Reinstall erased hard disk.
I did a re-install on my girlfriends G4 iBook running X10.9 because of system problems, and now when the software disk ask for what destination to install on there is not option. I can't believe it had me erase hard disk and then doesn't give me option to partition another or create. Any suggestions?
Hi, dosotyidiot, and welcome to Apple Discussions. The "system problems" you were attempting to remedy by reinstalling may actually have been caused by a failing hard drive that is now completely dead.
Start the iBook up from Disc 1 of your latest OS X installer set. When the Installer appears, open Disc Utility from the Installer menu (if it's a Panther installer) or the Utilities menu (if it's a Tiger installer). If the hard drive doesn't appear in the left pane of DU, replace it. If it does appear, select the line that shows its manufacturer and model number, and click the First Aid tab in DU's right pane. Is the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive shown at the bottom of the DU window? If it's "Failing", replace the drive. If it's "Verified," erase the drive using the Write Zeroes option (this will take several hours if it's a large drive). When that's complete, assuming it finishes sucessfully, quit Disk Utility to return to the Installer and proceed with the OS installation. If the zero write process can't be completed, replace the drive.
Similar Messages
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Erasing hard disk without start up disk?
I'm running Mac OS 10.8.6. I no longer have the start up disk and want to completely erase my hard disk so I can resell the computer. How do I do this? The disk utility does not give me the option to do a 35 erase. Thank you.
Since Apple has never released 10.8.6, I am guessing you mean 10.6.8
If so call AppleCare and order a replacement ser of install DVD since they are part of that Mac. Once you get them then you will be able to erase the disk.
Allan -
I CAN'T ERASE HARD DISK...
powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
Hi apple g4,
If you are trying to erase the mounted volume with disk utility, you can't.
Insert the Mac OS CD/DVD that came with your PowerBook (or a retail version of Tiger), startup from it and run disk utility from there. You should now be able to erase your hard disk.
RD
PS - Γιάσου πατρίδα -
Disk Utility shows incorrect free disk space after erasing hard disk
Hello.
A few days ago, I tried to re-install my Mac OS and both Snow Leopard and Lion got the same problem. Before the re-installation, I erased the hard disk of my MacBook (late 2009) and the SSD of my MacBook Air (late 2010) - but after erasing the disks, the disk utility continued to show more or less 5 GB of used disk capacity, although the disks should have been cleared entirely I think.
After installing Snow Leopard or Lion, Finder showed as much free space as I usually expected it would, but Disk Utility still stated 5-10 GB less. For example:
MacBook: Finder shows 17 GB free, Disk Utility 6 GB free
MacBook Air: Finder shows 26 GB free, Disk Utility 19 GB free
There are 2 problems:
1) I need the original disk capacity. Think everybody agrees with that wish.
2) More important: The MacBook should still get a Bootcamp partition (unfortunately, that's necessary for my university's software.. :s): With 17 GB free space, it would work - but 6 GB doesn't.
I would be very pleased if somebody could help me. I searched the web many times so far but didn't find any real solution.The available disk space reported in finder is totally wrong.
Even if it accounts for the local snapshots. In my macbook air it shows 120 Available in finder which is just 1GB less than my SSD capacity.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4467217 -
How can I erase hard disk if SuperDrive is broken (OS 10.6.8)?
I have an old MacBook running OS 10.6.8 which I want to recycle, but its internal SuperDrive doesn't work, so I can't use the install disk to do it. I tried plugging in Apple's external USB SuperDrive which I bought when I upgraded to a MacBook Pro which has no internal SuperDrive, but the external SuperDrive doesn't accept the disc; it's as if the old MacBook doesn't recognize the external drive. I'm thus at a loss as to how to proceed to wipe the hard disk. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
ScottThe newer version Apple USB Superdrive does not support use with older Mac products
that have a built-in optical drive; so that avenue is not a direct method. Other brands of
relatively inexpensive DVD+CD R/W USB drives can be used with system DVDs to boot
most later Intel-based Macs using the Apple DVD system media discs.
