iMac Freezes after Startup

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For the past year now I have had issues with my imac. After the first year and a half, every time I started up my computer it would take anywhere from 15-25 minutes to startup.

After getting tired of waiting for it to start up, I decided once it started up I was never going to shut it down again. I did that for about 5 mos. and everything seemed to be fine. One day I decided to shut it down, which led to my next problem, computer freezes up after start up. Once I reached the desktop, I could access the internet for about 30 seconds, then it freezes, ...can't do anything with it, so I hold in the power button until it shuts down.

I noticed prior to the freezing problem, that my computer seemed to be unusually hot if I ran my hand across the back of the computer (towards the upper portion of the computer).

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to resolve this issue (these issues)? I'm about ready to toss this thing out the window. I've only had it for about 2 1/2 years. Would appreciate any suggestions you may have! Thanks.
 

chscag

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It sounds like the hard drive may be failing. Try booting the iMac with your original install DVD (probably Snow Leopard), use Disk Utility to check the hard drive and let us know.
 
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I have made several attempts booting the iMac with my original DVD and with each attempt my install DVD gets ejected, so, I am unable to check the hard drive.
 

chscag

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Your optical drive may be failing or the disk could be marred. You can perform a Verify and Repair by booting to Single User Mode:

Here are the Apple instructions.....

Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.

Starting up in single-user or verbose mode

1. Shut down your Mac if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and the "s" key for single-user mode. (Command-S)

At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:

** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.

Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.


Let us know.
 
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chscag, I followed the instructions you provided in your previous post. I did receive the "THE FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED", and then repeated the steps "/sbin/fsck -fy and it reported "The volume Macintosh HD appears to be ok". I then typed "reboot" and then pressed RETURN. The computer restarted, but after about 45 seconds (or so) it froze up again.
 
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chscag, I followed the instructions you provided in your previous post. I did receive the "THE FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED", and then repeated the steps "/sbin/fsck -fy and it reported "The volume Macintosh HD appears to be ok". I then typed "reboot" and then pressed RETURN. The computer restarted, but after about 45 seconds (or so) it froze up again.

Maybe you can go to Apple and let them fix it for you.
 

chscag

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I then typed "reboot" and then pressed RETURN. The computer restarted, but after about 45 seconds (or so) it froze up again.

We could still be looking at a hard drive that has problems. Let's try something else...

Download the SMART utility from here. I believe you can use it in trial mode without paying. That will give us a comprehensive look into the hard drive. If it passes the SMART tests, we'll try something else.
 

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