MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012): "Free up space on Drive C" alert during Windows 8 upgrade

Products Affected

Boot Camp, MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012), Windows 8

Symptoms

When upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8, a "Free up space on Drive C" message may appear on MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) computers with 64GB flash drive.

Resolution

Use a full version to install Windows 8 instead of an upgrade version. Upgrade versions will not install properly because the 64GB flash drive can only allocate 34GB of space for a Windows partition which is not enough free space to accommodate an upgrade installation. 

To install the full version of Windows 8:

  1. Back up your data from the Windows partition.
  2. From the Go menu, select Utilities
  3. Double click on Boot Camp Assistant
  4. Click Continue, then place a checkmark next to "Remove Windows 7 or later version" to delete the existing Windows 7 partition. Warning: This will erase your existing Windows 7 partition. Be sure you have a backup before proceeding with this step.
  5. Use the Boot Camp Assistant to install a full version of Windows 8.
  6. Once installation completes, restore your data from your backup.

 

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.
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