I have a late 2014 Macbook Air that is running Windows 7 via bootcamp. Everything has been humming along fine until I recently made an update to partitions (via "Disk Utility" shrink size of Mac partition > Boot to Windows > Use partition software [MiniTool Partition Wizard] to merge the unallocated space with the bootcamp partition) and proceeded with a NVRAM and SMC resets via instructions available here (https://www.macworld.com/article/2881177/macs/how-to-reset-your-macs-nvram-pram- and-smc.html). I realized after performing the NVRAM and SMC resets that bootcamp no longer appeared in "Startup Disk" and I was only able to boot to Windows via Boot + hold down option key + select Windows HDD icon from the UI that appears.
I cannot confirm the issue was a result of the NVRAM/SMC resets or the previous partition updates as following the completion of my partition updates I had not booted back into Mac. The first time following the partition updates that I booted back into MAC was during my NVRAM/SMC resetting activities. My gut tells me the issue was the result of the partitioning actions.
In a foolish attempt to remedy the [Bootcamp not appearing in "Startup Disk"] situation I stupidly utilized "Disk Utility's" "repair disk" function on the greyed out partition named "disk0s4" – it was previously named BOOTCAMP. The repair function failed and reported as such. After this point I was no longer able to boot to windows via Boot > Hold Down Option Key > Select Windows because the UI now only displayed the recovery and the MAC HDD icons and text designating them so.
I've concluded after some googling that I've managed to corrupt my MBR/GPT records and am about to proceed with fixing it via instructions here: bootcamp – Boot Camp partition broken and can't be repaired in OS X 10.10.4 – Ask Different
I'm not sure this is the right course of action. Desperate for advise from any enlightened individual about how to resolve this situation and recover access to my Windows OS via bootcamp!
Some basic details of my Macbook Air 13-Inch
- 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7
- Introduced: April 29, 2014
- Discontinued: March 9, 2015
- Model #: A1466
- Family: Early 2014
- ID: MacBookAir6,2
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB
- Mac OS: OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
- Boot ROM Version: MBA61.0099.B16
- SMC Version (system): 2.13f15
Best Answer
Did you make a bootable Windows installer USB key?
That one item would be key (no pun intended) you should be able to boot from the USB key. Then you should see the current partitioning. Hopefully your Mac and Windows partitions are still there. If not you are likely out of luck. You should be able to continue through this and boot into the Windows installer. Once you have gotten past the language and keyboard selection you should be given an option to install or repair Windows. Select repair.
If you do not still have the installation media you may want to create it again. I assume the Mac side is till working or you have access to a Mac. Just run the Boot Camp.app and when it asks for a Windows ISO point it to your Windows 7 installer, the one you used before, and let it do its thing.