Eduard Bscn

Q: How do I get the "Free Space" in my SSD back?

I attempted to install windows through boot camp assistant on my macbook air 2013 but I got an error during partitioning and the laptop restarted now I'm stuck with my Macintosh HD unable to be back in it's full capacity. So I tried to search the net for answers but I couldn't find any. I have about 55GB of free space, how could I get it back? Also I'm on El Capitan. My ssd is 250gb and macintosh hd used to take up the whole 250 now it's stuck at 199-ish. Thank You!Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 12.57.32 PM.png

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on May 4, 2016 10:05 PM

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Q: How do I get the "Free Space" in my SSD back?

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  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter May 4, 2016 10:12 PM in response to Eduard Bscn
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
    Desktops
    May 4, 2016 10:12 PM in response to Eduard Bscn

    Have you tried using Boot Camp Assistant to remove the partition it created? If you have not, then you should give it a try. If instead you tried fixing this using Disk Utility, then you have garbaged the disk's RDB. Either you can take a long while to learn how to fix this using the Terminal or you can clone your OS X volume to another disk using Disk Utility or Carbon Copy Cloner, boot from the clone, erase your internal disk, restore the clone to the internal disk, then reboot from the internal disk.

     

    Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions

     

    Boot From An OS X Installer Disc

     

    1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.

      2. Restart the computer.

      3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.

      4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple

          logo appears.

      5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

     

    Boot From a Recovery HD:

     

      1. Restart the computer.

      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

          "COMMAND" and the "R" keys together.

      3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.

     

    After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.)

     

    For Lion or later select Disk Utility from the Utilities Main Menu.

     

    After Disk Utility loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the Disk Utility status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

     

    If Disk Utility reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

     

    Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive.  Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure.  You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.

     

    Step Three: Boot from the external drive.  Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears.  Select the icon for the Recovery HD on the external drive, then click on the downward pointing arrow button.

     

    Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation

     

      1. Open Disk Utility from the Utility Main Menu, then click on the Continue button.

     

      2. After Disk Utility loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the

          mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of

          the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive

          is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  Otherwise, click on the

          Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.

     

      3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from

          the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended

          (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to

          GUID  then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition/Apply button and

          wait until the process has completed.

     

      4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the

          drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main

          window.

     

      5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the

          Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to

          return to the Erase window.

     

      6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several

          hours depending upon the drive size.

     

    Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive

     

      1. Select the destination volume from the left side list.

      2. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.

      3. Check the box labeled Erase destination.

      4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the

          Destination entry field.

      5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the

          Source entry field.

      7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

     

    Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.

     

    Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume.  Click on the Restart button.  You should boot from the new drive.  Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.

  • by Eduard Bscn,

    Eduard Bscn Eduard Bscn May 4, 2016 10:37 PM in response to theratter
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 4, 2016 10:37 PM in response to theratter

    I can't see the partition in disk utility though

  • by chroot,

    chroot chroot May 5, 2016 1:07 AM in response to Eduard Bscn
    Level 4 (1,099 points)
    May 5, 2016 1:07 AM in response to Eduard Bscn

    Try turning off FileVault then resize the partition when decryption completes.  Verify then repair the partition map if needed in Disk Utility.

  • by Eduard Bscn,

    Eduard Bscn Eduard Bscn May 5, 2016 1:14 AM in response to chroot
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 5, 2016 1:14 AM in response to chroot

    Sorry but how can I turn off the FileVault and do the other stuff? Can you provide me some steps please? Thank you!

  • by chroot,Solvedanswer

    chroot chroot May 5, 2016 1:44 AM in response to Eduard Bscn
    Level 4 (1,099 points)
    May 5, 2016 1:44 AM in response to Eduard Bscn

    OS X El Capitan: Turn off FileVault encryption

     

    System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> FileVault -> Turn Off

     

     

    To repair the partition map run first on on the disk.  This should be the physical disk, not the storage volume.

    Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 4.17.12 AM.png

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 4.20.59 AM.png

  • by Eduard Bscn,

    Eduard Bscn Eduard Bscn May 5, 2016 1:44 AM in response to chroot
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 5, 2016 1:44 AM in response to chroot

    OMG Dude it worked! Thank you so much