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iMac problem with Start up

S

Saturi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 15, 2020
3
0
Hi. I have an old 27in iMac and the other day the screen went grey with a crossed circle. I was able to find a way to fix that but I couldn't restart the computer, it would start and stop after a minute a start over and over again. I tried to repair it after going into safe mode and into utility, disc utility and First Aid and try to download a new OS, but no luck. Still wouldn't allow it. I finally attached an external hard drive, downloaded in it the new OS and it worked. Now I can start the Mac in this way, but can't recover files that were in the original hard drive. I tried few data recovery, but it didn't work well. Appreciate your comment/answer.
Is my internal hard drive dying?
Also, if I decide to let go of all the files and keep the system running this way with the ext. hard drive always connected with the new OS, is that okay or something else will not work well?
Thank you so much.
Joe
 
I have repaired many of these Macs because the glass front comes off easily compared to the 2012+ iMacs.

The hard drive is definitely corrupted if not has bad sectors.

I would use an external drive like an SSD to keep going.

I would not use the internal drive unless you replace the HDD.
 
I just have been told that it's quite sure the hard drive like you said. Also, I'm handy for a lot of stuff, I'm not sure I could handle the glass removal, but I could manage the replacement of the hard drive, I think.
So, it's best to have somebody else do it for me, unfortunately. Thank you for your time.
 
If I remember correctly the glass is held in place by magnets on the 2009 iMac, which makes removal incredibly easy. On later models, 2012 and onwards, they've used a much harder to remove adhesive, but on the 2009 you should be able to simply lift it off.
 
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