Unable to delete Windows & EFI boot partition on mac running Parallels

[samcema]

Hi all,

Currently, I am running Mojave on Mid 2014 13 inch rmbp and running Parallels 15 for windows virtualization. Previously, I tried installing Windows & failed so I switched to Parallels. However, during boot, I am getting a blue screen of death like windows and later found that there exists Windows & EFI boot separately and by default, it is taking the windows, although I have deleted the partition. My disk utility says all the ssd has been allocated to mac os & there is no partition in the SSD. Since I am running Windows through Parallels is it due to that? I have tried a solution mentioned here (https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/macos-removing-windows-efi-boot-entry/) but it did not work. Please let me know how to delete that two entry.

 

[LinkRS]

Howdy samcema,

I am not completely sure that I am following what is going on here, so I need to ask some clarifying questions . Parallels can run Windows in two modes, one is BootCamp mode, where it actually boots the BootCamp Partition in a VM, or one where it makes a normal VM (which will be a folder on your Mac HD). Which type are you using? I am also assuming that it is your Parallels VM that is booting to a bluescreen, not your Mac? The solution you linked to is for when you have used Bootcamp, and didn't uninstall it correctly. Have you used Bootcamp?

Rich S.

 

[samcema]

Howdy samcema,

I am not completely sure that I am following what is going on here, so I need to ask some clarifying questions . Parallels can run Windows in two modes, one is BootCamp mode, where it actually boots the BootCamp Partition in a VM, or one where it makes a normal VM (which will be a folder on your Mac HD). Which type are you using? I am also assuming that it is your Parallels VM that is booting to a bluescreen, not your Mac? The solution you linked to is for when you have used Bootcamp, and didn't uninstall it correctly. Have you used Bootcamp?

Rich S.

Hi,
Actually at first I tried to install windows via native boot camp assitant, however that failed during windows installation, then I deleted the partition from disk utility and then installed windows through parallels. After installing Parrallels I found there is this EFI coming into the boot volume while boot and by default it is taking that volume. Regarding whether Parrallels are running in which mode, I am not sure whether it is running through boot camp mode or normal mode but my guess is that it is running in the boot camp mode because there is no folder named "vm' inside macintosh HD. Actually I am very new to this Parallels and extremely sorry for any trouble.

 

[Fishrrman]

Canned posting follows:
===============
The following procedure will remove that BootCamp partition, 100% guaranteed:

1. Get either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Both are free to download and use for 30 days (doing this will cost you nothing)
2. Get an external drive (if your internal drive is 500gb, the external should be that size or larger)
3. Use CCC or SD to clone the contents of your Mac partition (the regular partition you boot into and work from) to the external drive
4. Now, BOOT FROM the external drive (press the power on button, IMMEDIATELY hold down the "option" key CONTINUOUSLY until the startup manager appears, then select the cloned drive and hit return).
5. When you get booted from the external drive, open Disk Utility
6. In the upper-left-hand-corner of Disk Utility, choose "show all devices"
7. Now, click the uppermost line for your internal drive (this represents the physical drive itself).
8. Next, click the "erase" button and ERASE the internal drive, completely. You would choose APFS, GUID partition format if you want APFS formatting. For HFS+, choose "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format".
9. Once the drive is erased, quit Disk Utility and re-open CCC (or SD).
10. Now, RE-clone the contents of the cloned backup BACK TO the internal drive.
11. When done, disconnect the external cloned backup and reboot to the internal drive.
12. Done.
[automerge]1596292684[/automerge]

 

[samcema]

Canned posting follows:
===============
The following procedure will remove that BootCamp partition, 100% guaranteed:

