Un-Partitioning Hard Drive Error on MacBook Pro

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Level 1

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Un-Partitioning Hard Drive Error on MacBook Pro

Good Day everyone,

I have MacBook Pro 2013 with OSX El-Capitan 10.11.4. I had windows installed on Boot Camp and I erased the content of its partition by mistake from the disk utilities. I then tried to reinstall it but couldn't so I went back to disk utilities to format, un-partition and then re-partition it all over again. However I had the problem shown in the pictures when I tried to un-partition it. It refuses to remove the pink part and shows it as a free unused space. Any help please!!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Jun 10, 2016 2:47 PM

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Answer 1

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jun 10, 2016 9:58 PM in response to MayMedhat

First of all, you need to repair your hard drive/OS X partition before being able to add that free space to your OS X partition. To do so, hold down Command, Alt and R keys while your Mac is starting up to boot up in OS X Recovery, and open Disk Utility.

Then, choose your hard drive in the sidebar (the one labelled as "APPLE HDD ST500...") and press "First Aid" to fix any issues. Do the same with "Macintosh HD". If the repair was successful, press "Partition" and add the free space to "Macintosh HD". Finally, restart your computer.

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Answer 2

MayMedhat Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 11, 2016 3:46 AM in response to mende1

Thank you for the fast reply.

I did that, the "APPLE HDD ST...." was okay but the "Macintosh HD" wasn't highlighted. Also, the 60 GB partition does not appear :S

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Answer 3

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:11 AM in response to MayMedhat

There's no 60 GB partition. That's just free space that is not allocated to any partition. Try adding that free space to "Macintosh HD" by pressing the "Partition" button.

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Answer 4

MayMedhat Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 11, 2016 7:46 AM in response to mende1

Resizing operation failed!

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Answer 5

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jun 11, 2016 8:43 AM in response to MayMedhat

Going back to your first reply, what happens when you try to choose "Macintosh HD" in the sidebar? If you can do it, do it and press "First Aid" to try to repair it. I tell you to do this because I don't understand what you meant by ""Macintosh HD" was not highlighted".

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Answer 6

MayMedhat Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 12, 2016 11:24 AM in response to mende1

first of all, thank you so much for your patience 🙂

I don't know at what stage it happened but the pink part was removed and the disc was un-partitioned, so thank you once again 🙂

now I tried to use boot camp to start over the process and reinstall a new windows but the it says "Your disk could not be partitioned". Now what? :-/

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Answer 7

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jun 12, 2016 12:41 PM in response to MayMedhat

Repeat what I told you in my last reply: check if there is any problem with "Macintosh HD" by using "First Aid". Something really strange must be going on with your hard drive.

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Answer 8

MayMedhat Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 12, 2016 1:35 PM in response to mende1

yes there is 😟

when I said the problem was solved that was because I found "APPLE HD" partition as one blue colour 499 GB as in the picture below

when I checked "Macintosh HD" it was only 438.88 GB with 60 GB lost :S

also, my hard disk had only 113 GB free before..now it is 164 GB free and I don't know what did I lose..

I don't know what is happening!!

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Answer 9

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jun 13, 2016 8:09 AM in response to MayMedhat

Once we are in this situation, I'd suggest you to make a backup of your files (if you do not have one), erase everything and restore the backup. This may be a bit painful (more if you do not have an external drive), but you will get this problem solved after doing that.

You can use Time Machine to make a backup of your data -> Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

Then, in order to restore it, hold down Command, Option and R keys while your Mac is starting up to boot in OS X Recovery. Plug the external drive with the backup, choose the option to restore a Time Machine backup and follow the steps. OS X Recovery will format your hard drive before restoring the backup, so you can be sure that your hard drive should be working properly again after finishing the Time Machine restore.

Finally, NEVER modify or erase the Boot Camp partition through Disk Utility. You have to do this task with Boot Camp Assistant; if you do not, you may have issues like the one you are suffering.

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