IMac Drive Failures and Boot Camp - large install experience and question

We have a large 24" iMac install, purchased in August of '08, 49 machines spread across 6 offices. All run Windows Vista in Boot Camp as their primary (and mostly sole) operating mode - I will be happy to explain why after we get this cleared up, but that is not the point of this question.
We have had 11 hard drive failures, a rate of over 22% in one year. No machine has failed twice. The equipment was purchased in different groups so a bad lot is unlikely. I am aware that there is an HD failure issue with the iMac's but this seems to be extreme. Personally I've been building apples and pc's since my first apple kit, have a mac plus in a box somewhere, and am fond of these machines (as is the staff) but I've never seen a failure rate like this.
It has been suggested that it is the use of Boot Camp that is causing these failures. While I have seen viruses over the years that can lead to hardware failure I've never seen validated (or even simply non-malignant) software have the same effect.
Any thoughts on this? Could BC be the cause? Is this failure rate unusual? Have folks heard of similar cases? Thanks.

no one has any thoughts on this?

Similar Messages

Windows XP and Boot Camp. Any experiences, pros, cons?

I WANT TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY REASON NOT TO USE WINDOWS XP AS THE ITERATION WHEN I PERFORM THE BOOT CAMP PARTITION ON MY MACBOOK PRO?

It could be done depending on when your MacBook Pro was made. Most MacBook Pro models from mid/late 2007 to early 2011 are capable of running Mac OS X 10.6.8 as well as OS X 10.10.2 that you show. If yours is capable then you would need to install 10.6.8 which supports Win XP or Win Vista with BootCamp. Find out with MacTracker at this link . http://mactracker.ca
The process would involve having a 10.6.x install disk and a clone of your existing 10.10.2 drive on an external HDD/SSD. You would use the 10.6.x install disk to erase and install 10.6.x followed by Boot Camp assistant install of Win XP/Vista. When satisfied you clone the external drive containing 10.10.2 and data back to the Mac OS partition replacing 10.6.x . I personally did not clone the recovery partition as it is well known to cause some Boot Camp problems. Instead I have a bootable installer USB thumb drive in addition to the clone of my Mac OS X partition for rescue.
It Is a lot more trouble than installing Win 7 but in my case Microsoft is to blame. They had a bunch of "Games for Windows" that required Vista that are next to impossible to make work with Win 7. And of course all help or upgrades have been abandoned. I was using Mavericks OS X and Win 7 and went through the process outlined above. I could have installed XP instead of Vista but I already had it on a MacBook with OS X 10.6.8.
http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/16/make-os-x-yosemite-boot-install-drive/

Enabling 'File Sharing' on my Mac allows my Macintosh HD and Boot Camp to be visible and writeable on my home network. How can I turn this off, so that only folders/files I share are visible?

So I've been trying recently to get my MacBook Pro connected to my home network. There are two other desktop computers in the household, and I'd like to be able to connect to their shared folders, as well as allow them to access shared items on my MacBook Pro. I think I've read all the documentation regarding this issue on the Apple Support site. I do have administrator privileges on my Windows 7 computer.
Issues connecting from PC to Mac
A couple of days ago, I enabled SMB File Sharing on my MacBook Pro, and in addition to the already shared Public folder, I added another that resides within Movies. Then I went to my Windows 7 PC, and under Network, my MacBook Pro appeared. I double-clicked on it (I cannot remember if I was asked to enter my Mac user credentials; I think I was), and I saw the two shared folders: Public, and the Movies folder.
However, today I went back to my Windows 7 PC, accessed my MacBook Pro, entered username and password, and in addition to the two shared folders, both my Macintosh HD and Boot Camp HD appeared as shared folders, both fully writable. However, under File Sharing on my MacBook Pro, only the two shared folders (Public and Movies) appear in the Shared Folders list.
How can I prevent my Mac from sharing my entire partitions? How can I configure it so thatonly the folders I select to share are actually broadcasted across my home network? Also, it would be ideal if I can access these shared folders from my Windows 7 PC without having to enter my Mac user credentials.
Issues connecting from Mac to PC
I have a user account on my Windows 7 PC with the same name as my Mac, but with no password. When I try to connect to my PC from my Mac, the enter credentials dialogue pops up and asks me to either log-in as a Guest, or enter my User credentials.
The Guest account is disabled on Windows 7, and I assume that's I'm not able to log in as Guest (if it is possible to connect as a Guest without having to enable the Guest account on Windows 7, please let me know). Leaving the password field blank on the enter credentials dialogue tells me that it's incorrect (even though I don't have a password on my Windows 7 account).
Is it possible to access shared files and folders on my Windows 7 PC from my Mac without having to create a password protected account? If not, is it possible to create a password for the sake of accessing shared files, while not requiring it to log in to the account? I'm sorry, I know this last bit more falls under the category of Windows Help.

