iMac failed to re-boot after using disk first aid - then failed to load backup from external disc backup
Using my late 2013 iMac in OS 10.13.6 High Sierra I was advised to use disc first aid as a routine check - even though the computer was functioning adequately. I had not previously used disc first aid in the eight years of using this iMac. Disc first aid informed me there was minor corruption on the hard disc and then repaired that successfully. It then informed me to turn the iMac off & then turn power back on & re-boot to open my desktop.
Instead of the iMac re-booting from the existing High Sierra OS already within the iMac it posted a message saying it could not recognise the Apple server where it had intended getting a new version of High Sierra.
I now had a computer with no operating system & therefore it could not produce my desktop as it was permamnetly stuck with a blank black screen with just the Apple logo and a progress bar completed but frozen. Even after leaving it for at least eight hours overnight nothing changed.
Apple support told me to take it to an Apple store for them to sort it out. I did & the Apple store loaded OS 10.13.6 High Sierra back onto my computer but told me when they did that they discovered there was no information at all on the computer except that new OS High Sierra.
Although I was concerned about this bizarre turn of events I expected to be able to retrieve all my information as I always kept daily back ups using time machine and an external hard disc.
When I then used the Apple migration assistant to migrate the backup from my external backup hardisc but it uploaded a very old backup that was useless. It then did the same with a second backup disc I had. It then became clear the iMac was not correctly reading either of the two external backup discs. I have spent the entire five days since this disaster commenced on Saturday November 11th until Thursday November 17th on the phone to numerous Apple support people who had given conflicting, inadequate & useless information.
A vast amount of time was spent by them telling me High Sierra was obsolete & therefore I should expect problems like this and that Apple support was unable to help me as I was at fault for failing to constantly
upgrade my OS. I was also told that my eight year old late 2013 iMac was also 'obsolete' and that Apple expected it to be un-usable as that computer hardware was also 'obsolete' the same as the OS High Sierra.
I am completely incredulous at what has happened and have been on the phone for many, many hours & told by Apple Support that nothing can be done to discover what is wrong, how it happend & why, and also why my two external backup discs cannot be read properly by the computer which then means I cannot retrieve my latest backup.
Does anyone else recorgnise this problem and know how to go about solving it as the loss of all my information has just about destroyed my life, preventring me working or doing anything at all.
The shambles I experienced from Apple support has already incurred huge phone bills and a large expense paying a fee to an Apple store to do absolutely nothing useful at all except installing an OS but losing all my data.
And a persistent thread of advice from these Apple support people has been their specific instruction to me that any purchase of any brand new computer only has a life of about seven years before becoming 'obsolete' and unsafe/potentially useless to use. I was also consistently told any computer or back-up of data cannot be relied on to function and all data can be permanently lost at any time.
Can any one suggest what I might be able to do about this ?
