Missing 50gb and can't partition?

[RossMacca]

I recently erased my bootcamp partition and I've now noticed that my Mac partition didn't "expand" to fill the gap that the W7 partition left. Entering disk utility to extend this partition does not allow me to do so.

Anyone had this issue before, and what is the solution to this?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

How did you erase the Windows partition?

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[RossMacca]

Through disk utility as the Windows partition became corrupt and BCA wouldn't remove it for some reason.

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

Format the boot camp partition as fat32. Open Boot Camp Assistant. It should then be able to merge the partitions.

 

[RossMacca]

Format the boot camp partition as fat32. Open Boot Camp Assistant. It should then be able to merge the partitions.

There is no boot camp partition, I erased it. Even trying to make a new partition to use the 50gb I should have doesn't work, it simply removes 50 from my Mac partition.

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

There is no boot camp partition, I erased it. Even trying to make a new partition to use the 50gb I should have doesn't work, it simply removes 50 from my Mac partition.

What I meant was, format the erased partition as fat32 and then open BCA again. Don't use the partition function, just the erase. If I'm misunderstanding I apologize. Perhaps take a screenshot while in Disk Utility so we can see what you are referring to.

 

[RossMacca]

What I meant was, format the erased partition as fat32 and then open BCA again. Don't use the partition function, just the erase. If I'm misunderstanding I apologize. Perhaps take a screenshot while in Disk Utility so we can see what you are referring to.

I'm not sure how I could do that. It won't let me partition the 50gb that is missing and it doesn't even acknowledge that it exists apart from where it says total capacity is ~250gb and the mac partition is ~200gb (Recovery is still there but its only ~700mb).

Here's a screenshot; thanks for your help and if it still isn't clear I can try and explain it further.

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

What Mac OS version are you using? I've had this happen to me before and the only solution was to reformat by either booting from the install disk and erasing the entire hard drive via Disk Utility (Snow Leopard and older) or if you're in Lion, boot from the Recovery HD and do the same. I haven't found a viable solution for a screwy and invisible partition yet. However, I'm sure it could be addressed using Terminal, but I'm not familiar with it.

 

[RossMacca]

What Mac OS version are you using? I've had this happen to me before and the only solution was to reformat by either booting from the install disk and erasing the entire hard drive via Disk Utility (Snow Leopard and older) or if you're in Lion, boot from the Recovery HD and do the same. I haven't found a viable solution for a screwy and invisible partition yet. However, I'm sure it could be addressed using Terminal, but I'm not familiar with it.

I'm on Lion.

Yeah I'm sure there is a way. The problem started when my Windows partition blue screened and caused all my partitions to "disappear". To fix it I had to install Lion onto an external hard drive and use Terminal to re-partition the Mac part of the hard drive, thankfully without losing any data.

I had planned at this stage to do a clean restore anyway but I'm pretty busy with uni so don't have the time to go through it all. I guess I'll just have to put up with it (I don't REALLY need the space anyway) until I have the time to restore.

Thanks for your help, more useful than trying to tell me where the search bar is....

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

I'm on Lion.

Yeah I'm sure there is a way. The problem started when my Windows partition blue screened and caused all my partitions to "disappear". To fix it I had to install Lion onto an external hard drive and use Terminal to re-partition the Mac part of the hard drive, thankfully without losing any data.

I had planned at this stage to do a clean restore anyway but I'm pretty busy with uni so don't have the time to go through it all. I guess I'll just have to put up with it (I don't REALLY need the space anyway) until I have the time to restore.

Thanks for your help, more useful than trying to tell me where the search bar is....

Yeah that's the thing. The only utilities I know of that will non-destructively expand partitions in this way are in Windows. You COULD give iPartition a try. However, all this resizing partitions repeatedly is a little scary. I think it would be best, as you suggested, to simply back up and reformat when you have the time. I'd keep a backup anyway in the event that something weird happens.

 

[KPOM]

Are you using FileVault2? If so, turn it off first, and then try to expand the partition.

Also, rather than just try to drag the partition graphic to expand it, type in a larger number into the box and see if that works.

 

[jayhawk11]

Why in god's name is your Recovery HD so large? Try booting from Internet Recovery and see if disk utility in that will allow you to adjust the partitions. I'm with everyone else, though. You probably should just wipe it.

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

Why in god's name is your Recovery HD so large? Try booting from Internet Recovery and see if disk utility in that will allow you to adjust the partitions. I'm with everyone else, though. You probably should just wipe it.

OP... did you accidentally mess with the Recovery HD by chance? I think that's where your problem lies. You also shouldn't be able to see your Recovery HD in Disk Utility. Something was borked. You need to reformat the drive when you have the chance.

Question: When you press and hold the alt/option key at boot, does the Recovery HD partition appear as an option?

 

[RossMacca]

Why in god's name is your Recovery HD so large? Try booting from Internet Recovery and see if disk utility in that will allow you to adjust the partitions. I'm with everyone else, though. You probably should just wipe it.

I'm fairly sure 650mb is the standard size of the Recovery HD?

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

I'm fairly sure 650mb is the standard size of the Recovery HD?

You shouldn't be able to see the Recovery HD under normal circumstances while in Disk Utility. Something seems wrong here.

 

[RossMacca]

You shouldn't be able to see the Recovery HD under normal circumstances while in Disk Utility. Something seems wrong here.

This was a direct result of the way I re-partitioned the drive when Windows messed things up. All it has done is made the Recovery HD 'visible'.

 

[LiesForTheLiars]

This was a direct result of the way I re-partitioned the drive when Windows messed things up. All it has done is made the Recovery HD 'visible'.

Yes, but it seems like that's one of many things contributing to this weirdness. I think you'll feel much better after a reformat. Until then, I think you'll be okay.

 

[RossMacca]

Yes, but it seems like that's one of many things contributing to this weirdness. I think you'll feel much better after a reformat. Until then, I think you'll be okay.

Yeah, its probably a result of the same thing that's causing the problem. I dont think it itself is causing the problem though.

Fairly certain I could repartition it using Terminal, but I'm terrified of typing commands into that thing, especially when it could so easily end up in data loss, hah. I'll just deal with it for now.

 

[KPOM]

Yeah, its probably a result of the same thing that's causing the problem. I dont think it itself is causing the problem though.

Fairly certain I could repartition it using Terminal, but I'm terrified of typing commands into that thing, especially when it could so easily end up in data loss, hah. I'll just deal with it for now.

If you have an external HD, use Carbon Copy Cloner and make a backup of your drive. You can then reboot using the cloned copy, go into Disk Utility, reformat your main drive, and clone it back.

Unfortunately, if you simply restore from a Time Machine backup, it may overwrite your Recovery Partition.