Error when trying to remove Windows using Boot Camp Assistant

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Level 1

8 points

Error when trying to remove Windows using Boot Camp Assistant

Hello everyone,

I installed Windows a while ago using Boot Camp Assistant and now I would like to remove it. I know for a fact that you have to use Boot Camp Assistant in order to properly remove it and avoid any complications. However, when I launch Boot Camp Assistant to remove Windows; I get the error "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."

I am not able to click on a greyed-out option of "Install or remove Windows 7 or Windows 8" on the Select Tasks step. I just want to remove Windows properly without leaving any traces for it and have the whole disk space available to macOS. Any ideas?

I am using a 13" MacBook Pro with macOS High Sierra 10.13.6

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 13, 2021 3:46 AM

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Answer 1

Aladdxn Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2021 11:44 AM in response to Loner T

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            419.9 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                79.2 GB    disk0s4
   5:         Microsoft Reserved                         16.8 MB    disk0s5

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           +419.5 GB   disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2
                                 642C1A5B-2BB9-408D-8F72-60D8B0D71AB5
                                 Unencrypted

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Answer 2

Aladdxn Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2021 2:11 PM in response to Loner T

Worked perfectly! Boot Camp Assistant allowed me to restore to a single partition after running your suggested command. Does that look good?

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            499.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           +498.9 GB   disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2
                                 642C1A5B-2BB9-408D-8F72-60D8B0D71AB5
                                 Unencrypted

Thanks a million!

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Jun 13, 2021 1:46 PM in response to Aladdxn

Run

diskutil eraseVolume free free disk0s5

and run BC Assistant and click on Remove/Restore.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Jun 13, 2021 7:50 AM in response to Aladdxn

From macOS terminal, post the output of

diskutil list

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Jun 13, 2021 1:21 PM in response to Aladdxn

What year is your MacBookPro? You should not have Microsoft Reserved.

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Answer 6

Aladdxn Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2021 1:27 PM in response to Loner T

It's a Late 2011

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Jun 13, 2021 2:14 PM in response to Aladdxn

Yes. Looks clean. If you want to re-install Windows, do not use a USB Flash drive. You must use the built-in Optical drive, otherwise you will end up with the same issue again.

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Answer 8

Aladdxn Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 13, 2021 2:17 PM in response to Loner T

Understood. Thank you a lot for the valuable help, I really appreciate it!

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Error when trying to remove Windows using Boot Camp Assistant

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