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My 24in iMac is booting to gray screen with flashing folder with a question mark in it. Its getting old and at this point all i am worried about is gathering some data off my drive. It currently wont boot into safe mood and I can not boot into disc utility.
Any thoughts??
iMac
skernz wrote:
My 24in iMac is booting to gray screen with flashing folder with a question mark in it. Its getting old and at this point all i am worried about is gathering some data off my drive. It currently wont boot into safe mood and I can not boot into disc utility.
Any thoughts??
Old enough that when purchased, system DVDs came w/it? If so, do the following:
Disconnect all devices from the computer then do the following:
Boot up from the system DVD that originally came w/the iMac while holding down the "c" key.
Select the language you wish to use, and then choose "Disk Utility" from the menu bar.
Your HD should appear in a panel on the left hand side of the window which opens. Select it and then click on the "repair disk" button in the right hand section of the window.
Once this process has been completed restart your computer and repair permissions directly from Disk Utility.
If Disk Utility is unable to complete the repair, you will need to use a stronger 3rd party utility like DiskWarrior, Techtool PRO (not Deluxe) or Drive Genius.
If the above works, start backing up. Check out the following links:
OS X Mountain Lion: Alternatives for backing up your Mac
User Tip: Most commonly used backup methods
Emergency backups you didn't know you had!
Thanks for the reply. Everything is disconnected. I put in disc 1 powered off and powered back in holding down the "c" key. It booted then ejected the disc and went back to the flashing folder. I tried to do the same with disc 2 and it did that same thing.
Make sure the DVDs are not dirty, smudged and/or scratched.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2000Mac doesn't start up from install disc
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2801Apple Computers: Troubleshooting the slot-loading SuperDrive
*** Your drive may need cleaning. Cleaning kits can be purchased from any store that sells CD/DVDs. ***
I was able to boot to the disc holding "alt"... I am in disc utility and i do not see my hard drive listed on the left. This is not a good sign.
Your drive is dying or has failed completely.
If its not showing, is there any way to salvage any data off it, you think? This is what I was afraid off.
I have most of my data backed up but there is, i know, that isnt
Wealth of info in this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3751670?answerId=22539638022#22539638022
Unless it's really really important, that can be extremely expensive. Only thing you can try yourself is to take the drive out, put it in a freezer bag (best done with silica gel to absorb moisture), put it in the freezer overnight, then either put it in an external drive or drive dock (the latter is probably the best because it can be done quickly before the drive warms up again.)
EDIT: triple wrapped and well sealed.
Message was edited by: WZZZ
imac wont boot to safe mood or disc utilty
