I think I screwed up my iMac

[Justibackwardsn]

I was trying to install Windows XP Pro, but for some reason the it wasn't showing another HDD to install Windows on. So I quit the install, and restarted my computer. Now all that happens is the normal grey screen appears (with no Apple logo), then it goes to a black screen and has the blinking cursor (Kinda like DOS).

What did I just do?

I didn't think I did anything or deleted anything.

 

[richard.mac]

hold option on startup and select your OS X boot partition. then open Boot Camp Assistant remove the partition and try again.

 

[Justibackwardsn]

Nows not the time for hide and seek.

 

[MacDawg]

Looks like time for a fresh install from your installation disks

Hope you had a backup

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Justibackwardsn]

Maybe I should just return it?

Just got it Thursday.

I knew the minute I put Windows on my computer it would mess up. :-\

 

[MacDawg]

Maybe I should just return it?

Just got it Thursday.

I knew the minute I put Windows on my computer it would mess up. :-\

You will likely have to pay a restocking fee if you return it

I don't think you need a return, just a fresh install of Leopard from your discs


Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Justibackwardsn]

Meant exchange it. Sorry.

Well, atleast I get to see the lovely welcome video again!

Thank god for Mobile Me!

Alright. Got to the point of the installation where it says to select a destination. Nothing is showing. Now what?

 

[Ivan P]

Meant exchange it. Sorry.

Well, atleast I get to see the lovely welcome video again!

Thank god for Mobile Me!

No need to exchange it, it doesn't screw up anything, once you reinstall it'll be fine.

I've done exactly what you've mentioned...twice...the second time I really should have known better, but I was sick of using VMWare Fusion to get into Windows. Fresh re-installs of Leopard and I haven't had so much as a hiccup out of it.

No idea why it did it for me, as I printed out and followed Apple's instructions perfectly...however, I was flicking through the pages a few weeks back and it did mention you need at least XP Service Pack 2...and my copy was the original 2001 release of XP. Could've been that...

 

[Justibackwardsn]

No idea why it did it for me, as I printed out and followed Apple's instructions perfectly...however, I was flicking through the pages a few weeks back and it did mention you need at least XP Service Pack 2...and my copy was the original 2001 release of XP. Could've been that...

That was probably it.

Alright, so what should I do about not finding a disk to install Leopard on? Should I go into the Disk utility and erase the disk I have? It's finding it there, but for some reason it seems Windows tried to use the ENTIRE disk, made a slight change, and really messed it up.

 

[Ivan P]

That was probably it.

Alright, so what should I do about not finding a disk to install Leopard on? Should I go into the Disk utility and erase the disk I have? It's finding it there, but for some reason it seems Windows tried to use the ENTIRE disk, made a slight change, and really messed it up.

What I did was put in the install disc, hold down Option (like you did to bring up that sole Windows icon), then select the install disc and boot from it...went through the installation process without a hitch, and when it was completed I had no missing space (in other words, Finder was saying my HDD was the exact same capacity as it was when I first got my iMac) - because it only recognised a single partition on the HDD, it wrote over EVERYTHING, regardless of whether or not it was Windows or OS X.

 

[Justibackwardsn]

Yea, but the problem is in the installation of Leopard now. It doesn't show a disk destination to install it to. I went to the disk utility and it shows the 931.5GB WDC WD1001FALS-40K180 Media Serial ATA 2 Internal Drive, but won't let me verify, repair, partition, or restore. The only option I have is to erase it.

 

[brop52]

Yea, but the problem is in the installation of Leopard now. It doesn't show a disk destination to install it to. I went to the disk utility and it shows the 931.5GB WDC WD1001FALS-40K180 Media Serial ATA 2 Internal Drive, but won't let me verify, repair, partition, or restore. The only option I have is to erase it.

You want to erase and then reformat (option-GUID).

If that doesn't work, apparently this will.

 

[Justibackwardsn]

You want to erase and then reformat (option-GUID).

If that doesn't work, apparently this will.

Thanks! Somehow, I think I'll be able to get the files off. I chose to erase only the way to access files, but it left all files on the computer I think.

I have all the files backed up, but in random places. It would be easier this way. I wish I had time machine.

EDIT: Didn't work, for future reference. Install went fine, but the files won't show. So I'm going back to completely erase, and reinstall OS X again. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Stridder44]

Maybe I should just return it?

Just got it Thursday.

I knew the minute I put Windows on my computer it would mess up. :-\

This happens all the time whenever I reinstall Vista. And no, it's not a Windows thing, it's an EFI thing. Just force restart (hold down power button for 5 seconds) and then turn it back on again.

 

[Justibackwardsn]

This happens all the time whenever I reinstall Vista. And no, it's not a Windows thing, it's an EFI thing. Just force restart (hold down power button for 5 seconds) and then turn it back on again.

Tried that a lot. I wish that was the easy fix. But it wasn't.