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How do I delete a bootcamp partition?

Hi there,


I recently had to re-install Windows 7 on my bootcamp partition. Being an idiot, I thought simply reformatting the partition to exFat, and then back to ntfs, would sort it out. Now I can't do anything with the partition. I noticed that instead of simply 2 partitions, one for mac, and one for windows, I somehow made 3 parititons, spilting the mac into 2 separate mac sides, so how do I restore my hard-drive back to no partitions at all? When I go into disk utility, the minus and plus button are completely greyed out, and it's the same when I restart holding command + R. I recently tried to wipe it, doing the most secure wipe which took close to 19 hours but it didn't help the problem at all, just prolonged my problem. So any ideas? I've been searching the forums and the majority seem to just say press the minus button, which doesn't work for me, I'm guessing because I re-formatted it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


- Peter


Also not sure which community this should be in, so sorry if this is the wrong one

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 2:57 AM

Reply
6 replies

Aug 31, 2015 4:55 AM in response to Pete625

Simplest and Safest method is


1. Back up OSX using Time Machine - Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.

2. Boot into Internet Recovery - OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support.

3. Erase your internal drive and restore from the TM backup in Step 1 - OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system.


Please be aware that TM does not backup Bootcamp partitions.


If you want to work with Terminal and CLI commands, let me know.

Aug 31, 2015 10:45 AM in response to Pete625

Please post the output of the following Terminal commands.


diskutil list

diskutil cs list

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0


The "sudo" commands will prompt for your password, and it will not be echoed back. You may also see a warning about improper use of "sudo" and potential data loss due to "abuse" of the command.

Aug 31, 2015 5:30 PM in response to Pete625

Hi, in reading your problem, Loner T already answered your question. You must Shutdown your Mac. Power On your Mac whilst holding the [command] and [R] keys. Continue holding until you see the Apple logo screen then release the keys. This puts you in the Recovery area. Select Disk Utility there. Erase entire HD and rename it Macintosh HD. After which you would select Install New Copy of OS X.

BE AWARE THAT YOU NEED TO BACK UP ALL PERSONAL FILES. INTERNET RECOVERY WILL REINSTALL THE OS X THAT SHIPPED WITH YOUR MAC. HAVE YOUR APPLE ID ON HAND. YOU WILL THEN HAVE TO UPGRADE TO THE CURRENT OS X YOU NOW HAVE INSTALLED ON YOUR MAC.

Just a kind heads up! Cheers!

How do I delete a bootcamp partition?

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