Disk utility can't erase my HD

Hi, I would like to earase my entire hard drive to reboot my macbook pro from zero. Problem is that in Disk Utility the Format dropdown and the Name are grey and wont let me make any changes. Does anybody know how I can slove this? Thanks!

Since you have an Early 2011 model did it come with Lion installed or Snow Leopard? That model came with both versions of OS X Pre-installed depending on when it was made. If it was an Early Released Early 2011 it came with Snow Leopard Pre-Installed and you got System Reinstall DVDs with it. If it is a Later release Early 2011 model it came with Lion.
If it came with DVD discs and Snow Leopard you will need to use those discs to return it to as shipped from factory state.
If it came with Lion Pre-Installed you willl need to use the Online Internet Recovery system to return it back to as shipped from factory state. Or if you are still running Lion you can use the built in Recovery HD partition to do that.
To boot from the Online system hold down the Command + Option/Alt + r keys at sartup and hold them down until you see a globe on the screen.
To boot from the built in Recovery HD partition hold down the Command + r key at startup.
Then you can erase the Macintosh HD partition or Repartition the drive as one partition if you are booting from the Online Internet system.
If you have DVD dics then boot the computer with the reinstall DVD in the DVD drive and hold down either the c key, to boot directly from the DVD, or the Option/Alt key to get a boot selection screen and then wait about 30 seconds + for the DVD disc to show up and selct it to boot from.

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Are my photos completely gone if i went into disk utility and clicked erase, or can i recover them?

i wanted to put my macbook pro back to factory settings and re installl the disk. so i went into disk utility and clicked erase, after that i realized i did not put my pictures on my external drive and now i'm wonder even though i pushed erase in disk utility for my HD are my photos just gone off my computer and hidden in files that i have to recover. because i tried a few softwares that i downloaded and i found some of my photos but couldnt get them cause the software was a demo.
main question is even though i clicked erase HD and my pictures aren't on when i re install the mac DVD can i still recover them somehow??

I'm assuming that you were booted from the Mac install disk or recovery partition when you clicked Erase? (It's impossible to erase a disk you're booted from, at least using Disk Utility).
Do you have a backup of your computer, perhaps using Time Machine?
If not, and you still want to recover your pictures, first, STOP. Do not re-install Mac OS X. Installing the system and applications will overwrite your hard drive and potentially permanently lose your deleted files.
The only way you can retrieve your files is by using data recovery software such as Data Rescue. No, it's not cheap, but you have to decide what your photos are worth to you. You would need to run it from another Mac, ideally, and connect to your Mac using target mode.
If you're uncomfortable with that, you should seek a local reputable Mac/data recovery consultant.
The utility kaz-k points you to is not a solution to your problem. It's an Unerase Trash program.
Matt

After getting the dreaded gray/blue screen, I tried to run disk repair on the internal disk. I got an error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair this disk and restore your backed-up files. The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely

After getting the dreaded gray/blue screen, I tried to run disk repair on the internal disk. I got an error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair this disk and restore your backed-up files. The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely." What do I do now? This is an iMac and I'm running 10.6.8.

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it. See below for how to clone a drive.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
You may be able to backup your data if you have an erased external drive you can use. Before you do the above but after you have opened Disk Utility you can try to clone your drive:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
       it to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
      the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Now this will only work if the drive is accessible and can be cloned by Disk Utility. Otherwise, you would need to access your drive from another Mac that you can connect via Firewire - Target Disk Mode.

Disk Utility can't repair TM backup disk

Hello all
Recently, my external backup disk (a 750 GB WD My Passport) that I use with Time Machine has been acting up. At first, it wouldn't show up on the desktop, but was being recognized in Disk Utility (with the "Time Machine Backup" partition greyed out). After multiple restarts and unplugging/replugging the hard drive, I finally got to be properly recognized, i.e. it showed up on the desktop with the proper Time Machine hard drive icon. So I thought the problem was gone and started a routine backup. However, Time Machine returned an error:
"Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder."
I search the forums, and followed the advice here: http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/C10.html
I tried repairing the disk, but DU couldn't repair it:
Verify and Repair volume “Time Machine Backups”
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Detected a case-sensitive volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Incorrect number of thread records
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking multi-linked directories.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 3991498 instead of 3904049)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 678218 instead of 673790)
Invalid volume free block count
(It should be 9588404 instead of 11784378)
Volume header needs minor repair
The volume Time Machine Backups was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
So now I'm still following the advice on the above mentioned page by posting on here. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. I am using a 2010 15in 2.66 i7 MBP, if that makes a difference, although my guess is the problem's with the harddrive itself. I think there may have been one time about a month ago when Time Machine stopped responding (or something like that) which forced me to pull out the harddrive, possibly corrupting the data. But I'm not sure, and I do recall making at least one successful backup after that. Well, actually TM confirms this: "Latest successful backup: 5/27/11 at 11:51 PM". So I have no idea what's going on. Again, any help would be appreciated.

