Help Can't Install Maverick "disk doesn't use the GUID Partition-"

I have an imac and i'm using bootcamp fro windows 8. so I have Macintosh HD and BOOTCAMP Partitions. both partition have Master Boot Record as the Partition Scheme. When trying to install OS X Mavericks it rell me that "This disk doesn't use the GUID Partition Table scheme. ..." it tells me to use Disk Utility to select the disk ->partition -> select Volume Scheme and then Options... but option is grayed out... I can not change it and so can not install Mavericks... how do I solve the this issue without losing any data in mac and in windows? without deleting partitions if possible?
thanks

GUID is a drive map layout. You can only change it by opening Disk Utility, highlighting the physical drive and choosing the Partition tab. Then change the partition layout to anything other than Current. The Options button below that will then be active and you can then finally change the drive map from whatever it is now to GUID.
Note that since you must repartition the drive, you WILL lose everything on all partitions. So you MUST back up everything FIRST to another drive. This can be a clone to another physical drive, internal or external. When you clone it back after repartitioning, the drive map does not change.
To check your current drive layout, open Disk Utility and click on the physical drive you want to install Mavericks on. Example:
Then look at the lower right of Disk Utility's box. If you see anything other than GUID Partition Table, as shown below, then you must repartition the drive.
The other main problem is that you have to have another drive to boot to before you can change the one that needs to be repartitioned. Clone your current drive to another physical drive, not another partition on the same drive. Once the clone is complete, boot to that drive and you'll be able to repartition the drive you need to change.

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This disk doesn't use the GUID Partition table scheme.

When I Install the Lion. It is stuck.
Lion This disk doesn’t use the GUID Partition table scheme.Use disk Utility to change the partition scheme.Select the disk,choose the Partition tab,select the Volume Scheme and then click Options.
The last step has problem.
I can not click Options.

In order to repartition the startup drive you will have to boot from your Snow Leopard DVD, select Utilities and then Disk Utility. YOU MUST ERASE YOUR DISK TO CHANGE THE PARTITION TABLE. The good news is that I see you have a Time Machine backup. Make sure that your backup is current before you erase your startup disk.
Even before doing this, save a copy of the Lion installer (it is in the Applications folder) onto an external device. Your external hard drive is a good spot; it won't interfere with your Time Machine backup. This will prevent you from having to download the installer again.
The easiest way to proceed after making sure your Time Machine backup is current, saving a copy of the Lion installer, and repartitioning your startup disk, is to reinstall Snow Leopard on your newly partitioned disk. This will take a little longer but it is simple and is fully supported by Apple. Once that is done and you are running Snow Leopard on your startup disk again, run the Lion installer from whereever you saved it, and then restore your files and settings from your Time Machine backup during the install process.
There is an unsupported procedure for making a bootable Lion DVD, but it is more complex and is not supported by Apple. If you are uncomfortable with any of this and have access to an Apple Store, make an appointment at the Genius Bar and they can help you through the process.

Lion This disk doesn't use the GUID partition table scheme

Hi I have downloaded and began running the installation but it says "This disk doesn't use the GUID partition table scheme", any ideas?! Running latest version of OSX 10.6.8
Thanks in advance!

ok, sorry if I offended you for wrong.
I did not knew Apple ships MBR partitioned disks or has official support for doing so. I always see Windows-PCs with that scheme ( Linux supports mbr and guid just like osx ) .
Of course I know that Disk Utility offers three options : GUID or MBR or Apple partition map for ppc devices.
Lion needs GUID, so a reformat is absolutely necessary for those that have one of the others.
Again sorry.

After i bought mac os x lion from web then download , after that to install but when they ask me to choose disk to install i can not choose, it say this disk does not use the GUID partiton table scheme. use disk utility to change the partition scheme. but

after i bought mac os x lion from web then download , after that to install but when they ask me to choose disk to install i can not choose, it say this disk does not use the GUID partiton table scheme. use disk utility to change the partition scheme. but

after i bought mac os x lion from web then download , after that to install but when they ask me to choose disk to install i can not choose, it say this disk does not use the GUID partiton table scheme. use disk utility to change the partition scheme. but

HT5225 "This disc does not use the GUID Partition Table Scheme...". I keep getting this message when I try to install OSXLion. It has something to do with a repair Apple performed last year. I use a 17" MacBookPro. Any suggestions?

"This disc does not use the GUID Partition Table Scheme. Use Disc Utility to change the partition scheme". I keep getting this message when I try to install OSX Lion so that I can upgrade my 17" MacBookPro to move to iCloud. My harddrive was replaced last year by Apple because of a fault by the manufacturer and I think this is the cause of the problem. What can I do so that I don't lose my content.