Sharing files from a Mac to a PC is a different animal. I've never done it myself so you may want to repost a separate question on this topic.
From what I understand, in order to access files from a Mac on a PC, you must log in using your Mac username and password (no anonymous file sharing). Since this is not very desirable from a security standpoint, Apple recommends creating a separate user account on the Mac that is dedicated to file sharing. Give that account access only to the files/folders you want to share. You can then give that user account name and password to your Windows users.

I Mini with an i7 processor. I would like to use Boot Camp to install windows based CAD software on my MAC. Would it be better to use a plugin external hard drive to load my software on and if so what hard drive would you recommend?

I Mini with an i7 processor. I would like to use Boot Camp to install windows based CAD software on my MAC. Would it be better to use a plugin external hard drive to load my software on and if so what hard drive would you recommend?

Thank you for your quick response. I can then use a ZIP drive for data storage. I want to keep as much of my hard drive free of data as possible.

Boot Camp Installation: Definition of, and insights into "External Drives"?

I'm recovering from a logic board failure. One casualty was that I lost my prior Boot Camp installation of Windows on my main internal hard drive. :-( Wondering if I can install Windows anywhere other than the main internal hard drive so I can maximize space on my OSX main internal drive?
From what I've gathered, installing Windows 7 Boot Camp is very difficult (and perhaps impossible?) on an external hard drive. However, what's not entirely clear is what constitutes an "external drive".
Questions:
1. Can I install a bootable installation of Windows 7 using Boot Camp (obviously not running OSX in this scenario) on either the:
A) Data Doubler 7,200 drive
or
B) Express Card 34 SSD drive
2. Can I also install Parallels (on the main internal OSX drive), then while in OSX launch (a much slower) Windows from location A or B?
Context:
1. On a late 2011 MBP 17' (version 8,3), I've replaced the stock hard drive (7,200 rpm) with a much faster OWC SSD Drive. (Awesome upgrade, btw!)
2. The internal apple dvd device was removed and the stock hard drive was inserted in this location using OWC Data Doubler. (Also, very nice.) An extra challenge here is that the dvd drive is now an external device. I have a Windows 7 install disc, but I'm not sure if it will be recognized during the installation process?
3. This model MBP has an ExpressCard 34 slot, for which I can buy an SSD drive. Never used this slot and have read mixed reports on boot ability.
Any and all insights greatly appreciated!

