Mountain Lion won't install because it says my Mac HD cannot be used to start up my computer?

I've tried redownloading Mountain Lion but that didn't work. I've also gone into start up disc in my settings and restarted my computer with my Mac HD. It isn't partitioned. Any help here?

Just Follow this procedure...
1.     Go To BOOT CAMP and create a BLANK PARTITION. Say a minimum of 10 GB. You do not have to install anything on this.
2. After you create this, go back to ML installer and now you will see 2 HD's. one will be your main HD and the second one will be the one you just created.
3. Install the ML OS X on the main hard drive. Once installed, reboot the machine go to DISK UTILITY and delete the blank partition you had created.
4. So, now you have your HD at its full capacity.
Try this it should work.

Similar Messages

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    Verify your computer can run Mountain Lion:
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  • Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

    Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

    Read
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/15659267#15659267

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  • Install error : disk cannot be used to start up your computer [or] MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small

    Greetings,
    I am aware that this problem has been discussed, but in long and vague discussions that I had to sift deeply to find an answer. Therefore I am posting a clear message, as this problem can be very troublesome for someone who just received a Mac OS installation disk and cannot install it.
    Situation : you cannot install/update your new system because the installer does not consider your volume.
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    Version française : Ce disque ne peut pas être configuré pour démarrer votre ordinateur.
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    - You have the hardware requirements to install Mac OS 10.6 (Intel processor; internal or external DVD drive or a linked DVD drive; 1 GB of RAM; a screen controlled by your computer graphics card; at least 5 GB space on the hard disk or 7 GB if you install all components).
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    2. Above the install screen, you have a Utilities tab from where you can run Disk Utility. Select your hard disk and select the Partition tab. Resize the primary Mac partition (don't add a new one) by decreasing it by about 5 GB.
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    Also see the official Apple how to: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
    Version française: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926?viewlocale=fr_FR
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    3.b. If you get the error "MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small", this is a rare error where the partition that follows (for example Bootcamp) is slightly overlapping your main Mac partition. You will need to reduce that other following partition. Once you have reduced the other partition, you will probably need to return to step 2 and 3 and try again.
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    SOURCE (main fix): http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=774410 [and] http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
    SOURCE (explaination for MediaKit error): some Apple discussion post.
    nb: in my case, it was on a MacBook Pro (late 2008).

    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.

  • 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.
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    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.

  • Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer

    I have a macbook pro with snow leopard on it. I am giving it away to a family members, but would like to erase the disk before giving it away. When I put my snow leopard dvd in, and click "install", I get a screen asking me to select the hard drive to install on. When I click the only one listed: "Macintosh HD", I get the message:
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    It's possible you got a disk from Apple you can't use. What you should have gotten were gray disks based on the Mac's serial number so you would get disks which were identical to the ones it came with.
    If the disk you received has a picture of a Snow Leopard on it, then they sent you a 10.6.3 retail disk, which will not have any of the bundled iLife apps on it.
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