Spinning wheel

Question

Level 1

4 points

Spinning wheel

Hi!

A few months ago when I tried to do anything on my iMac, the spinning wheel would come up and not go away at all. Then recently I couldn't turn my Mac on because it would have the spinning wheel. Today I took my Mac in to the Genius Bar. They ran a diagnostic which showed 1 of my 3 fans is out. And it's too old for them to fix. But when logging on to the operating system everything was fine, no spinning ball. So they suggested I get a recent time machine and they started a time machine back up with me on a new external hard drive there to be sure it was fine. It got to 1 GB and we stopped the back up. However at home, the back up got to 1.98 GB before it stopped and got the spinning ball.

I then called apple phone support and reset some things with them. Then ran a verify disk permission. Ran for over 30 min without progressing. Re-booted, tried a disk verify, also stalled. Called apple back, ran another disk verify and got off the phone. I was told if it stalls again to take it in to an apple verified repair shop. The verify disk permissions finished, but then the repair disk permissions also got stuck with the spinning ball.

Is there anything else I can do? Is it worth it to go to the apple verified repair shop?

I'm not really at the point to get a new Mac, so how would I move my files over from my previous time machine back up to a windows machine? If I connect my external hard drive with time machine back up to another Mac and move the files over to a fat32 external hard drive and then to my windows computer. Is that the best way to transfer files?

thank you for any help you have to give!

Posted on Sep 11, 2017 6:43 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 11, 2017 7:28 PM in response to Espinod06

Also if you can borrow a more stable Mac you can try Use target disk mode to share files between two Mac computers - Apple Support. To access your files with the other Mac. Once connect to the other Mac you can then import to the external drive.

That pretty much all your options.

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Answer 2

Sep 11, 2017 7:39 PM in response to Community User

Please see Hard drive data recovery and warranty implications - Apple Support if any of the above is true (basically the Mac has completely crashed). You can also contact Apple Support for trusted companies in your region.

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Answer 3

Sep 11, 2017 8:00 PM in response to Espinod06

Follow Restore specific files in Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support. I would enable home folder view and just copy the all your major libraries like Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, Movies. Most files are compatible in Windows, anything that isn't you should be able to use her Mac to convert them. Yes you can restore them directly to the external drive.

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Answer 4

Sep 11, 2017 6:49 PM in response to Espinod06

Any of Apple software including Time Machine doesn't work with going from macOS to Windows. You'll need to either erase the disk with Time Machine (at your own risk (it'll need to be formatted to exFat)) and use it to manually import your files. Once the files are manually imported then you can access them on Windows using the external drive.

If your uncomfortable with this I would assume that most basic computer shops provide a service to help with this at cost of course.

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Answer 5

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 11, 2017 6:59 PM in response to Community User

With an internet search I saw that I can use a 3rd party software to open time machine on a windows computer and then export the files to the windows computer. Or I can use another Mac machine to open the external hard drive with the time machine and directly transfer those files to another hard drive that is fat32 already. Then take the fat 32 to the windows machine and take the files from there. Are these not correct?

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Answer 6

Sep 11, 2017 7:01 PM in response to Espinod06

If you do this your completely on your own (basically at your own risk of data corruption). It probably possible, but at this point your playing with different file systems (and one not natively supported by windows). As time machine is hfs+ which is not supported by Windows.

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Answer 7

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 11, 2017 7:09 PM in response to Community User

Well at this point I also don't really have a choice and I really hope that I'm not losing all my pictures and other important things because I'm moving from Mac to windows. Seems pretty extreme. Why would anyone choose MAC then.

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Answer 8

Sep 11, 2017 7:14 PM in response to Espinod06

It really not that hard. Give me a couple of minutes I can post some screenshots (may not be exactly what you see (as I'm on the latest macOS on my MacBook)). Personally my self I have macOS and Windows system (like two computer). So I'm always moving data between them.

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Answer 9

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 11, 2017 7:20 PM in response to Community User

Ok I would really appreciate that. I also have a clone of my Mac on a Mac formatted external HD if that is less risky to use than the time machine. I will be borrowing a friend's MAC laptop to do this since mine is having trouble. And I will have an external HD formatted to FAT32.

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Answer 10

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 11, 2017 7:29 PM in response to Community User

So if I'm understanding correctly is that I'm erasing my time machine on my external HD, the reformatting it, and then making a new back up to my external HD? Because I'm erasing all the data on the external HD correct?

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Answer 11

Sep 11, 2017 7:36 PM in response to Espinod06

The other option is if the Time Machine backed up anything probably you can use a small USB (you mention it only got less then 2GB) to transfer it from the Time Machine application on another Mac.

You also said:

I will be borrowing a friend's MAC laptop to do this since mine is having trouble.

If you can get the old Mac into target disk mode at the very least you get some data otherwise if you cannot get the old Mac to boot at all now or go even into target disk mode you may have to look into data recovery services costing $500-$2500+.

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Answer 12

Sep 11, 2017 7:44 PM in response to Espinod06

If her Mac recognizes it as a Time Machine backup you can go inside of it and access the files. You'll need a second drive (may see if someone has one you can use) to restore/copy the files too (make sure it formatted in a type that Windows can read). Once there on that other drive you can then import them to Windows.

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Answer 13

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 11, 2017 7:56 PM in response to Community User

I will just be able to drag and drop from my time machine to the other external hard drive without storing anything on her computer? And if anything is not saved in a way that windows can read, then I can use her Mac to save to a windows compatible file?

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Answer 14

Espinod06 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 18, 2017 11:09 AM in response to Community User

So i have my time machine back up connected to my friends computer and I am able to access the external hard drive and all the back ups. They are arranged in folders. I go in to users, my account and in to pictures. Then I try to open my iphoto, but it brings up her iphoto and says this iphoto library is a time machine back up and cannot be used as the main library. How do I get in to the time machine back up on my external hard drive and restore the photos in to the other external hard drive that I have.

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Answer 15

Sep 11, 2017 7:24 PM in response to Espinod06

Using Disk Utility:

Using Finder (I used Split view):

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