When you click the partion tab. There is option on the bottom of the window. Click on that there there are these options.

Can't install: "this disk cannot be used to start up your computer"

After making sure that my current startup disk for 10.5 was imaged to another hard drive, I inserted the Snow Leopard install disk and double-clicked the Install icon. Everything worked fine till I got to "Select the disk where you want to install Mac OS X." All of the disk partitions had warning triangles, including the one for my original startup disk, which has worked perfectly for the 10.5 pre-installed on my new iMac (identifier 9,1). When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed. No other programs were running except Finder.
I used Disk Utility to check the disk and repair permissions: no change in the installation program's message. I quit the installation program and reinserted the DVD. It certainly does a lot of churning of the DVD before you ask it to do anything. With all external hard disks disconnected, it still gives the same error message.
Where do I go from here? I thought Snow Leopard was "The world's most advanced operating system. Finely tuned." It can't even install itself and recognize a bootable internal hard drive on an iMac.

GasMan4932 wrote:
When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed.
How did you partition this drive, if you did that? Does it contain start up or utility partitions for any other OS (for instance Linux)? There have been reports that the "cannot be used to start up your computer" message will appear if a third party utility was used to create a 'triple boot' system or such, apparently because SL is picky about the format GUID partition scheme table info & how partitions are allocated space on the drive by other formatting/partition methods.
For some users with these partitions, the fix has been as simple as "tickling" (slightly changing) the partition size of some partition with Disk Utility, which apparently updates the GUID partition scheme table info so that the SL installer accepts it as safe to use with SL.( In this sense, the message may be trying to say the installer thinks the disk can't be used to reliably start up your computer with SL, not in general.)
See the discussions topic Cannot install Snow Leopard over 10.5.8 for more about this.

How can I install drivers for bootcamp without using the mac install dvd?

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Thanks in advance. (sorry for the language)
iBasti94

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You didn't install Boot Camp drivers. It looks like you downloaded these drivers > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3173
Those drivers are only for the graphic card and Bluetooth, not anything else, so you have to download the Boot Camp drivers on OS X and install them in Windows

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WirelessCharge

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
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Good morning,
I have recently replaced my iMac's HD and have been trying to install the OS. For I lost the Snow Leopard install DVD that came with my Mac, I decided to plug in the old HD in through a USB dock to use the recovery partition (the only one that still works). It boots into it normally, the Disk Utility works like a charm, but when I attempt to install the OS, it loads a little, but then restarts without the bar being complete, and when it comes back up, it starts from the beginning, asking me for a default language. I do it all again, and it restarts too early indefinitely.
I've tried resetting it through the power cable, resetting the PRAM, but neither seem to work. I've also checked whether the partition I'm installing the OS to was already bootable, but it isn't. I'm not sure what it's wrong. Any input is appreciated.
Many thanks in advance,
Amanda

It is always best to have the original system discs that came with any Mac computer. At some point you will need those discs. In this case even if you are successful in reinstalling Mavericks you won't have the originally included iLife Apps without having to buy them from the Mac App store and not all of them are still offered.
I suggest you contact Apple by phone and ask to speak to someone specifically to order a Replacement Set of Original System discs. You will need the serial # of that iMac and there is a small charge for them. But in the end you NEED Those Discs.
As noted they may not help in your present situation.
I must ask why did you replace the drive? Did you need more space or was the drive starting to fail?
Since it looks like there is a cable going from the drive to the logic board.
Photo from iFixit.com
If your original drive stopped working when installed inside the iMac but you can boot from it when in your SATA to USB Dock then it might be that the cable is bad and that is why the original drive stopped working and you are having problems installing OS X on the new drive.
amandagiglio wrote:
Ugh, just to think I refused a Seagate offer because I thought I'd better use the same HD make the Mac originally had..
It's a mid-2010 21.5" EMC 2389. It did come with the drivers and OS X Snow Leopard install CD, that is now lost because I lent someone. Should I try to get a replacement for that? Are there more chances of it working without me having to tear it all apart again?

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imnyaar wrote:
... It says it cant be install on the harddrive
What does the message say, exactly?
Try this:
From the Finder's Go menu, choose Computer:
Double-click your hard disk icon. It is usually named "Macintosh HD":
Look for this folder:
If it appears in that window, drag it to the Trash.