You can't tell what's corrupted or where. Time Machine backups have a very complex structure, all linked together. So, you can often do new backups, or restore individual items, or even entire backups, as long as you don't stumble over the damage.
There's a chance a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app, such as Disk Warrior, can repair them. It's about $100, and probably a good investment for the future, but there's no guarantee it can fix them.
If not, or if you don't want to spend the money, your only option is to erase the disk and let Time Machine start fresh.
It sounds like you may have other data on it; if that's in the same partition, that's not a good idea. This is a good time to copy the data off, erase the disk, and make 2 (or more) partitions on it, so Time Machine has its own, exclusive space. See #3 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for details and instructions.

Disk utility can't repair a partition on external hard drive

I have a 1TB Western Digital external FW drive that's only a couple years old (2 or 3, probably). I have it split into partitions, one of which I'm using for Time Machine. The non-Time Machine partition checked out fine with DIsk Utility, but when I ran Disk Utility on the Time Machine partition, I received this message:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing? I erased the Time Machine partition and recreated it through Disk Utility, and then I verified it. Everything checked out okay, but I want to make sure, especially since I'm hosting my iTunes music in the other partition (it's backed up to a 2nd external drive, so if the drive does die, at least I don't lose everything).
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off. I unplugged the drive and plugged it back in again a couple times, but nothing happened. Finally, the light went back on after plugging it back in for the 3rd or 4th time, but I'm wondering if the drive could be going bad, which would surprise me since it isn't very old.

Brad Cook wrote:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing?
Possibly, but not necessarily. The File System on the disk was so badly corrupted that Disk Utility couldn't fix it. That might indicate a problem with the drive. It's not unusual for consumer-quality (ie, inexpensive) drives to fail after 2-3 years, although many will run for several years. It's a bit of a crapshoot.
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off.
Whatever caused that is another good possibility -- if a drive is improperly disconnected, OSX can't "close it out" properly, and that can cause damage to the file system. Sometimes Disk Utility can fix it, sometimes it can't. And sometimes heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair apps like DiskWarrior can fix things Disk Utility can't.
A power dip or spike could have caused it, or an overheated electronic component, etc. If it has it's own power supply, be sure it's on a good (ie, not cheap) surge protector or U.P.S. system.
Otherwise, keep an eye on it. If you don't have "secondary" backups, this would be an excellent time to get another drive for that purpose. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions.
Bottom line: personally, I'd not trust my only backups to that drive.
(But then, I'd never trust my backups to any single drive, no matter how new or high-quality.)

Disk Utility can't repair this disk

I have been having trouble booting. It started when I connected a router to it. It seemed to eat up the free disk space and I only have 77 MB left or something around that.
Anyway, I tried deleting files with command-s commands, and it worked one time and it freed up 2 GB of space. I restarted the computer and when I tried to start it up, it still got stuck in the gray screen with the whirly thing at the bottom. I checked the space and it was 77MB now.
I decided to boot from the Install Disk (Snow Leopard 10.6.0).
I checked Disk Utility first and verified the disk. It came up with the message:
"Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk .... disk, and restore your backed-up files."
What should I do now?
I have the Mac HD volume on backup already so I don't have to do the back up stage.
Should I erase the disk while I am in Disk Utility?
And format it to Mac OS Extended Journal?
And then install the operating system again?
Thanks.

To answer your questions, first, some other options...
If you fill your disk up that far, you are going to have problems. Don't ever do this, 10% is a bare minimum, you may need even more, depending on the size of your disc.
I have seen before where a disc repair utility couldn't perform its function simply because there was not enough slack space available on the drive. While I have never seen this with disc utility, it is possible that the disc is repairable as-is, if you could just free up a couple more gigs of space first.
Secondly, you could also try Disk Warrior, or to a lesser extent, Techtool Pro, or even iDefrag. I have personally never had Techtool Pro fix anything that Disk Utility or Disk Warrior couldn't fix, so I hesitate to even mention it, but I have had Disk Warrior and iDefrag clear up problems that Disk Utility either couldn't detect, or couldn't fix.
If you are still in dire straits, you should re-partition the drive using disk utility. This is the safest route, then go from there.
good luck!
-a