Yoüf wrote:
Many thanks for the helpful response, Loner T. I think I've got it. To install Windows through BCA on the Optibay drive, I temporarily move it to the main SATA bay. I can then temporarily put the DVD drive back in the Optibay. So here's a question: In doing this, I would no longer have an OSX boot drive (since I'm temporarily removing my OSX boot SSD). It's been a while since I used BCA, so my memory is fuzzy (sorry), but does the BCA process need a working OSX install on the drive in the SATA bay?
The SSD with OSX boot is normally (for your specific scenario) kept in an external enclosure (USB/FW/TB) to boot from and run BC and partition the disk in the main SATA bay.
You mention that modifying the BC info.plist causes issues. I lost you a little here. Using the method you describe (move the Optibay drive to the SATA location, run BCA to install Windows, then move the drive back to the Optibay location), does the BC info.plist need to be modified or not? If yes, a few more details would be welcomed. If not, what prompted this thought?
If you have a functional Optical drive and the designated Windows-to-be in the proper bays, the BC info.plist modifications are unnecessary, and can cause other grief, and are best avoided.
Thanks also for the bleeptobleep post. It says to use a USB3/Thunderbolt external drive (which I do have); however, my MBP (version 8,3) only has USB2 ports. I realize that a USB2 port will read a USB3 external drive, but was wondering if this limitation is a deal breaker for a bootable Windows system, or if it just means that things will be really, really, tragically slow due to low transfer rates. Any idea on this aspect?
USB3 can cause problems for Windows 7 installer, bot not as many issues for Windows 8+. It is better to stick to USB2, but you are correct it will be slow. OSX can boot and will use RAM much more aggressively, unless it has to go back to the USB (2/3) when things may give you a beach ball. Windows 7/8 are less friendly for caching the whole OS and applications in RAM, and may be slower. A TB connection is much faster (TB2 even better).
BTW: Bummer that the ExpressCard slot can't work for booting into Windows. That would be pretty slick. I've seen some older posts by folks who were once able to do this, but seemingly only with early versions of OSX. Apparently newer OSX versions either did away with this feature, or seriously complicated the process. Would love to find a workaround if one exists.
You can test it, but may have some issues finding storage for ECards.
(Dumb question: on this forum, how are you threading comments into a quoted block of text? Are you using HTML or is there some easier way?)(((
Under the "Reply" bar at the top, there is an icon with a "quote" and a "speech" bubble, which is used to quote posts. You can either quote from a previous post, or select a line (or more) of text and click on that icon.

Assassin's Creed and Boot Camp bricked my iMac!

Okay, so it is not quite bricked, but it is very close, and I am at a loss. For the first time I have exhausted my knowledge and a series of Google searches and have come up short. Hopefully one of you guys can help. Sorry about how long this is, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible
First, the hardware:
27" iMac; OS X 10.6.2; 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo; 2GB RAM; GeForce 7600 (the $75 upgrade, if it maters)
The Circumstances:
I have had Boot Camp installed with Windows XP for a about a year now, though I have had to reinstall Windows a number of times. Frequently this seems to have corresponded with playing Assassin's Creed, though this is maybe just a coincidence.
Most recently, (about a week ago) I installed Windows XP Black Edition, hoping it might fair a bit better, and everything ran well. Two days ago I booted up Assassin's Creed, and everything was fine until today. I was playing the game, paused it, got up, and when I came back the computer was frozen with a mess of garbled checkers displayed on the screen.
The Problem:
I rebooted into Windows, and it locked up on a similar checkered screen.
I booted into Mac and it locked up during the grey apple logo.
I booted to the INSTALL DISC and it STILL froze during the grey apple logo.
HOWEVER, it will allow my to hold down option and pick which start disc I want it to freeze in, so it CAN access the firmware, but it CAN NOT get at either hard drive partition or the optical drive? All because it locked up during some game? Weird.
What I Have Tried:
I have tried booting from multiple install discs (see above)
I have tried resetting the PRAM several times
I have unplugged every peripheral other than my keyboard and mouse
I have tried booting in Safe Mode
I have tried booting into Single User Mode (it WILL boot into this mode) and running the fsck -fy command
I have tried booting into Target Disk Mode (boots) and connecting it to my laptop, from which I ran a repair in Disk Utility: It completed successfully and said there were no issues.
Other Clues:
It pretty much freezes up at the same point every time, right in the middle of the spinning wheel under the grey apple logo.
If I leave the computer the grey logo and pinwheel will disappear, leaving a just a grey screen.
Once it gave me the Kernel Panic screen instead of just locking up
If I boot in Verbose Mode the last couple lines before it freezes are:
Warning - com.apple.driver.InternalModemSupport declares no kernel dependencies; using com.apple.kernel.6.0.
PeerGuardian log entries: 731 (40960)
However, sometimes verbose mode will switch to a blank grey screen rather than stick on those lines
Anyone got any ideas? Please? I hope.

