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Added a new partition after installing Boot Camp - cannot get into Windows

G

gavjs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 3, 2006
6
0
Hi,

I stupidly decided to try and install a beta of Windows 8 onto my dual-boot Boot Camp Macbook Pro. I reduced the size of my Lion partition to create a space into which I added a new partition.

Having researched this now I can see that this causes problems for Windows as its partition number changes. (I have Windows7 which does not have a boot.ini file I don't believe - I saw editing of that file in previous version of windows can resolve this problem.)

I tried deleting the partition I created as I read somewhere that can restore things back and get this working, but no joy!

I also tried creating a live Linux USB to copy files off the windows partition but cannot get the machine to see the USB stick either through Refit or by pressing Option on boot.

If I do a diskutil list in Terminal, I get the following:

# TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 110.0 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data 322.6 GB disk0s4

I can go ahead and scrub over the Windows7 partition but I would lose some files like my Outlook local folders which I'd rather save.

Anyone have any ideas on:

1) how to recover the machine back so everything works
2) how to be able to access the windows partition and copy what I want before reinstalling

Obviously 1 is more preferable :)

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Gavin
 
johnhurley

johnhurley

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2011
777
56
gavjs said:
Hi,

I stupidly decided to try and install a beta of Windows 8 onto my dual-boot Boot Camp Macbook Pro. I reduced the size of my Lion partition to create a space into which I added a new partition.

Having researched this now I can see that this causes problems for Windows as its partition number changes. (I have Windows7 which does not have a boot.ini file I don't believe - I saw editing of that file in previous version of windows can resolve this problem.)

I tried deleting the partition I created as I read somewhere that can restore things back and get this working, but no joy!

I also tried creating a live Linux USB to copy files off the windows partition but cannot get the machine to see the USB stick either through Refit or by pressing Option on boot.

If I do a diskutil list in Terminal, I get the following:

# TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 110.0 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data 322.6 GB disk0s4

I can go ahead and scrub over the Windows7 partition but I would lose some files like my Outlook local folders which I'd rather save.

Anyone have any ideas on:

1) how to recover the machine back so everything works
2) how to be able to access the windows partition and copy what I want before reinstalling

Obviously 1 is more preferable :)

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Gavin
Click to expand...

No ideas about how to rescue what you have ( or used to have ) ... some low level partition editing might do it and there are some utilities out there but risky.

I also toasted my original bootcamp setup by expanding a partition. One learns that the best approach is to come up with a plan at the beginning and stick with it.

I at least had backups of everything ... one way is using windows 7 system imaging utility. If you have a backup like that you can start over, setup up boot camp again, format new partition as NTFS, and then restore your windows image backup.

If you don't have a good backup of where you were before you started playing around ... well good luck!
 
gr8tfly

gr8tfly

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2006
5,333
99
~119W 34N
And thus the warning in Disk Utility about not changing the partition map (don't worry - I was experimenting and did the same thing, only worse - I added a partition).

It's more to do with the sector the Windows partition starts on, as I can use the same Winclone image restored on either Lion or SL and it will boot fine - Boocamp partition has a different partition number in each case.

You can take a look at the partition map in detail using the following command:
Code: 
%[B]sudo gpt -r show -l disk0[/B]

Post back the results, and I'll see if I can suggest anything. I suspect, you will need to use Bootcamp Assistant to remove the Windows partition (if it will recognize it). It should restore your Mac partition back to the full disk size.

If Bootcamp Assistant can't recognize the Windows partition, you might have to use command line tools to restore the Mac partition to the original condition.

Edit - Note: Use the Lion versions of Disk Utility and Bootcamp Assistant, as they are Recovery HD partition "aware", and will move the partition as necessary to follow a Lion Partition.
 
Last edited:
G

gavjs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 3, 2006
6
0
gr8tfly said:
And thus the warning in Disk Utility about not changing the partition map (don't worry - I was experimenting and did the same thing, only worse - I added a partition).

It's more to do with the sector the Windows partition starts on, as I can use the same Winclone image restored on either Lion or SL and it will boot fine - Boocamp partition has a different partition number in each case.

You can take a look at the partition map in detail using the following command:
Code: 
%[B]sudo gpt -r show -l disk0[/B]

Post back the results, and I'll see if I can suggest anything. I suspect, you will need to use Bootcamp Assistant to remove the Windows partition (if it will recognize it). It should restore your Mac partition back to the full disk size.

If Bootcamp Assistant can't recognize the Windows partition, you might have to use command line tools to restore the Mac partition to the original condition.

Edit - Note: Use the Lion versions of Disk Utility and Bootcamp Assistant, as they are Recovery HD partition "aware", and will move the partition as necessary to follow a Lion Partition.
Click to expand...

Here is the detailed view of partition map:

gpt show: disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
start size index contents
0 1 MBR
1 1 Pri GPT header
2 32 Pri GPT table
34 6
40 409600 1 GPT part - "EFI system partition"
409640 214843744 2 GPT part - "Customer"
215253384 1269544 3 GPT part - "Recovery HD"
216522928 1872
216524800 630069248 4 GPT part - "BOOTCAMP"
846594048 130179087
976773135 32 Sec GPT table
976773167 1 Sec GPT header


Thanks for any suggestions!
 
G

gavjs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 3, 2006
6
0
Anyone have any ideas on this one - I am about to give up and will lose of my Outlook data which is the one thing I'd like to keep!
 
dalstott

dalstott

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2008
46
13
NC
gavjs said:
Anyone have any ideas on this one - I am about to give up and will lose of my Outlook data which is the one thing I'd like to keep!
Click to expand...

You might be able to start the computer in firewire target disk mode and recover the files to an external drive then copy back to your newly installed Mac and Boot Camp partitions. For future reference you should have good backups so the risk to your data is minimal. Learn about cloning which is the most reliable method of avoiding loss .
 
gr8tfly

gr8tfly

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2006
5,333
99
~119W 34N
gavjs said:
Here is the detailed view of partition map:

Code: 
gpt show: disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         MBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6         
         40     409600      1  GPT part - "EFI system partition"
     409640  214843744      2  GPT part - "Customer"
  215253384    1269544      3  GPT part - "Recovery HD"
  216522928       1872         
  216524800  630069248      4  GPT part - "BOOTCAMP"
  846594048  130179087         
  976773135         32         Sec GPT table
  976773167          1         Sec GPT header


Thanks for any suggestions!
Click to expand...

To get at your Windows files, you can try mounting it using (in Terminal):
Code: 
%[B]diskutil mount disk0s4[/B]

As I mentioned earlier: If Bootcamp Assistant can't recognize the Windows partition, you might have to use command line tools to restore the Mac partition to the original condition.

So try removing the Windows partition using Bootcamp Assistant. If you can't, or if you can, but can't see all your free space in Disk Utility, you'll need to use gpt/diskutil to remove the partition and consolidate the freespace. Then you should be able to resize the OS-X partition either through Disk Utility or diskutil.
 
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