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I can’t even get into my iMac for two hours, it just circles. I think it needs stuff removed, and photos to be put on external drive but can’t get to it. Can I bring it into the Genius Bar to get it cleaned up? I don’t have the money to buy a new desk computer and it’s only 9 years old.
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15
Hey guys! EtreCheck is going to be hard to run because the computer won't boot.
"Can I bring it into the Genius Bar to get it cleaned up?"
You are asking end users here, not Apple. Different Apple Store Genius bars likely have capabilities.
History here suggests that your computer (21.5-inch; 2013), if equipped at the entry level, has a very slow and under-spec hard drive that gets slower with age and abuse. Your symptoms sound like the hard drive failed requiring full disassembly, and that is something the Genius bar would not likely attempt at the counter.
Also, per their published service documents, they may not work on a computer that is classed as "vintage" or "obsolete." The Late 2013 iMac is classed as "obsolete." They may evaluate it but not fix it.
👉🏻 Before doing anything, try booting into Safe Mode:
How to use safe mode on your Mac
That bypasses unneeded software that may cause issues and also does some disk/file repair. If you get a useable desktop in Safe Mode, STOP! Let the computer idle in safe mode for 1-2 hours to give time for all the safe-mode routines to finish.
You can stay in Safe Mode to off-load files and gain space.
Once you have done that, see if the computer starts with a normal boot.
If you cannot get into Safe Mode, then the drive could be truly dead and you will need professional help replacing it. Because the case was not designed to be opened, and the the 21.5-inch iMac that year was a bear to work on, expect to pay an independent tech US$60-80/hour to service it; figure two hours of labor on top of the cost of a new drive and the required reseal kit.
Hey guys! EtreCheck is going to be hard to run because the computer won't boot.
"Can I bring it into the Genius Bar to get it cleaned up?"
You are asking end users here, not Apple. Different Apple Store Genius bars likely have capabilities.
History here suggests that your computer (21.5-inch; 2013), if equipped at the entry level, has a very slow and under-spec hard drive that gets slower with age and abuse. Your symptoms sound like the hard drive failed requiring full disassembly, and that is something the Genius bar would not likely attempt at the counter.
Also, per their published service documents, they may not work on a computer that is classed as "vintage" or "obsolete." The Late 2013 iMac is classed as "obsolete." They may evaluate it but not fix it.
👉🏻 Before doing anything, try booting into Safe Mode:
How to use safe mode on your Mac
That bypasses unneeded software that may cause issues and also does some disk/file repair. If you get a useable desktop in Safe Mode, STOP! Let the computer idle in safe mode for 1-2 hours to give time for all the safe-mode routines to finish.
You can stay in Safe Mode to off-load files and gain space.
Once you have done that, see if the computer starts with a normal boot.
If you cannot get into Safe Mode, then the drive could be truly dead and you will need professional help replacing it. Because the case was not designed to be opened, and the the 21.5-inch iMac that year was a bear to work on, expect to pay an independent tech US$60-80/hour to service it; figure two hours of labor on top of the cost of a new drive and the required reseal kit.
Perhaps an 'authorized Apple service provider' may perform those tasks
on your older out-of-warranty device, and charge less than retail Apple.
An AASP is usually an independent Apple trained repair business agent.
Choices may be available within reasonable distance of your location.
•Apple Repair and Repair Status Check - Official Apple Support
•Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple
//www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
"Get hardware help" ~ ask about this 2nd choice within article.
PS: be sure to 'make adequate backups before submission' to service.
Repair Provider Verification - Official Apple Support
I believe you should create an EtreCheck report. EtreCheck is a simple, helpful utility to diagnose and identify both software and select hardware issues.
If your Mac is experiencing an issue, such as poor performance or running slowly, kernel panics, apps freezing or quitting unexpectedly, storage issues, and many more, generating an EtreCheck report is a great place to start for troubleshooting issues with your Mac while getting help at Apple Support Community. EtreCheck was developed by a highly respected member of these very Apple Support Community forums, and it is trusted by many users.
Downloading
To get started, download EtreCheck:
https://etrecheck.com/en/welcome.html
Click “download” on the site. The app will be downloaded to your Mac to your downloads location, which is the “Downloads” folder by default. This can be accessed by going to the Finder > Go (in the top menu bar) > Downloads.
Open the app, and generate a report
Open the downloaded application, and follow the initial steps to open the app. Choose a problem in the drop-down menu, and click Start. Creating a report typically takes 2-4 minutes on a healthy Mac.
View your report, and upload a copy to Apple Support Community
Once you have your report generated, you can upload it to Apple Support Community for us to review and provide suggestions. Please refer to this document with instructions for uploading your report and using the “Additional Text” function of Apple Support Community:
If you need help in the meantime, please let us know!
Jack
I second Jack's comments. That is where to start. There are many things which will slow down a computer and EtraCheck will show any that exist. If you think that you need an external drive, then get one. They are reasonably priced these days and very easy to install using vendor provided USB cables. Then transferring data is easily done.
I would like someone to look at my 2013 iMac and clean it up to speed it up and remove stuff from it