Quick correction: It's a 24" iMac, not a 27". I've been daydreaming I guess.

Boot Camp wont install 64 bit Windows 7 on iMac 2012

Hello guys,
I just bought the iMac 27" Late 2012 and im looking into installing Windows 7 via bootcamp.
At first I downloaded 32 bit Windows from DigitalRiver and tried to install Windows it then let me know that 64bit Windows was required. So I went ahead and downloaded the 64 bit Windows 7 and tried again but it is still giving me the same issue as before "BootCamp only supports 64-bit Windows installation on this platform..."
What can I do about this?

Hi billbennettnz,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The article below may be able to help you with this. Click on the link to see more details and screenshots.
Boot Camp Help: Install Windows on your Mac
https://help.apple.com/bootcamp/mac/5.0/help/#apdecf0e4b6-b472-438d-881e-57c230b 1c250
Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5639
Can I use a downloaded (ISO) version of Windows with Boot Camp?
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 and later), MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 and later, including Retina models), Mac mini (Mid 2011 and later), and iMac (Late 2012) can install downloaded (ISO) versions of Windows 7 and 8.
To determine if your Mac supports this feature:
Click the Go menu and choose Utilities.
Open Boot Camp Assistant.
Click Continue. If you see a "Create a Windows 7 or later install disk" checkbox, your Mac supports the use of downloaded (ISO) install images. See the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide for more information.
I hope this information helps ....
- Judy

HT5639 Do I need to uninstall boot camp 4 before I install and update to boot camp 5. I already have windows 8 pro with boot camp 4 installed. Do I need to unistall boot camp 4 or not necessary?

I already have windows 8 pro with boot camp 4 installed on my macair book 11". I have searched the entire articles on how to upgrade boot camp 4 to boot camp 5 but have found no answer as to my question: Do you have to uninstall boot camp 4 drivers before you install boot camp 5? I am not sure if it is ok to install boot camp 5 directly without uninstalling boot camp 4 because there might be driver version conflict. So I have not installed boot camp 5. Is it ok to install boot camp 5 withoust uninstalling boot camp 4? Your answers will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
You don't have to uninstall Boot Camp 4 drivers before installing Boot Camp 5 drivers. Boot Camp 5 drivers will simply overwrite Boot Camp 4 drivers, so you don't have to uninstall old drivers before installing new ones and making that process easier

HT4818 hey, I want to install windows on my mac, I have mac osx lion and I'm soon going to get mountain lion. If I use Boot camp to install windows do I need a windows disc, will i lose all my data, etc. If so how to I save them. Can I switch back to osx

hey, I want to install windows on my mac, I have mac osx lion and I'm soon going to get mountain lion. If I use Boot camp to install windows do I need a windows disc, will i lose all my data, etc. If so how to I save them. Can I switch back to osx after I install windows. ( can I switch between Windows and OS X as many times as I want.) thanks for answering.
Sebastian

hey, I want to install windows on my mac, I have mac osx lion and I'm soon going to get mountain lion. If I use Boot camp to install windows do I need a windows disc, will i lose all my data, etc. If so how to I save them. Can I switch back to osx after I install windows. ( can I switch between Windows and OS X as many times as I want.) thanks for answering.
Sebastian

HT1846 when will the update released for boot camp to install in 3TB drive to install windows 8

I would like to install windows 8 on my 3TB drive since the boot camp is not supported yet for 3 TB only supports upto to 2.2 TB when will be the update released

Apple is not here, just end-users like you. Anyone end-user who does has this knowlege would violating a non-disclosure agreent if he responded.
You best action at this point is to use the one path we have for getting info to Apple people working on technologies:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Hard Drive failure - various boot modes won't work, HELP!

