starting from a different drive

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Level 1

8 points

starting from a different drive

I already submitted this question sorry I am new; do not see it anywhere.

My neighbor was using my computer and clicked on something that gave me an error message saying the computer had a virus; but with research this seems to be a scam to get you to pay for support. I am not seeing anything weird or unusual. But I used disk utility to check and it said the main hard drive needed repair. the other hard drives inside the computer were fine. It is kind of freaking me out. I got the message to restart the computer from another drive, so basically: can I use the other drives that are in the computer, or do I have to use a laptop and hold down control K or something? How do you do it?

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 4, 2015 10:48 PM

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Answer 1

petermac87

Level 5

7,447 points

Mar 4, 2015 10:55 PM in response to anniesu

Start up holding down the Option key and it will show you what bootable drives you have. Your best method is to start up holding down Command + R and chose DiskUtility to repair the affected drive.

Pete

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Answer 2

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Mar 5, 2015 6:06 AM in response to anniesu

These two events are unrelated. The pop-up was just a scam, and cannot do anything to your computer unless you call the phone number provided and follow the scammers' instructions.

As for repairing the hard drive, what system are you actually using? Your profile indicates you are using Mac OS X 10.5.8, but you posted this in the Lion (10.7) Server forum. Go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac... what version of Mac OS X do you actually have? The procedure will vary depending on which system you're using.

You should be aware that this is likely to be a sign that the drive is dying. If you don't have the data on that hard drive backed up, that needs to be your top priority!

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Answer 3

anniesu Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 5, 2015 7:39 AM in response to thomas_r.

thanks for answering so quickly. Re the "virus" that's what I later thought; we just sort of panicked. I know this happened on another computer and I had to go into firefox to disable a tab that kept loading and wouldn't close; should I do something in firefox before proceeding with anything else?

I am running OSX 10.6.8. I didn't want to upgrade because Yosemite gets so much bad feedback. I feel like my computer is new but I guess it's been a few years now. If I hit repair disk is there a danger it will erase everything? I think that's only on restore. Yes I need to backup but I guess that means first clean it up, ugh.

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Answer 4

anniesu Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 5, 2015 8:03 AM in response to petermac87

I started with the option key and it's only showing the main hd which needs to be repaired. I do have an old laptop running OSX 10.6.8 as well, should I boot up from there? You recommend back up first I guess using time machine? I am a photog so my images take up a lot of space, but I keep them off the HD.

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Answer 5

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Mar 5, 2015 9:40 AM in response to anniesu

anniesu wrote:

I am running OSX 10.6.8. I didn't want to upgrade because Yosemite gets so much bad feedback

On 10.6.8, you will need your Snow Leopard install disk. Insert it in the drive, restart the computer and hold down the 'C' key when the chime sounds. You can let go when the Apple logo appears. Then use Disk Utility from there to repair the hard drive. (You cannot repair the drive containing the current system, which is why this is necessary.)

Yes I need to backup but I guess that means first clean it up, ugh.

Don't waste time cleaning it up. Your drive could be in the early stages of failing, and if that's the case, it could fail entirely at any time. If that happens, any data on your drive that isn't backed up will be gone for good. Backups take priority - higher priority than repairing the disk, actually - and you can worry about cleaning stuff up later.

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