sosunnyme

Q: IMac only starts in safe mode.   Time machine will not update.

My iMac (Yosemite) will only start in safe mode.  I thought I may have filled it with too many RAW file photos so set about removing the surplus.  I had a virus before and once it was cleared by purhasing Intego I , after a few days unplugged the time machine backup as it previously had the virus on it too.  Hoping that now I had a clean back up.  Recently the iMac very slow taking five minutes or more to open tags and start up.  I have been methodically removing RAW files to DVD to free space.  iphoto will only show thumbnail and not open the pictures on the screen.  I plugged my time machine it to back up more recent pictures but time machine does not update saying there is not enough space.  I thought it removed older back-ups to install later ones but it is not doing so.

 

How can I back up and re-boot?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Sep 6, 2015 4:55 AM

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Q: IMac only starts in safe mode.   Time machine will not update.

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  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 6, 2015 7:14 AM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 6, 2015 7:14 AM in response to sosunnyme

    Remove "AppBarrier," "ContentBarrier," "NetBarrier," and/or "VirusBarrier" by following the instructions on this page. If you have a different version, the procedure may be different.

    Back up all data before making any changes. Never install any "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product again.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 6, 2015 7:22 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2015 7:22 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi,  Thank you for responding.  I am unable to back up because time machine says back up failed as there isn't enough space on "My Passport" storage.  I thought that it should remove older back ups to continue with backing up.  Time machine is not doing this.  I had bought a Seagate 2TB storage but Mac is not recognising it although it is powering up, no icon appearing on desktop.  Is all this due to a virus?

     

    I was only able to get rid of the previous virus after installing Intego and the Mac has been running well for months until recently.  I can uninstall Intego but will that make my time machine back up again?

     

    Yesterday all my folders vanished ... pictures, downloads and documents.   Fortunately I had saved downloads and documents to DVD.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 6, 2015 7:28 AM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2015 7:28 AM in response to sosunnyme

    Time machine is now showing blank pages when I open it so it seems I cannot re-boot as nothing showing on there.  Finder is also not showing any response.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 8, 2015 5:33 AM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 8, 2015 5:33 AM in response to sosunnyme

    If you want to preserve the data on the startup drive, and it's not already backed up, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data, you can skip this step.

    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive or other storage device to hold the data.

    1. Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

    If you use FileVault 2, then you must first unlock the startup volume. Select its icon ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another disk icon, usually with the same name. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar. Enter your login password when prompted.

    2. If Method 1 fails because of disk errors, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.

    3. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB (except on a MacBook Retina with a USB-C port), Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

    4. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 8, 2015 2:51 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 8, 2015 2:51 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi,

     

    I have not yet got as far as your instructions above as I have been copying all my pictures onto DVD and delting them from trash afterwards.  They are still in iphoto at present.  However, I nave now found that although I have not accessed time machine, the back ups that were on there appear to have vanished.  It is still saying that there is not enough room to back up but the disk appears blank.  Also, finder is not working and all my documents and download folders are missing.  The virus or whatever is causing my problem appears to have wiped everything that was stored.  Is there anything I can do to try and access the missing items before I do a restore or do I have to accept that all is gone for good.  I had cipied the contents of documents and downloads to seperate DVD but not deleted anything from the iMac.  However, now I have looked at the DVD's all personal stuff (copy invoices etc.) are missing and only programmes and apps. are on them.  Of course, it was the missing documents that I needed records of most.

     

      Please advise if you are able.  Thank you.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 9, 2015 7:10 AM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 9, 2015 7:10 AM in response to sosunnyme

    I don't know what's going on with your backups, but you should back up now to another storage device. One backup is never enough to be safe.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 14, 2015 8:25 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 14, 2015 8:25 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Following instructions, I had to re-install Intego as it appeared to have vanished.  Install required a re-start.  The iMac restarted normally (i.e. not in safe mode as it had been for days).  I have not yet uninstalled Intego and have allowed it to do full scans.  No viruses were picked up or quarantined. 

     

    Although the list for documents and downloads had vanished, when I searched they showed.  I have dragged them onto my Seagate 1tb storage.  The iMac would not use it to back up which is why I bought it. 

     

    Should I now restore the iMac to factory settings?  If so, how do I go about it please?

     

    I really need this computer to be up to speed and not take 5 minutes to load each tab.

     

    Thank you.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 16, 2015 2:38 AM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2015 2:38 AM in response to sosunnyme

    I have now restored my iMac to factory settings as it was able to locate a date on my time machine.  As it said it would take 7 hours I had to leave the computer on while I went to work.  This morning it said that it had successfully done the re-install and needed to restart.  When it shut down and then 'bonged' it did not restart and had dark screen with small rectangle flashing white in the top left hand corner of the screen.  Nothing advanced further.  I eventually shut down again and tried to re-start in safe mode.  The same thing happened.  The third try was to use shift and R and that has enabled me to have some use of the machine.  I have verified the discs and it reports all OK.  Please advise what else I can do to get this machine working normall again.

  • by sosunnyme,

    sosunnyme sosunnyme Sep 23, 2015 2:05 PM in response to sosunnyme
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2015 2:05 PM in response to sosunnyme

    Now that my iMac 27 starts in normal mode, it is still very slow.  Time machine only had one date on it which was back in March when I unplugged it due to virus which I didn't want stored on time machine.  However, it is now full of all the surplus photos and stuff that I have spent months filtering off.  I would like to take it right back to a clean start.  How can I back up to factory settings please.  I do not have a dvd as new mac didn't come with a disc.  It has no dvd player.  Can I save all my saved passwords too?