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Well I was able to obtain a work around download of Flash and it installed fine but Firefox tells me it needs updating so I go out, thinking I'm "IN" finally to update it and I get that issue of not being able to get the update for it. It's a regular laptop, not a touch screen or one of those new fangled ones for todays world. In fact it's a refurb so it's probably origin date was a year or so ago before all this MS stuff took off fully. So not understanding why I'm feeling like I'm being BLOCKED from getting the updated Flash I need and desire. If I click on the little "X" and tell it to ignore the warning the vid will play just fine but don't want to have to do that every time. Must be a better way.
Again, I'm sorry for posting in the wrong forum, getting this posted in the Flash forum was my desire but the way Adobe has this set up I just couldn't figure it out. I belong to ALLOT of forums and most are pretty straight forward but this one is confusing!

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I recently had my old 500 GB hard drive swapped out for a new 480 GB SSD on my mid-2010 iMac. I made a flash drive into an OSX Mavericks installer per instructions from online tutorials. With the flash drive inserted, I formatted the new SSD in disk utility and then selected it to install Mavericks. However, I can't complete the installation, which is supposed to take 26 minutes, because the screen goes black midway through. I tried this twice and the second time moved the mouse periodically to make sure that the computer wasn't going to sleep. Same thing happened. Installer says that the installation can be recovered, but it will not complete installation. Any advice much appreciated!

Wondering if this can be done
Yes.
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_Intel
Also I have 4 ram slots with 2gb in two of them can I install two sticks of 4gb in the empty ones without impacting performance
Yes. Recommended in pairs. So 2x2GB + 2x4GB SO DIMMS for a total of 12 would be fine.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2010/DDR3_21.5_27

Can I install Mavericks on Quad-Core Intel Xeon (w/10.6.8)?

From everywhere I have read so far, the answer looks like "yes I can install Mavericks", but I'm a bit confused and wanted to check with folks here before I dive in...
I'm running an early-2008 Mac Pro with 10.6.8 (check!), but I could swear that in the past when I tried to update certain pieces of software (and OS), that 10.7+ (or 10.8+) required a later processor than is running on my Mac Pro (which is a Quad-Core Intel Xeon).
With the Mavericks release, it seems to be that I can now update the OS even with this older processor, and then be able to run all the latest software (I really just use MSFT and Apple software). It seems counter-intuitive to me, so I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something and will be left in deep doo-doo after trying to install Mavericks!
Thanks much all-

       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
You must have the third generation MP in order to run Mavericks. You can install over Snow Leopard:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. 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 your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
If all is well then run the Mavericks installer that you downloaded. Prior to this you may wish to make your own installer:
Make Your Own Mavericks, Mountain/Lion Installer
1. After downloading the installer you must first save the Install Mac OS X application. After the installer downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the leftside list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.
3. Use Lion DiskMaker 3.0 to put your installer clone onto the USB flash drive.
Make your own Mavericks flash drive installer using the Mavericks tool:
You can also create a Mavericks flash drive installer via the Terminal. Mavericks has its own built-in installer maker you use via the Terminal:
You will need a freshly partitioned and formatted USB flash drive with at least 8GBs. Leave the name of the flash drive at the system default, "Untitled." Do not change this name. Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder. Copy this command line after the prompt in the Terminal's window:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction
Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not be echoed to the screen so be careful to enter it correctly. Press RETURN, again.
Wait for the process to complete which will take quite some time.

TS2951 I have a laptop (2010) with Lion OS and tried to install Mavericks and part way through the installation it quit and reverted back to Lion and the app store doesn't let me download Mavericks again

I have a laptop (2010) with Lion OS and tried to install Mavericks and part way through the installation it quit and reverted back to Lion and the app store doesn't let me download Mavericks again. How can I resolve this?

Is your data backed up?
Are you running any non-Apple system optimization tools?

Can't install Mavericks...

OK, here's a weird one...
I can't install Mavericks on my 2012 MacBook Air (29GB free) - "Macintosh HD" is being used for Time Machine backups.
Huh?
Any clues/fixes gratefully received!

victornielsen wrote:
Where do you find the Backups.backupdb folder?
If you're having that problem, it will be in the "root of the hard drive", which is the top-level of the drive, the folder you see when you open the volume itself.
I found it on my external drive, and deleted it there (in the trash too using the option key), and now i have no backup of my system and no mavericks.
You shouldn't have needed to do that. The problem only occurs if a Backups.backupd folder exists on the volume where you intend to install Mavericks. If your backups are really gone, I wouldn't even try to install Mavericks until you can create another backup set.

Help Can't Install Maverick "disk doesn't use the GUID Partition-"

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