iMac erase taking forever. What to do?

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Level 1

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iMac erase taking forever. What to do?

I have an 21.5 inch iMac (late 2015) running MacOS Catalina 10.15.5, and it has the 1TB hard drive. It's been extremely slow recently and I thought i'd restore it and start over.

Using the Disk Utility process I used the "erase" feature. Although I expected this to take a little while to erase, and then to go through the process to reinstall, it's now been nearly 48 hours and the erase feature still just says it's running. I can still use everything on the computer, but the disk utility is always open and there seems to be no way to abort this process.

What can I do? I'm not sure if I should just go ahead and shut down manually and try to reboot and then restore, or if I should wait this out even longer.

I've read other posts about the issue, but I may have the longest erase process seen on the forums.

In the end I didn't need to do the erase, but that's what I started so any good suggestions are welcome. I don't want to turn this computer into a brick.

Posted on Jul 31, 2020 3:22 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,412 points

Jul 31, 2020 10:09 PM in response to 12mliard

Oh, I understand now. I always buy AppleCare on my Macs it's a smart investment. It would have cost you about $169 and the repair would have been free. Not the SSD upgrade but the HD would have been replaced. Not saying this to make you feel bad, just to let you know the next time to get AppleCare.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,412 points

Jul 31, 2020 10:44 PM in response to 12mliard

Well of course it's a gamble, as is any insurance. But it's a gamble you are glad you took when you have a problem. In this case you chose to self insure so you have to pay for repairs, when you compare that to your 2011 MB I can see why you took the chance. I've been fortunate I have never had problems either but I also like having the peace of mind that if something does occur that it is covered. I only do it on Macs, on my iPhone, Apple TVs no, on my Apple Watch I did because they can get damaged. I get it on my Macs because they are expensive and repairs can be expensive.On the Apple TV's no because they stay in one place pretty much all the time.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,412 points

Jul 31, 2020 4:09 PM in response to 12mliard

If the HD is health an erase should take less than a minute, however if the HD is not healthy then it should be replaced. Based on your description, I would recommend opening Disk Utility in the Recovery Partition and running First Aide several times, if FA can find an error it will post it. However all that will do is confirm a hunch. My real recommendation is to take it to your local Apple Authorized Service Provider to be professionally diagnosed and have the machine fixed. If it is the HD, have it replaced with an SSD.

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Answer 4

12mliard Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2020 10:16 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I've thought about that but I always feel it's a gamble. I'm typing this on a 2011 Mac Book that has never had an issue. Something to keep in mind for the next computer purchase.

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Answer 5

12mliard Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2020 4:37 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks. Unfortunately the Disk Utility won't let me do anything else. Seems I may have to just shut it down and take it in. Not a big deal other than some time and probably more money than I'd like to spend. SDD upgrade will add to the costs, but may be worth it in the long run.

This computer is only about 2 years old, so a real shame if the HD is no good already.

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Answer 6

12mliard Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2020 4:55 PM in response to rkaufmann87

True. New to me less than 2-years. I bought refurbished from Apple.

I was finally able to Force Quit Disk Utility. Going back into to check for damage like you suggested, but now it's just spinning saying "Loading Disks". If it finally shows something i'll run the First Aid thing.

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,412 points

Jul 31, 2020 4:49 PM in response to 12mliard

Reminder a late 2015 at least 3-5 years old.

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Answer 8

12mliard Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2020 9:44 PM in response to 12mliard

I was finally able to restart in recovery mode and run the first aid, but it showed no errors. I'm now in the process of reinstalling Catalina. Time will tell if the performance is better.

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iMac erase taking forever. What to do?

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