Hello all,
First of all, sorry for the essay, but I didn't want to miss out on possible crucial details that could help!
A couple of weeks ago, my beloved 27" iMac had a hard drive failure. It won't boot, but instead goes to the grey 'no entry' sign when booting up. I tried holding Cmd + V on boot and this message repeated itself whilst failing to boot:
"rooting via boot-uuid from chosen/: D94DA2D5-DB38-3517-B05D-70A97AC6EE5B
Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key><IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1"> IOResorces</string><key>IOResourceMach</key><string ID= "2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
Got boot device = IOService:/AppleACPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@1F,2/AppleIntel5Serie sAHCI/PRT0@0/IOAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCBlockStorageDevice/IOBLockStorageDriver/Hitac hi HDS722020ALA330 Media/IOGUIDPartitionScheme
BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
jnl: unknown-dev: open: phys_blksz 4096 does not match journal header size 512, and journal is not empty!
hfs: late jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0)
cannot mount root, errno = 19"
I'm not sure how much of that is useful, but I thought I'd copy it all down anyway.
I googled error number = 19 and found articles on an invalid b-tree node and corrupt journals, leaving me to believe that because I recently deleted a Windows Vista partition and reformed the overall HD into a 2TB OSX volume, some windows data may have been left over and corrupted the journal?
So it fails to boot normaly, using Cmd V, and using the OSX install disk, as well as failing to boot from the DiskWarrior 4 DVD I purchased from my local Apple Reseller because I'd heard that it's very good at helping with issues such as what I think my HD is having. I tried Disk Utility whilst booting from the install disk, and tried to repair the drive, and each time I tried it said that invalid content was present in the journal but the disk repair had been successful.
Am I right in thinking that my data is on the drive, it's just that OSX won't register the drive's existence because of a corrupted journal? (the little I know of hard drives is shining brightly through at this point, I'm sure!)
I also tried to boot using target mode by connecting my iMac to a MacBook Pro also running Snow Leopard, but, whilst the iMac clearly went into target mode (bouncing firewire icon on screen), my HD never appeared on the desktop of the MacBook Pro, nor in Disk Utility.
Whilst I have AppleCare, I haven't tried taking it to a mac store yet because of two reasons; 1. The last time I did this I had HD failure on my old 2008 MBP and, whilst I told them to keep the data on it, the first thing they did was reformat the disk. Needless to say, it worked, but I lost all my valuable Data! The second reason is that it's bloody heavy, and I don't own a car!
Before people go on about the way I should have backed up my data, I did, and that's gone as well! D:
System Specs:
First generation of 27" iMacs
2.8Ghz Intel i7 quad core
2TB HD
ATi Radeon HD 4850 512mb VRAM
8GB DDR3 RAM
OS version: not the very latest snow leopard but the one before.
Thanks in advance, and once again sorry for the essay!
Westy

I'm not sure about the DW disk. Check that out at Alsoft's website. Apple doesn't provide data recovery services.
Apple has records of your iTunes purchases. However, the licensing for music only permits you to download it once. I'm surprised that you don't have backups.
If you get an external enclosure in which to put the drive then you might try accessing it from the MBP as an external drive. If you have an external drive you could try using recovery software:
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.
Beyond this you would need to send the drive off to a data recovery service which will be extremely expensive.

Windows 7 64 and Boot Camp

I installed 64-bits Windows 7 on my iMac 24 (end 2007) and it works perfectly. The only problem is the the Boot Camp drivers cannot be installed. (Snow Leopard disk).
Somewhere I have read that the Boot Camp drivers are not compatible with the 64-bit version on this iMac.
What shall I do now?
I also have a 32-bit version.

I don't see any help in those links.
What works for most, other than some of the issues with quality of Apple's drivers and graphic driver issue... the whole idea that somehow a Mac from 2007 isn't officially endorsed as supported, and Boot Camp 3.0 drivers are over a year old; came out before Windows 7 was out (but end of public RC phase).
which hinges on the Mac's firmware being EFI32 instead of UEFI 2.x (EFI64).
Copy the whole contents to a folder on your Windows volume.
Navigate to Apple\Drivers\Bootcamp64
control + click on that file and choose "Troubleshoot Compatibility Mode"
(or you can change Properties)
And you will then be able to overcome the "incompatible" error message and have them install
I have a 2006 Mac Pro also on the "endangered species list" as well.
Windows 64-bit versions from SP1 or later officially support UEFI, but that has not meant PCs couldn't install and use Windows 64-bit either.