Partition errors - "Disk Utility can't repair this disk"

I partitioned my external 1TB WD HD into two drives (950GB + 50GB) using Disk Utility (OS X Mavericks 10.9.1). However the 950GB partition will no longer mount. It is recognised in Disk Utility, but grayed out. "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk" in Disk Utility lead to the worrying error message "Disk Utility can't repair this disk."
From the Disk Utility logs, the initial partition was successful:
Partition 1:
Name: “Media Centre”
Size: 948.13 GB
File system: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Do not erase contents
Partition 2:
Name: “Media Centre 2”
Size: 50.03 GB
File system: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Do not erase contents
Mounting disk
Partition complete
Afterwards, I changed the name of the second partition “Media Centre 2” to "BOOTCAMP" (I was going to try to install Windows 7), but then changed my mind and tried to remove the second partition. At that point the log gives the error "Mount of “Media Centre” failed".
Partition 1 ("Media Centre") now seems to be in limbo, stuck as 950GB, and "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk" in Disk Utility lead to the worrying error message "Disk Utility can't repair this disk". Also in Disk Utility, Partition 1 ("Media Centre") now has the format classification "Mac OS Extended" rather than "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
Any idea how I can get my hard drive to mount and get the data back?

In Disk Utility select the Top most entry on the left, the drive model and or manufacturer name and size entry, then click the Partition tab and Repartition it to your liking. If that fails the drive is bad.

MB pro shuts off after bootup chime, hd damaged/volumeheader related - disk utility can't repair - how do i recover/backup my files??

Hi guys,
My macbook pro late(dec) 2011, doesn't boot up anymore, it just turns off after the chime (whilst a gray bar is loading a bit and then the MB shuts off)...
This all happened after I upgraded to mavericks, safari and chrome were spontaneously shutting off, my macbook kept restarting (all after recommended app store updates), it had kernel panics etc. Last night after an update it just wouldn't boot up anymore! Pff.. what should i do?
Disk utility can't repair the damaged HD, it had something to do with volume headers..
I basically want to access my macbook's files and documents so that i can transfer them onto an external hd or back them up.. i just want my files afterwards i can reformat or whatever as long as i get the files and contents of my hd back..
Ive read of diskwarrior? Can i burn that on a dvd and insert it into my mac, then start my mac and then it allows me to drag and drop all the contents of my hd onto an external hd?
I need a genius to help me!! A step by step guide would really mean the world to me!!
Thanks in advance mysterious genius!!!

Step 4(a) open Disk Utility from Utilities on the menu bar, then proceed to highlight the external drive in the left sidebar as you say and choosing Partition from the row of buttons that appear top center in the main window of DU.
5(a) click Restore on the bar of buttons top center of the main DU window, then what you say. But use the name you have given the external drive in step 4, Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) is the way it has been formatted, use a name such as Backup or something obvious to you.
Step 7, On the menu bar, click File, then New Finder Window. In the left sidebar you will see Devices and the internal and external drives will be listed. Click the name of the external drive and then in the main part of the window you should see the contents of the external drive. You can click on the folder for Users, then your user name, and see what folders appear...make sure the folders such as Documents, Pictures and whatever else you use appear and have the content you expect to be there.
You want to be sure all the content has been copied over since the step of erasing the internal drive is going to permanently remove it from that drive.
And then after step 8, add step 9, from Utilities on the menu bar, choose Install Mac OS X, and if it asks where to install, choose the internal, Macintosh HD, as where to install.

Disk Utility missing the Erase tab

Tonight, I was attempting to reformat my Mac Mini FileVault encrypted hard drive. I have Mountain Lion 10.8 installed on it, and I have a bootable Mountain Lion USB stick.
I booted from the USB device, and first tried to format. Everything was greyed out. I had to "Unlock" the encrypted drive and then it was available.
I then tried to do an Erase, and it failed with an error I didn't catch, and then only "Macintosh HD" shows up (no volume below it in Disk Utility) and the Erase tab is unavailable. The Partition tab is also locked and nothing can be chosen.
I can Verify and Repair with no problems, but I am unable to repartition or erase the drive.
Any thoughts?

I ran in to this issue once again, when trying to clean install Mountain Lion on my MacBook. I rebooted to the Recovery partition, and tried to format/erase using Disk Utility and that failed and left the system where only the drive (Macintosh HD) would show up, and Erase was greyed out. I was unable to format using the command line due to seeing the message:
"The disk is in use by Core Storage as a Physical Volume"
I found a solution here:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/59026/how-to-install-mountain-lion-on-a -disk-that-cannot-be-formatted-in-recovery-mode
See the post by Anderson, where he shows how to clobber this Core Storage volume:
Basically, you need to run diskutil CoreStorage list from Terminal. Identify the logical CoreStorage volume from that list and note the UUID string.
Then type diskutil CoreStorage delete UUID where UUID is the string you identified.
You can then partition with Disk Utility and run a Mountain Lion install.
This did the trick for me, and I was then able to 0-byte format the drive and do a clean install over the internet.

Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk.

My Server's non-boot volume, while using Disk Utility I get the message Volume bitmap needs minor repair for orphaned blocks. Then checking volume information. Invalid volume file count. It should be 472587 instead of 472588; Invalid bolume free block count. It should be 236325120 instead of 236325119. The volume was found corrupt and needs to be repaired. Volume repair complete. Updating boot support partitions for the volume required. Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk.
I received this error a month ago and replaced the drive. It worked fine for a month, but now I receive the same message.

Did you restore from a time machine backup? If so, what i would suggest is doing an erase then reinstalling, do not restore from time machine during intail setup. Setup a fresh account then use migration assistant to restore from your backup.

Only turns on in OSX Recovery, Disk Utility can't repair disk

Hi guys, I really need your help, as my Macbook Pro running on OSX Mavericks is having problems.
Today I turned my Mac on, and it started up with a loading wheel and a loading bar. When the loading bar finished, the Mac turned itself off. I tried many times, same happened every time. I then went into OSX Recovery, started repairing Macintosh HD, but the error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair Macintosh HD" came up and now I don't now what to do.
Is there any way I can back up my files in this situation?
Is there any way I can repair the disk without having to erase all data and reinstalling OSX?
Or do I really need to bring it to a Apple Store for repair?
Thx for reading

If you have access to another Mac and both computers have the appropriate connects, try the Target Disk mode to see if you can copy the files.
Target Disc Mode
Is there any way I can repair the disk without having to erase all data and reinstalling OSX?
No.

Disk Utility failure to erase/initialize

I have a 1 TB WD MyBook Studio Edition. I sent this drive to a firm that does video conversions (from film to digital). Drive returned with expected (good) results, but now I can't write anything onto the drive - says I can only read. So I copied all files on the drive to another disk, then used Disk Utility to initialize. First Aid tab action buttons are all greyed out. Erase tab shows default format as MS DOS. I changed to Apple Extended (Journaled) and pressed OK. Process starts, but fails after a few seconds with error "Write Failure". Now disk won't mount when I attach it - only Disk Utility "sees" drive, but fails each time I try to Initialize/Erase.
What's up, and how do I correct?
Thanks

If you haven't fixed this yet, you may be able to use Disk Utility to completely erase and reformat the disk.
Click the top line of the drive, then the Partition tab. Click +1 partition+ (or however many you want) under *Volume Scheme*, then Options at the bottom. Select GUID for an Intel Mac, +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac. Setup the partition(s) you want to use on the Mac as +OSX Extended (Journaled),+ then click Apply.

How to restore macbook pro 10.7.2 to factory settings .. disk utility what to erase?

how to restore macbook pro 10.7.2 to original settings .. step by step.. in the disk utility what to erase?

If the computer came with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installed,
you have to erase the drive and install OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
You can buy 10.6 Snow Leopard disc from Apple Store for 20 dollars;
Apple Store: 1-800-692-7753.
Best.

IMac Finder cannot see external hard drive but Disk Utility can

I have a WD external hard drive and it has been attached to my iMac for a year or two. About two months ago I upgraded to Lion 10.7.5 and hard drive still worked. Then suddenly about a week ago the iMac no longer sees the external hard drive in Finder.
I have connected the hard drive to the iMac with different USB cables and into different ports and it makes no difference so deduce there is no issues with the cables or the ports. I have connected the hard drive to an old Macbook and it can see the harddrive and read some of the info but I really need the hard drive attached to the iMac as I store all my music and photos on the external hard drive.
I read another thread and someone asked if you can see the hard drive in Disk Utility. I tried this and Disk Utility can see the hard drive.
What does this mean? Any suggestions as to how to get the iMac to see the hard drive so I can access the data on it?
I dont really know how Disk Utility works therefore if that is any help to me.
thanks

Open the Finder.
From the Finder menu bar click Finder > Preferences then select the General tab.
Make sure: External disks is selected.

TS1901 Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
*** ??? I need to take out the data from a WD320 that shows this error and then format the WD and put the data into again
THANKS !!!

I'm sorry, is there a question here? You seem to know precisely what you need to do…

Disk utility can't erase my HD

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