1. Get either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Both are free to download and use for 30 days (doing this will cost you nothing)
2. Get an external drive (if your internal drive is 500gb, the external should be that size or larger)
3. Use CCC or SD to clone the contents of your Mac partition (the regular partition you boot into and work from) to the external drive
4. Now, BOOT FROM the external drive (press the power on button, IMMEDIATELY hold down the "option" key CONTINUOUSLY until the startup manager appears, then select the cloned drive and hit return).
5. When you get booted from the external drive, open Disk Utility
6. In the upper-left-hand-corner of Disk Utility, choose "show all devices"
7. Now, click the uppermost line for your internal drive (this represents the physical drive itself).
8. Next, click the "erase" button and ERASE the internal drive, completely. You would choose APFS, GUID partition format if you want APFS formatting. For HFS+, choose "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format".
9. Once the drive is erased, quit Disk Utility and re-open CCC (or SD).
10. Now, RE-clone the contents of the cloned backup BACK TO the internal drive.
11. When done, disconnect the external cloned backup and reboot to the internal drive.
12. Done.
[automerge]1596292684[/automerge]

Hi,
Thanks for the solution. But I dont have any other external disk to clone, and just now have set up the machines & is there any other techniques apart from this? Want to use this method as a very last method.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi,
Thanks for the solution. But I dont have any other external disk to clone, and just now have set up the machines & is there any other techniques apart from this? Want to use this method as a very last method.

Howdy samcema,

What Fishrman said will fix your issue, but you may not need to go that far. It is a good idea to have a backup of your system regardless, but you can use TimeMachine (which comes with your Mac) to do that. I imagine that the SD or CCC might be faster than TimeMachine. Did you try running the BootCamp assistant again, and uninstall Windows that way? Also, are you seeing the same behavior in Parallels that you saw when you tried to install BootCamp? In other words, did both try to boot Windows and just blue screened? I am hazarading a guess here, and it sounds like your installed Windows via BootCamp, and Parallels is trying to boot that version, vices the file-based one I was mentioning earlier. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

[samcema]

Howdy samcema,

What Fishrman said will fix your issue, but you may not need to go that far. It is a good idea to have a backup of your system regardless, but you can use TimeMachine (which comes with your Mac) to do that. I imagine that the SD or CCC might be faster than TimeMachine. Did you try running the BootCamp assistant again, and uninstall Windows that way? Also, are you seeing the same behavior in Parallels that you saw when you tried to install BootCamp? In other words, did both try to boot Windows and just blue screened? I am hazarading a guess here, and it sounds like your installed Windows via BootCamp, and Parallels is trying to boot that version, vices the file-based one I was mentioning earlier. Good luck!

Rich S.

Hi LinkRS,

Thanks for the quote. Recently I replaced my Apple SSD with NVME SSD. After that, I tried installing Windows via Boot camp and got a BsOD error (attached pic) which I later found to be a known issue with third party NVME drives (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/ Look for Boot camp installation issue. Then I deleted the partition and installed the same iso file via Parallels. This time it worked perfectly and got no BsOD. My question is this EFI boot is coming from Parallels or from the unsuccessful installation of Windows at the first? Since my Parallels are working fine, I didn't try Boot camp further and continuing using Windows through Parallels. I hope I can make you understand my query. And in my startup disk through system preference, it is only showing Mac OS.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi LinkRS,

Thanks for the quote. Recently I replaced my Apple SSD with NVME SSD. After that, I tried installing Windows via Boot camp and got a BsOD error (attached pic) which I later found to be a known issue with third party NVME drives (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/ Look for Boot camp installation issue. Then I deleted the partition and installed the same iso file via Parallels. This time it worked perfectly and got no BsOD. My question is this EFI boot is coming from Parallels or from the unsuccessful installation of Windows at the first? Since my Parallels are working fine, I didn't try Boot camp further and continuing using Windows through Parallels. I hope I can make you understand my query. And in my startup disk through system preference, it is only showing Mac OS.

