Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

0 points

Bootcamp not showing Windows after El Capitan update.

My Macbook asked about updating to El Capitan whilst I was using yesterday and I thought why not. So the update completes without a hitch. Later I restart to go do some work in windows 7, hold down alt as usual and no sign of windows on the start up menu.

So I've read around the net and think I understand what has happened with the OS X installer messing with the partitions, but don't want to totally fry my windows partition without messing with things i don't know a lot about. So can any kind soul please help me through the process of trying to repair it as I have software and data I would really not like to lose.

Thanks

MacBook Pro, iOS 9.0.2

Posted on Oct 5, 2015 6:06 AM

49 replies

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 6, 2015 9:21 AM in response to lcutting87

lcutting87 wrote:

Ok ill give it a go then if not ill do a tm back up and restore, will this give me the disk space back?

Will i then need to reinstall windows through boot camp?

Yes, to both. Please erase the full physical disk, not just the OSX partition.

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 6, 2015 9:23 AM in response to lcutting87

lcutting87 wrote:

Also what is the best way to go about formatting and restoring the mac install?

Sorry for all the questions I just don't want to lose my mac data as well 😢

If you use the Time Machine backup, format your internal disk as Mac OSX Extended (Journaled). A Time Machine restore can reformat the internal drive based on what it has in it's backup. TM does nothing with the BC/Windows partitions and ignores them. Erase/Restore will give you the entire disk back.

lcutting87 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 11, 2015 12:11 PM in response to lcutting87

Hi Loner T, ok so I've finally managed to do a full wipe and reinstall of both mac os and windows. lost all my windows data but ah well we learn from our mistakes (bought a 3Tb drive for all future back ups of all my data)

I just want to know if there's any precautions i can take to stop this happening again. I install os x to a clean drive using the recovery tool and TM, from there i used boot camp to create a partition for windows and installed windows 7 as directed by the software. Basically i want to know will my install now be sound as long as i don't resize partitions?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 11, 2015 2:08 PM in response to lcutting87

Yes, your installation will be fine.

1. Perform regular TM backups.

2. Use another external disk, format it as NTFS from the Windows side, and set it up as your File History/Backup Disk. Every time you switch to Windows, ensure that this drive is connected and spend at 10-15 minutes in windows before switching back to OS X to get a backup.

On newer Macs (Late 2013 or later models), if Windows is installed using EFI boot, it is possible to resize Windows. The challenge is on older Macs which do not support such functionality.

Bootcamp not showing Windows after El Capitan update.