I removed OS X, and installed only Windows 8 only, so it's now the only OS I have on my MBA. I would like to reinstall OS X, and have a dual boot. I tried by creating a new partition to install OS X on it by using the recovery tool. When I try to reinstall OS X, the tool tells me that the drive is locked. I saw a couple of discussions about it, but wasn't able to fix my problem. Any ideas about it? I would like to reinstall OS X without formatting my Windows 8 partition.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 22, 2013 8:48 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Aug 22, 2013 9:20 AM in response to Frédéric Harper

You will have to remove the Windows partition, so back up any data on it first.

Then erase the disk and reinstall ML from Recovery (if it exists) or Internet Recovery (if it does not)

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Answer 2

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Aug 22, 2013 9:45 AM in response to Frédéric Harper

Step 1 backup Windows. WinClone 4 sounds good.

http://www.macwindows.com looks useful for tips

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Answer 3

Aug 27, 2013 12:34 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks Csound1, seems that it was the only way to go. I wanted to avoid formatting my Windows partition, but didn't have the choice.

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Answer 4

Aug 27, 2013 12:36 PM in response to The hatter

The hatter, WinClone wasn't a solution for me as it will backup your Windows partition from OS X, and since I only had Windows on my Macbook Air, it wasn't the software I needed. I just formatted my computer, and reinstalled everything.

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Aug 27, 2013 1:20 PM in response to Frédéric Harper

I recommend keeping OS X around,all you need is 30-40GB and then a place to save a Windows image. Even with Windows you need Backup, restore image, a drive for File History.

I did not see you say yours was 100% Windows only

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Answer 6

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Aug 27, 2013 1:23 PM in response to The hatter

The hatter wrote:

I did not see you say yours was 100% Windows only

Post 1

Line 1

I own a Macbook Air (latest one). I removed OS X, and installed only Windows 8 only

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