Howdy samcema,

Can you post a picture of *where* you are seeing the EFI boot you are describing? Perhaps if I can see that, I will be better able to offer some advice. If you installed Windows using Parallels, it will be using the file option I mentioned earlier, and the files are probably in your Documents folder if you didn't change the defaults. In the past, I found using a Parallels (and later a VMWare Fusion) VM to be more flexible than booting into Windows using Boot Camp. Before I upgraded to a new 16" MBP, I was using Boot Camp to eek out more performance from the GPU. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

[samcema]

Howdy samcema,

Can you post a picture of *where* you are seeing the EFI boot you are describing? Perhaps if I can see that, I will be better able to offer some advice. If you installed Windows using Parallels, it will be using the file option I mentioned earlier, and the files are probably in your Documents folder if you didn't change the defaults. In the past, I found using a Parallels (and later a VMWare Fusion) VM to be more flexible than booting into Windows using Boot Camp. Before I upgraded to a new 16" MBP, I was using Boot Camp to eek out more performance from the GPU. Good luck!

Rich S.

Hi Rich,

Sorry for the delay. When I am booting into the Mac by default it is taking that EFI boot volume. But there is no such partition in disk utility.

 

[Steve686]

Ya. You may have to manually remove the partition.

I’ve done it before but wisely I won’t try to detail step by step.

Just YouTube a couple of videos about removing partitions and go from there.

 

[Steve686]

Here. This is the one I worked from.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi Rich,

Sorry for the delay. When I am booting into the Mac by default it is taking that EFI boot volume. But there is no such partition in disk utility.

Howdy samcema,

Thanks for the pics! Looks like the Windows boot files are still there, which is why macOS shows the option for "EFI Boot." Check out this thread, and look at the first answer. It tells you how to remove the files that are causing your Mac to think it has another boot option

Ghost partition, Windows BSOD

Today I was trying to set up Windows on my MacBook Pro (15", Late 2011) over BootCamp. I used the modified Info.plist-trick to create a bootable Windows 8 USB-drive and create a Bootcamp partition.

apple.stackexchange.com

Just do the first part called "Chasing Ghosts" as that should be sufficient. I didn't see any other Windows partitions hanging around. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

[samcema]

Howdy samcema,

Thanks for the pics! Looks like the Windows boot files are still there, which is why macOS shows the option for "EFI Boot." Check out this thread, and look at the first answer. It tells you how to remove the files that are causing your Mac to think it has another boot option

Ghost partition, Windows BSOD

Today I was trying to set up Windows on my MacBook Pro (15", Late 2011) over BootCamp. I used the modified Info.plist-trick to create a bootable Windows 8 USB-drive and create a Bootcamp partition.

apple.stackexchange.com

Just do the first part called "Chasing Ghosts" as that should be sufficient. I didn't see any other Windows partitions hanging around. Good luck!

Rich S.

Hi Rich,
Thanks for the suggestion. I have successfully removed the EFI partition from the boot. However, it still appears in the diskutil list. Do I have to worry about it?

 

[samcema]

Here. This is the one I worked from.

Thanks Steve for your help. I did the method described by Rich and removed the partition.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi Rich,
Thanks for the suggestion. I have successfully removed the EFI partition from the boot. However, it still appears in the diskutil list. Do I have to worry about it?

Hi samcema,

The EFI partition you mention is supposed to be there. It is kind of like a folder, that has sub-folders that store the files needed to boot the Mac. When your Mac first boots, it searches in there and lists any bootable files it finds. It was still finding files from your failed BootCamp install, which is what you removed. Now all you see is your Mac . So, nope, you don't need to worry about it. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

[samcema]

Hi samcema,

The EFI partition you mention is supposed to be there. It is kind of like a folder, that has sub-folders that store the files needed to boot the Mac. When your Mac first boots, it searches in there and lists any bootable files it finds. It was still finding files from your failed BootCamp install, which is what you removed. Now all you see is your Mac . So, nope, you don't need to worry about it. Good luck!

Rich S.

Thanks a lot Rich for your kind help. Have a great day! Thank you.