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I'm running OS X Yosemite on a recently formatted 2010 MBP.

When I formatting the drive / installed Yosemite, I partitioned it with one partition called OS X and another partition simply called Partition.

I would like to install Windows 7 onto Partition and I'm under the impression I need to use Boot Camp in order to do that... it's been many years since I last did this however.

When I try to start Boot Camp, I receive the following error:

The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.

I was expecting to be able to view the partitions using Boot Camp, am I misunderstanding something? Do I need to re-partition my harddrive?

Or can I just insert my Windows disc and boot from Partition when starting up my Mac?

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To do it the 'easy way', fully utilising Boot Camp, you need to start with one single volume on the Mac [ignoring the hidden volumes].

Boot Camp will then repartition for you & set up Windows on that new partition. Removal is then just as simple, using Boot Camp.

Boot Camp does more than just partition the drive, it sets Windows up in such a way that it is unaware it's being 'fooled' into thinking it's in charge of the drive.

Resist the temptation to ever change the volume structures any other way; tears will ensue ;-)

Best way to go right now would be to remove that extra partition in Disk Utility & extend the main one back to the entire drive, then let Boot Camp re-partition in its preferred way.

It can be done other ways, but none of them are as simple.

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  • thanks, I didn't realise I could simply remove an extra partition without formatting the hard drive?
    – user206728
    Feb 11, 2017 at 13:34

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