Mid-2007 iMac won't boot

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Level 1

19 points

Mid-2007 iMac won't boot

Sometime yesterday my iMac suddenly locked up. I had to hold down the power button to shut it down. When I rebooted, the boot-up was very slow, and when my desktop appeared I got a message saying "activateSettings quit unexpectedly." I had to force another shutdown. This happened two or three times. I attempted a disk repair. The verification step reported a disk problem. I tried to repair and got a message saying the disk could not be repaired, and suggesting I reformat.

Before I wipe the hard drive I want to make sure this is my only option. Is it worth taking it into an Apple Store? Would they have recovery tools that I don't have? I'm in IT but I'm more literate in Windows than in Mac, so any suggestions are appreciated.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 4 GB RAM

Posted on May 27, 2015 5:15 AM

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Answer 1

D.Cohen

Level 6

8,588 points

May 27, 2015 5:23 AM in response to jjkatz

Take a look at this Apple article and follow the instructions on resetting NVRAM shown there:How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Hope this helps!

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Answer 2

jjkatz Author

Level 1

19 points

May 27, 2015 5:52 AM in response to D.Cohen

Just tried it, and also tried resetting the SMC. No luck. The progress bar gets around 1/3 of the way across and then it just shuts down. 😟

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,418 points

May 27, 2015 5:56 AM in response to jjkatz

Boot into the Recovery Partition (Command+ R) and open Disk Utility. Run Verify HD and Repair HD, if the drive reports errors after 2-3 passes, arrange to get it replaced.

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Answer 4

jjkatz Author

Level 1

19 points

May 27, 2015 6:05 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks, I've already tried that several times. I guess the drive is toast. $#@&! Any idea how much the Apple Store would charge to replace an iMac hard drive? I don't want to put a lot of money into an eight-year-old computer.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,418 points

May 27, 2015 6:08 AM in response to jjkatz

An Apple Store likely won't work on it because it is considered too old. Locate an AASP in your area and ask, if you don't know any please click AASP Locator to begin finding one. Prices will vary by location, so you need to call and ask. Be specific when asking, say something like., "I have a 2007 24" iMac with a failed HD. How much will it cost to install a 1TB HD or a 500GB Samsung SSD?"

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Answer 6

jjkatz Author

Level 1

19 points

May 27, 2015 6:25 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks, I'll check into it. I've been talking about replacing this computer for around a year; guess today might be the day. Much appreciated.

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,418 points

May 27, 2015 7:07 AM in response to jjkatz

Your welcome.

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Answer 8

jjkatz Author

Level 1

19 points

May 28, 2015 7:21 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Just to close this thread:

I was able to reformat the drive and boot the computer. I was even able to access the App Store and restore my applications. I was in the process of restoring my data (overnight) when that failed. The computer lost its Internet connection even though I was using Ethernet. I rebooted and it was unable to detect my keyboard. I rebooted again and it found the keyboard but everything else was painfully slow.

I wondered if it could be the internal fan since the computer felt unusually warm, but even in that case it's a part I'd have to pay someone to replace and I'm not even positive that's it. I tried running the Apple Hardware Test but wasn't able to get that to execute.

Decision made to buy a new computer, wipe the hard disk on this one and put it up on Ebay for parts/tinkering.

Thanks everyone who offered suggestions. I did try them all.

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