Restore partitioned drive without erasing data?

[bluebug]

Hi everyone,
Is there a way to restore a partitioned drive to it's original size without erasing all my data? I tried using iPartition, but I get an error saying that it can't read my disk(!)

(a little history, I recently removed Windows XP off of my MacBook Pro and would like the drive space back now...)

 

[SilentPanda]

Bootcamp assistant will restore the drive to one partition. Run that again in OS X.

 

[bluebug]

Thanks, but I never used bootcamp for removing windows - I did it from the install cd...

 

[SilentPanda]

Bootcamp Assistant should still remove the partition... I would think. If not, try reinstalling Windows and the use Bootcamp Assistant to restore the partition. I really don't think Bootcamp Assistant knows if Windows is installed or not when you restore the partition...

 

[Killyp]

I also have the same problem. I partitioned my HDD, planning on installing XP, but my concience told me not to at the last minute. I now can't un-partition the hard drive...

Bit of a pain as it means I have an entire extra icon on my desktop!!! ONE WHOLE ICON!!!!

 

[bluebug]

Thanks for all the advice but I can't reinstall Windows, as it was factory installed and I don't have the disks. Any other ideas?

 

[SilentPanda]

Backup and reinstall I guess... I'm still surprised that Boot Camp Assistant won't fix your issue but then again I don't have the problem you two are having.

 

[redeye be]

Boot Camp should be able indeed to remove a windows partition made with Boot Camp.
It could do others, never tested that (and i don't have an intel at hand to try)

You probably partitioned using Disk Utility. -> No live reformatting
You're looking for something like "partition magic" from the windows universe. But I can't help you with that out of the top of my hat.
Versiontracker.com does come up with some nice apps that do just what you need. (€/£/$)

 

[bluebug]

Thanks for everyone who responded...

I just want to clarify that I have not ever used Bootcamp on this machine and it won't let me install it now. Also, I didn't install Windows myself, it was factory installed. I have sinced removed it, but I can't rejoin my partitions without losing all my data.

Is there any software besides Bootcamp that I can use? I tried with iPartition, but it doesn't work for some reason.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Thanks for everyone who responded...

I just want to clarify that I have not ever used Bootcamp on this machine and it won't let me install it now. Also, I didn't install Windows myself, it was factory installed. I have sinced removed it, but I can't rejoin my partitions without losing all my data.

Is there any software besides Bootcamp that I can use? I tried with iPartition, but it doesn't work for some reason.

Did you guys disable journaling then try iPartition or the other methods? Why does this matter? I dunno, it just does, you have to disable it to resize the partition to install Linux, after its installed you can re-enable it, the same probably applies to the inverse.

 

[SilentPanda]

Thanks for everyone who responded...

I just want to clarify that I have not ever used Bootcamp on this machine and it won't let me install it now. Also, I didn't install Windows myself, it was factory installed. I have sinced removed it, but I can't rejoin my partitions without losing all my data.

Is there any software besides Bootcamp that I can use? I tried with iPartition, but it doesn't work for some reason.

I'm not sure how "the factory" installed Windows on the Mac without Bootcamp. Where did you buy your Mac from?

If they didn't send you a media disc with Windows it might not even have been legal.

 

[bluebug]

No, it's not illegal. I bought it from a guy who had all these things factory installed. He gave me the osx drivers and start up disks, but either neglected or forgot to give me the xp disks - I'm not even sure if he has them.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to try that last suggestion and pray for a miracle!!

 

[slooksterPSV]

No, it's not illegal. I bought it from a guy who had all these things factory installed. He gave me the osx drivers and start up disks, but either neglected or forgot to give me the xp disks - I'm not even sure if he has them.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to try that last suggestion and pray for a miracle!!

I hope it works, cause yeah, if you try to resize the partition with Journaling enabled under Linux (when installing Ubuntu) it gives you an error.

 

[SilentPanda]

No, it's not illegal. I bought it from a guy who had all these things factory installed. He gave me the osx drivers and start up disks, but either neglected or forgot to give me the xp disks - I'm not even sure if he has them.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to try that last suggestion and pray for a miracle!!

Well where did he buy it from? I'm interested to know what they used instead of bootcamp...