Here's the backstory-
-Got the iMac refurbished in mid-2010 (2009 iMac i5)
-Originally planned on mainly using Windows, so I partitioned the drive to 750gb for Windows and the rest for OSX
I eventually got fed-up with certain things about both Windows and certain limitations/glitches within Bootcamp itself and decided it was time to go OSX, and use the machine properly in all it's Apple glory.
I removed the 750gb of the Windows 7 partition, restoring the whole thing back to OSX. At this point, my computer seemed to be working fine still- OSX would boot up in about a minute or so, nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.
After that, I still wanted a small partition with Windows 7; so I partitioned 100gb of my drive and proceeded to install Windows 7.
During the Windows 7 installation, as had happened the first time I installed Windows 7 with Boot Camp, I got the "Black Screen" issue. If you are unfamiliar with the issue, see here:
http://klauskjeldsen.dk/boot-camp-imac-error-fix-black-screen/
In order to fix that, I had to use an app/plugin that allowed me to edit my Windows Drive in OSX-- an NTFS program. I had originally used Paragon NTFS the first time, so I tried it again, but it seems my trial had expired. I then downloaded MacFuse, but couldn't get it to work. I then downloaded Tuxera and was able to use it to delete the required file to get past the black screen.
My problem started right before this; I had to restart in OSX in order to do all of this. However, when I tried to, it took about a minute on the "grey" screen with the spinning wheel. When it finally got to the "blue" screen, it would hang for 5-10 minutes before my desktop would finally just pop up. During those 5-10 minutes, for the most part, it sounds like the computer isn't doing much (not many hard drive sounds, etc) so I don't know why it is taking so long.
Eventually I got in, and was able to do what I needed, and hoped the next time I started my computer up in OSX, it would be fine. I rebooted in Windows and finished the installation.
However, going back to OSX after, the same thing happened. A 5-10 minute blue screen before my desktop just suddenly appears like it had been loaded all along.
I decided maybe these NTFS programs might have screwed something up, so I tried to remove them. I am not very versed in OSX yet and haven't been able to figure out how to completely get rid of them. I understand OSX doesn't have a registry like Windows, so I should just be able to delete the files; however, these are more like "plugins", and I can tell that Tuxera is still there and working because I can still "read/write" to my Bootcamp drive in OSX.
I also tried booting with the OSX install disc (this took ridiculously long, like 10 minutes) and running the disk repair. It ran for about 2 minutes and told me that my disk seemed okay.
I googled this blue screen of death and it seems like a lot of people are having this problem for different reasons. I also read that I should unplug my iMac and them press the power button to release the power, plug it back in, and try to reboot. I also did this, but got the 5-10 minute blue screen again.
Just for reference, I can boot into the Windows partition in normal time.
Can anyone help? I am not an OSX pro so if you could be pretty specific with your instructions I would REALLY appreciate it. If worst comes to worst, I could try reformatting the OSX drive and starting from scratch, but I have read some stories of people with my same problem who did this and the blue screen didn't go away!
What is going on?
Thank you so much, in advance, for reading this and any help you can give.
Edit: I also wanted to add that aside from those NTFS programs, I have hardly done anything in OSX on this computer. I installed Google Chrome, VLC, and a couple other very standard programs. Other than that, there was no tinkering, no strange programs that I installed, etc.
Also, there are no USB or other external devices plugged in.
-Got the iMac refurbished in mid-2010 (2009 iMac i5)
-Originally planned on mainly using Windows, so I partitioned the drive to 750gb for Windows and the rest for OSX
I eventually got fed-up with certain things about both Windows and certain limitations/glitches within Bootcamp itself and decided it was time to go OSX, and use the machine properly in all it's Apple glory.
I removed the 750gb of the Windows 7 partition, restoring the whole thing back to OSX. At this point, my computer seemed to be working fine still- OSX would boot up in about a minute or so, nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.
After that, I still wanted a small partition with Windows 7; so I partitioned 100gb of my drive and proceeded to install Windows 7.
During the Windows 7 installation, as had happened the first time I installed Windows 7 with Boot Camp, I got the "Black Screen" issue. If you are unfamiliar with the issue, see here:
http://klauskjeldsen.dk/boot-camp-imac-error-fix-black-screen/
In order to fix that, I had to use an app/plugin that allowed me to edit my Windows Drive in OSX-- an NTFS program. I had originally used Paragon NTFS the first time, so I tried it again, but it seems my trial had expired. I then downloaded MacFuse, but couldn't get it to work. I then downloaded Tuxera and was able to use it to delete the required file to get past the black screen.
My problem started right before this; I had to restart in OSX in order to do all of this. However, when I tried to, it took about a minute on the "grey" screen with the spinning wheel. When it finally got to the "blue" screen, it would hang for 5-10 minutes before my desktop would finally just pop up. During those 5-10 minutes, for the most part, it sounds like the computer isn't doing much (not many hard drive sounds, etc) so I don't know why it is taking so long.
Eventually I got in, and was able to do what I needed, and hoped the next time I started my computer up in OSX, it would be fine. I rebooted in Windows and finished the installation.
However, going back to OSX after, the same thing happened. A 5-10 minute blue screen before my desktop just suddenly appears like it had been loaded all along.
I decided maybe these NTFS programs might have screwed something up, so I tried to remove them. I am not very versed in OSX yet and haven't been able to figure out how to completely get rid of them. I understand OSX doesn't have a registry like Windows, so I should just be able to delete the files; however, these are more like "plugins", and I can tell that Tuxera is still there and working because I can still "read/write" to my Bootcamp drive in OSX.
I also tried booting with the OSX install disc (this took ridiculously long, like 10 minutes) and running the disk repair. It ran for about 2 minutes and told me that my disk seemed okay.
I googled this blue screen of death and it seems like a lot of people are having this problem for different reasons. I also read that I should unplug my iMac and them press the power button to release the power, plug it back in, and try to reboot. I also did this, but got the 5-10 minute blue screen again.
Just for reference, I can boot into the Windows partition in normal time.
Can anyone help? I am not an OSX pro so if you could be pretty specific with your instructions I would REALLY appreciate it. If worst comes to worst, I could try reformatting the OSX drive and starting from scratch, but I have read some stories of people with my same problem who did this and the blue screen didn't go away!
What is going on?
Thank you so much, in advance, for reading this and any help you can give.
Edit: I also wanted to add that aside from those NTFS programs, I have hardly done anything in OSX on this computer. I installed Google Chrome, VLC, and a couple other very standard programs. Other than that, there was no tinkering, no strange programs that I installed, etc.
Also, there are no USB or other external devices plugged in.
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Anyway, the same thing happened to me. I'd get the pre-login window blue screen, and it would hang for ages. I wasn't as patient as you and didn't wait 5-10 minutes though. I just restored from Time Machine... But yah, it's possible that you have a driver problem, and you should have backed up your stuff before doing bootcamp. If not, buy a drive, and start a time machine backup. You'll thank me later. For now though, if you don't have a backup, I'd call Apple or go to an apple store and see if they can fix it for you. If there's an apple store near you, I'd do that over the phone call honestly.