Porsche, WOW! this is exactly what happen to me 2 days ago and the same message I got. I read a couple of others on this forum recently having the same problems. The bad news is, your HD is dead but I am confused as to why so many IMAC HDs are dying within the last few days. Did you download the recent security updates along with Safari by any chance? This is when mine started to act up.
fortunately, i had a back-up drive with with files. Do you think we should contact the others and see what we can do? There are about 3 others who have posted stating HD issues but I am not sure if it started to happen like you and I after we installed the recent security updates and Safari.
Me too! My computer started acting funny tonight after trying to watch a video on the A&E website. The screen froze up and I couldnt do anything. I turned off the computer and now its stuck on the gray screen with the apple logo. I have a macbook so I decided to log on here to see if anyone else is having an issue and apparently something is going on. Are you serious that my iMac is dead?
I called applecare and they were able to get my iMac up and running. Apparently there is an issue with updating software. I just had to do an update today and ended up with the same problem. So I re did what the applecare rep told me and I got it going again myself. I am hoping this will not continue. So anyway, I am going to provide the steps on how my I got iMac going.
1. unplug the computer for approx 17 seconds.
2. unplug everything from the computer except the mouse and keyboard.
3. plug in the computer
4. turn on the iMac and hold down the option key at the SAME TIME
5. when the iMac comes on, it will make a loud beep noise, CONTINUE to hold the power and option key until a small the Mac HD icon displays.
5. When the Mac HD icon shows on the screen, release the power button and option key. Then click on the arrow below the Mac HD icon.
5. The iMac will boot and take you to the desktop. Then click applications
6. choose the utility folder
7 then choose disk utility
8 a screen will appear that states first aid. At the bottom, there will be an option to repair disk. Click on that then choose Mac HD.
9 When this is finished, you are good to go. These steps will repair what ever the software updates are doing to the hard drive.
