Reformat iMac with OSX 10.6.8 and no disk / broken disk drive

[xxeyes]

Our iMac running OSX 10.6.8 is extremely slow and out of storage space. Furthermore, newer web browsers and programs won't run on our very outdated operating system anymore. I don't have the original install disks and even if I could find them, the disk drive has been broken for years. Would someone suggest how we can speed up our computer and get it working with newer programs.


Ideally, I would like to reformat and start from scratch, especially because our hard drive is partitioned in half and we never use the half running Windows - we want to eliminate the partition. Is this possible without a working disk drive? Can I clear some space in the computer, download the latest free OS and load it onto a USB drive and install from there after reformatting?


if that isn't possible, what are my options? Can I clear enough space to upgrade our operating system to one that allows an OS reinstall via WiFi after reformatting?


If those are not viable options, can I clear enough space to update to the latest free operating system, then somehow manually clean off the computer to make it run faster? Can I also delete the partition we don't use and give the partition we do use the storage space?


FYI, my iMac has the Model Identifier iMac11,3.


Thanks in advance!

 

[DeltaMac]

If you are running out of space and you have a windows partition - half of your storage, as you said - and you are not going to use Windows again, you should be able to get that space back quite easily.
Go into your hard drive, to the Applications folder. Open the Utilities folder. Launch the Boot Camp Assistant, which should be in that Utilities folder. If the Windows partition was originally created using the Boot Camp Assistant, then it now should give you the choice to remove the windows partition, and restore that space to your hard drive.
There's a chance that won't work (and the Boot Camp Assistant will come back with an error when you try to remove that partition), but you should try that first, then come back if it reports a problem.

A couple of notes: If your iMac still has the original system, then it's likely that the RAM memory has not been upgraded, too. If you go to About This Mac (top left corner of the screen), it will show you how much memory is installed.
Your 2010, 27-inch iMac can be upgraded to as much as 32GB of RAM.
If the hard drive is original, then dramatic slow performance CAN be because you are running very low on space, OR could be a symptom of a hard drive that is starting to fail. You might want to consider replacing that hard drive with new, BEFORE it fails. AND, you can choose to replace it with a new solid state drive (SSD), which continue to come down in price. (Decent quality, maybe 500 GB capacity for less that $100). It's not too challenging to open up your iMac, and swap the drive.
It's something to think about doing - but then getting free space on your existing drive may be most of what you need...
And, you would have more than enough free space to upgrade your Mac OS. Newest version that your 2010 iMac supports will be High Sierra. You can download that (for free) from Apple, if you wish. Here's a link: https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12
Note: High Sierra will be relatively slow and "draggy" on your iMac, unless you upgrade to an SSD, and make sure that you have sufficient RAM installed (which is why I mentioned both of those items first )

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
You didn't tell us much about the iMac.
What year is it?

We can get your iMac back into good shape, running much better.

But it's going to take a little work. Don't get discouraged.
PRINT OUT THIS POST AND KEEP IT FOR REFERENCE.
Check off each step as you go along.

You're going to need an external drive (that's empty or one you don't mind erasing).

What to do next:
1. Erase the external drive to Mac OS extended with journaling enabled

2. Download CarbonCopyCloner version 3.5.7 (IMPORTANT: make sure you download version 3.5.7, NOT one of the newer versions) from this page:
https://bombich.com/download
This version of CCC is completely free to use forever.

3. Now, you want to use CCC to "clone" the contents of the Mac Partition (on your internal drive) to the external drive.
WHY DO THIS?
Because now you have a completely "independent" way to boot and run the Mac while you work on the internal drive.

4. OK, once you have this done you need to boot from the cloned backup by doing this:
a. Power down, all the way off
b. Press the power on button
c. IMMEDIATELY hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until the startup manager appears.
d. You should be able to see the external cloned backup available to boot from.
e. Select the external drive with the pointer and hit return
f. The iMac should boot up from the external drive.
IMPORTANT: When you get to the finder, it's going to look "just like it looks from the internal drive". You need to go to "about this Mac" (under apple) to ensure that YOU ARE booted from the external drive. Are you?

5. If you are, now it's time to "attack" the internal drive. Open Disk Utility and select the internal drive (topmost reference to the physical drive) to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled".
This will also WIPE OUT the Windows partition completely.

6. Once the erase is done, I suggest you run DU's "repair disk" function on the internal drive. Do you get "a good report"?

7. If the drive looks good, now quit Disk Utility and re-open CCC. Use your cloned backup as "the source" and the [empty] internal drive as "the target". Click clone and "let 'er go". It will take a little while.

8. When done, power down and disconnect the backup drive.

9. Now press the power-on button, but go through the same "option key" trick you used in step 4 above. This time, you should see only the internal drive available, so select it and hit return.

10. MOMENT OF TRUTH: Do you get a good boot?

11. If so, open system preferences and click "startup disk". Set the internal drive to be the boot drive and close system prefs.

12. That's about it. You should have a good deal more free space available without the bootcamp partition. How does it run now?