iMac storage issue

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Level 1

8 points

iMac storage issue

I am hoping someone can help me with this.. people at the repair place told me everything is in order, but I suspect it isn't at all..

So, I bought a used iMac. The guy had Windows installed on it. I did a clean install of High Sierra, erased the disk and everything, it worked nicely. Until I discovered that my 1TB disk shows only 200GB available storage.

I discovered there were 3 partitions to the disk, and after deleting one, my main disk had cca 600GB of space. But after deleting the second, my disk remained at 600GB and the other partition dissappeared. Then I decided to do another clean install, but after erasing the disk I couldn't install the OS anymore, so I took it to get it repaired, and they installed the High Sierra again.

It's working nicely and all, but my storage is still at 600GB. When I go to "partition disk", however, it shows 1TB of disk size. (pics included)

Repair people are trying to convince me that it's the recovery partition, but in no way do I believe that the recovery partition can be 400GB in size????

Please help.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 17, 2017 10:10 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

92,542 points

Oct 17, 2017 11:10 AM in response to mikrovalna

Startup in macOS Recovery open Disk Utility and select the Internal Drive* that the Macintosh HD and other partition are on.

* note: if View is set to Show Only Volumes, then you will need to change it to Show All Devices so that you can select the Internal Drive*

At that point, you should now be able to select the Internal Drive* Erase and Format it back to one single "Guid Partition Map/Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" Partition.

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Answer 2

mikrovalna Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2017 4:17 PM in response to den.thed

My question was solved at the Bootcamp thread, if anyone wants to know.

You were right as well actually (as was I, technically), but I kept erasing and reformating the Macintosh drive instead of the entire Apple HDD parent disk...

So, erased disk, restored from TM and it's fixed.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

92,542 points

Oct 17, 2017 4:04 PM in response to mikrovalna

Hmmm.... your trying to do this using the Disk Utility in macOS Recovery right...?

If not, then you will need to use that instead of the normal macOS Disk Utility.

Try highlighting the stripped section and see if you can click on the - button, then the Apply button.

Or try swinging the solid section around over the stripped section and then clicking Apply.

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,588 points

Oct 17, 2017 11:03 AM in response to mikrovalna

If the previous owner used Boot Camp to install Windows, then you need to use Boot Camp Assistant to manage all Boot Camp issues.

BTW there is a Boot Camp user forum where all the Boot Camp gurus hang out. You can find that forum by clicking Boot Camp

If you would like I can ask the moderator to move this thread to the Boot Camp forum or you can create a new thread there if you would like.

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Answer 5

den.thed

Level 10

92,542 points

Oct 17, 2017 2:34 PM in response to mikrovalna

Change the Format to something else (MSDOS-FAT32) and back to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then click the Apply button.

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Answer 6

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,588 points

Oct 17, 2017 10:23 AM in response to mikrovalna

The problems with buying any used computer is you may be inheriting someone else's mess. I suspect that is exactly what you did and in your efforts to fix it you may have made the problem even worse.

When you got the computer do you know how Windows was installed, i.e. did the orginal owner use Boot Camp or some type of Virtualization app such as Parallels or Fusion?

Without knowing this information there isn't a lot we can do to help other than to suggest replacing the HD or returning the computer.

Going forward, when trying to save money buying a used Mac I'd strongly suggest buying an Apple Refurbished Mac. These machines are identical to a new one, come with a 1 year warranty, are eligible for AppleCare and can save hundreds of $. In short there is no down side.

Good luck.

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,588 points

Oct 17, 2017 12:25 PM in response to mikrovalna

You should still post the original question in the Boot Camp forum. Someone with more experience uninstalling Windows may be able to help. On this forum we tend to be more focused on Mac OS.

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Answer 8

mikrovalna Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2017 10:28 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Hi,

thanks for your reply. Unfortunately in my country there is no Apple Refurbished.

Anyway, if this is indeed impossible to fix, I will use the computer anyway, as 600GB is still kind of ok storage space. But I believe it can be fixed, so I want to try.

I ran the diskutil list command and found that my recovery partition is indeed 362GB in size.... why?

I am fairly sure the previous user used Bootcamp, but now when I run it there is no more "remove" option on it..

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Answer 9

mikrovalna Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2017 12:21 PM in response to den.thed

I tried that before, resulting in this situation (I planned to upload this earlier but insted accidentaly uploaded the same screenshot twice..) Anyway this is the situation now in my disk utility, note how partition tab shows different storage amount. It's the same disk.

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Answer 10

mikrovalna Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2017 4:41 PM in response to den.thed

Yes, I realize it now, but somehow didn't at the time 🙂

As I had never before used partitions on my Macs, up to now the OS partition and the internal drive were one and the same for me. But i learned today.

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Answer 11

mikrovalna Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2017 12:18 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I dont think it can be fixed through BootCamp since this is all I get when I open it. I cannot go forward with only the third option, so it's impossible to remove it throught that.