Didn't Remove Bootcamp Before Erasing Drive
September 2, 2022 11:45 AM Subscribe
I didn't realize I had to manually remove Bootcamp from my Intel iMac before erasing the drive for the purposes of trading it in. I also forgot to reinstall Mac OS. Now when I go to reset the NVRAM, the system is trying to boot into a corrupted Windows 8 installation. I'm going to try to reinstall Mojave (?) since that's my only OS option, then see if Bootcamp Assistant is accessible. What else can/should I do to triage? currently giving the finger to incomplete apple support articles
Assuming you have an Intel-based Mac, this article from Apple describes the process.
You can boot while holding:
Command-R: Start up from the built-in macOS Recovery System. Use this key combination to reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your system, or to use the other apps in macOS Recovery.
Option-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall macOS and upgrade to the latest version of macOS that’s compatible with your Mac.
Option-Shift-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall the version of macOS that came with your Mac or the closest version that’s still available.
Each will give you the option to open Disk Utility and completely erase the hard disk.
posted by blob at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2022
You can boot while holding:
Command-R: Start up from the built-in macOS Recovery System. Use this key combination to reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your system, or to use the other apps in macOS Recovery.
Option-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall macOS and upgrade to the latest version of macOS that’s compatible with your Mac.
Option-Shift-Command-R: Start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. Use this key combination to reinstall the version of macOS that came with your Mac or the closest version that’s still available.
Each will give you the option to open Disk Utility and completely erase the hard disk.
posted by blob at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2022
Response by poster: I've done all that, but I did it BEFORE I realized that Bootcamp had to be removed first using Bootcamp Assistant within Mac OS.
There are two volumes in Recovery Mode Disk Utility: the wiped Mac HD, and a wiped Container disk2, which was the previous Bootcamp partition. The latter can only be erased, not removed.
When I go into Startup Disk by pressing option during boot (or just boot, period), my only option is that corrupted Windows partition, which can't be booted because it went from NTFS to APFS after I erased it.
I'm going to try to reinstall Mojave and see if I can boot into it or if it automatically tries to take me to Windows again even though it's not selected as the startup disk.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 12:16 PM on September 2, 2022
There are two volumes in Recovery Mode Disk Utility: the wiped Mac HD, and a wiped Container disk2, which was the previous Bootcamp partition. The latter can only be erased, not removed.
When I go into Startup Disk by pressing option during boot (or just boot, period), my only option is that corrupted Windows partition, which can't be booted because it went from NTFS to APFS after I erased it.
I'm going to try to reinstall Mojave and see if I can boot into it or if it automatically tries to take me to Windows again even though it's not selected as the startup disk.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 12:16 PM on September 2, 2022
Response by poster: Ok, I was able to get the install completed and my iMac boots into Mac OS. My guess is that when someone goes into Recovery mode they'll see the weird other partition but I'll just have to take that risk. Fingers crossed. What a stressful pain.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 12:37 PM on September 2, 2022
posted by The Adventure Begins at 12:37 PM on September 2, 2022
If you're concerned there may be data on the Bootcamp partition, you should be able to remove the partition entirely using Disk Utility as described in the second paragraph here, except you'll be using it within Recovery Mode.
posted by churl at 12:52 PM on September 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by churl at 12:52 PM on September 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by churl at 11:53 AM on September 2, 2022 [1 favorite]