There also has been topic discussions in various locations online about methods to
use a firmware change to newer Apple USB Superdrive, that may work with older Macs
that have built-in optical drives, those which may have failed to function.
The change to the USB external Apple superdrive may void its warranty. I noticed a repair
page at iFixit.com showing how to swap the actual drive out of the Superdrive, and in the
added comments, someone had posted a suggested (but not recommended) method of
modifying the Apple USB Superdrive's ability to work with older unsupported Macs.
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_USB_SuperDrive (4 comment/questions, not definitive)
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/23023/Can+I+use+the+AirSuperDrive+as+an+Exte rnal+Drive+the+Mac+laptops
So perhaps the idea may work, or it may not. Other less costly third-party somewhat
more disposable DVD RW USB player/recorders that can work & boot Macs have
been discussed in the ASC discussions. Several brands, a few links to online sites
that had them listed. Usually for under $50.
Good luck & happy computing! -
i accidently erased macbook pro hd disk and when i tried to reinstall marvrick, it wont let me install and then i decided to restart then apple icon never came on and it did nothing for a long time.. please help.. i think it was hacked or virus messed it up
It was not hacked, nor was this a virus. You erased the hard drive, so there's no system for it to start up from. I'm not sure what "it won't let me install" means, since you haven't given a specific error message, detailed description of the problem or information about how you were trying to install.
First, before you do anything else, was the data on that drive backed up? If not, it's currently gone. You may be able to get most of it back using a data recovery tool. If you need to do this, do not do anything else with that drive, and see Recovering deleted files.
If you already had Mavericks installed before erasing the hard drive, hold down command-R at startup. This should start you up in recovery mode. From there, you can reinstall Mavericks. If you did not have Mavericks installed, or if you did but cannot get it to start in recovery mode, then you will need to reinstall an older system. If the machine originally came with Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) or older, you will need the install disks to do this. If it came with a more recent system, try holding down command-option-R at startup to boot into internet recovery mode. You will need to be on a decently-fast network. -
Okay, I did a very stupid thing. I had multiple external firewire hard drives plugged in, and i meant to erase one of them, but (of course) I accidentally erased the wrong one. Here's the good news - I had disk utility's security settings on "Don't Erase Data" so I'm really really really hoping there's a way that I can re-build the old directory and be able to get back into that drive. It was full of data that is mission critical for some projects I'm working on.
Please tell me that there's an easy way to accomplish this and that I'm not totally sunk! Thanks for the help!Okay, then here's the follow-up question -- should I go about trying to recover this stuff using FileSalvage or Data Rescue II?
DRII strikes me as more appealing because they've got the MacWorld rating and whatnot, but FS is a little less expensive, which can also be appealing. -
So, I know how to do this with a DVD, but since I received my Lion update from the App store, I'm a little at a loss. Also the Erase Disk in disk repair is greyed out. Can someone help me?
Hi,
See here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Best wishes
John M -
Regain memory after erasing hard disk
I notice that my new 1TB drive has lost its memory from 1TB to 930GB even after full erase operation in disk utiity even after selectiong 7 zero erase option. What happen to the 70 GB memory? Can I get back the lost 70GB? If yes, how do I go about it?
I see you're on 10.5.8; you may be seeing an apparent anomaly caused by differences in the way HD sizes are advertised and how they're reported by DU.
The manufacturer designates the drive using decimal notation, so 1TB = 1,000 GB
Your system reports using the (correct) binary notation in which 1TB = 1,024 GB
So a 1TB drive will be seen by DU as approx 977 GB (actually, it should really be 909 GB but that's another story)
The anomaly is addressed in SL by Apple changing DU to report in decimal rather than binary. -
Did a backup & erased hard disk - Now need to recover the .dmg file? How?
Hi there.... thanks for your help!
I used Carbon Copy Cloner (found on versiontracker.com) to make a complete .dmg backup of an entire Powerbook G4. I copied the 28GB .dmg file via ethernet to my Time Capsule and that worked just fine.
I did a 7-pass secure erase on a the PB and have booted up from Tiger OS discs, but cannot find a way to access the Time Capsule to restore the machine.
