02-28-2010, 08:03 PM

Frustration setting in....quickly. I replaced the hard drive on my 20" Intel iMac. I loaded the OS dvd, partitioned the new drive, and chose to restore from Time Machine. I was prompted to restart after the restore process completed, at which time I started experiencing a continuous reboot. I have tried to boot from the OS dvd by holding "C" during boot....no avail. I have also tried pressing "CMD-OPT-SHIFT-DELETE" to bypass internal hard drive, and a slew of other key presses. My last thought is to remove the hard drive, reformat it using an external enclosure on my windows machine, re-install and start all over. Any suggestions before I go that far?

(btw) no other mac's in the house.

03-01-2010, 11:22 AM

If I was to install a new HD I would first format the whole drive then partition if it was necessary. I would usually install a fresh OS before doing anything including the data return using Time Machine. A good solid fresh OS install on a fresh drive is an excellent base for days and years to come.

Forget about removing the HD and using Windows. Stick with the winning solution on the install disk you have. You have the tools and the hardware skills.