Invalid node structure and Boot Camp 1.1.2

I downloaded Boot Camp 1.1.2 and during the installation of Mac Drivers I kept getting dialog boxes that the software i'm installing did not pass Windows Logo testing- I just ignored it.
After that Windows XP didn't recognise my keyboard, airport, ...
I prepared a new instalation with Boot Camp Assistant and i had an error message when the disk partition was processing.
I run Disk Utility from my Mac OS X install disk DVD and I got the following:
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid node structure
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
Please give me some help to repair my disk and to understand what happened.
MacBook Pro 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

If you are unable to repair the drive you will need to repartition and reformat the drive.
I recommend a cloned backup to an external FW drive. You can use this procedure:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Set Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only.
2. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
3. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
4. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button.
5. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
6. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
7. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
8. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.
You will only have to reinstall your third-party applications. All standard OS X applications will be reinstalled except for bundled applications such as iMovie, iDVD, Garageband, etc. These can be reinstalled using the Bundled Applications installer on the OS X Installer Disc.
If you make a cloned backup all your data will be on the backup. You can restore it afterwards by copying the folders to their respective locations on the startup volume.

Harddrive Failure or Boot Camp Problem?

Is my drive dying or something else?
I have a Mid-2007 Intel iMac running 10.8.4 (and Boot Camp) for some time now with very few problems... until last weekend. So, the Master Boot Record or something failed and my startup screen was gray on startup with the Apple logo and spinning wheel and a status bar with about 10% or less shown and then the screen goes black. I created a USB Mountain Lion disk and managed to boot to that and get my Home folders and applications off the internal HDD to another USB drive and a laptop. Reformatted the Apple partition (Windows partition sill intact) and started clean. Got everything loaded and transferred and then backed up photos again. Ran disk permissions and lots of Canon photo and printer files (newly installed) were out of whack. Repaied permissions. Ran Super Duper to clone the whole new fresh Apple partition. It failed and the machine would not turn off. MBR (or something) fried again. Now backing up files AGAIN from USB version of Mountain Lion.
So, is this boot camp being squirrelly or is the internal HDD ready to die (it is fairly old in HDD years) or is it something else? There have not been any physical sounds coming from the drive.
I was hoping for a quiet iMac upgrade last Tuesday, but that did not happen.

It was indeed the S.O but occurred another problem, I can't seem continue after format the boot camp partition on the windows install setup.
I read a little bit about this and found it's because the 3TB HDD can't make the GPT partition, soo I'tried make a MBR but I can't resize the partition because of the fusion drive.
Any suggestion ?
I look a post talk about use a image generated by winclone. Would be a problem if I use a Mac Book Pro to make the windows partition boot camp and clone in the other IMac with the winclone, or Am I talking nonsense ^^''.

How do I remove partitions "PV2" and "Boot Camp"?

I tried installing Windows 7 in Boot Camp and lost power during install. I want to completely start over but have partitions "PV2" and "Boot Camp" that I can't seem to remove. I have tried to remove partitions in Disk Utility but everything is grayed out. Boot Camp Assistant says "The disk appears to have been partitioned by another utility and can't be removed."

When I boot to recovery (Command+R) it gives me four options: Restore with Time Machine Backup, Reinstall OS X, Get Help Online, and Disk Utility. I am assuming I should erase the drives usings Disk Utility. I am able to select the PV2 and Boot Camp but when I select the "partition" tab the +/- buttons on the bottom is grayed out. I am not sure how exactly to "erase the entire drive." If you couldn't tell, I am a novice imac owner. I did make a backup using Time Machine earlier today.

IMac Drive Failures and Boot Camp - large install experience and question

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