How do I do this??
Thanks again!
DLI think I figured it out!
I restarted the Powerbook with a Firewire 400 cable attached, I realized that I could select "T" on the keyboard and make it a target drive. I mounted it on my machine, which is connected via ethernet to my Time Capsule (Aiport is much too slow...). From my computer, I went to Disc Utility and restored the .dmg file from the Time Capsule to the connected Powerbook.
It seems to be working....
DL -
After Erasing Hard Disk, Can't Eject Startup CD
Not entirely sure where this belongs on this forum, but I am preparing to sell my old PowerBook G4 17in and so did a 7-pass erasure. In order to do this, I had to boot from a start-up CD for the MacBook Air that I have. It won't let me install this operating system, (fair enough,) but it also doesn't give me a way to eject the CD, because the PowerBook can't start-up or run without the CD. Any thoughts? Can I somehow boot it from my current computer and then get it to eject the CD?
Thanks.Restart with the trackpad or eject buttons pressed, or press Option, Command, O, and F simultaneously, and issue the following:
eject cd
mac-boot
(52291) -
Cannot access external hard disk
I keep all my data in Segate external hard disk. Today I wanted to set up windows using Boot camp. The window installed but at the end it froze. By mistake I kept the External hard disk connected to my Macbook Pro. When I rebooted I cannot find the my external hard disk. I tried to access through Mac partiton but it displays waring.
Saying I need to Initialize the external hard disk. That mean I will end up with erased hard disk which is not i want. Is there any option. ?
It looks like Mac OS cant recognise the drive at all. When I open the Disk Uitiluty I can see the drive.
Any ideas guysTry opening Disk Utility and try repairing the disk. It might hopefully be able to repair it. Otherwise you're probably looking at needing a tool like DiskWarrior 4…
http://www.alsoft.com/ -
by mistake i erase my macbook pro hard disk how to reinstall the yosemite on my macbook because it donsnt read the bootable drive?
usamafrombeverly hills wrote:
when i start the macbook & press cmd+R it goes to the internet recovery
Well then when you erased your hard drive, your erased the Recovery partition, also.
Use Internet Recovery to either restore from your Time Machine backup or reinstall the OS if you don't have a TM Backup.
It will install the OS that shipped on that Mac. You can then upgrade via the App Store. -
Need to erase hard drive and reinstall system on iMac but have misplaced original install disks. Tried to use a my copy of Snow lepord 10.6 from my Mac Pro but will not boot. Can original install disks be replaced. Thanks
Yes the original Install Discs can be replaced for a nominal fee. Call AppleCare, you will need a credit card and the serial number of the machine. You can use the AppleCare Contact Info for the phone number on your part of the planet.
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How do I reformat hard drive when I can't erase the disk?
Machine: imac, OS 10.6.8
Initial Problem: Finder kept crashing for all users immediately after start up. As a result I was unable to try trashing finder preferences as recommended in this forum and elsewhere.
Attempted solutions:
1. Initially seemed unable to boot from Snow Leopard Installation Disk
2. Connected to another imac using firewire and booting problem computer into target mode
3. Ran Techtool pro from master machine. Hard drive and hardware fine but reported need to format disk on target machine.
4. Tried to install new os onto target drive using disk drive on master machine. Error message reported being unable to find target drive, even though it was showing on desktop of master machine
5. Tried to erase disk using disk utility on master machine, but error message stating unable to unmount target drive
6. Successfully rebooted using snow leopard installation disk, but unable to instal. Error message stated that the computer was not available. i.e. it had the yellow triangle with exclamation masrk
7. Tried to erase hard drive using disk utility from installation disk, but was unable to do so. The process commenced to unmount the disk, started to erase but stopped before task completed. Tried a second time with same result.
Obviously the machine needs complete reformatting. I made a backup before starting this series of unsuccessful attempts. I suspect that I need to use terminal from the installation disk, but I am not sure which terminal command to use.
Can anyone tell me? Or have I overlooked some simpler solution?Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
because it is three times faster than wireless.
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