Problems rebooting imac

Ok heres the problem.....My 2007 imac has always worked fine untill a couple of months ago. Basically it had become so clogged up over the years that I had to erase the hard drive and start over. I have stupidly lost my install disks (apart from disk one of osx 10.4.1..Tiger I think) When I originally set it up from new, i dont recall using these disks..I think i installed leopard that came bundled with it (which i have also stupidly lost).

My bro lent me his copy of snow leopard which installed perfectly and for a while, it worked fine. It then started to become sluggish again so I rebooted a couple more times.

About 2 weeks ago I came home to find it stuck on the dreaded grey screen with the ? icon showing. I borrowed the snow leopard again and rebooted as before. Anyway this has continued over the last few weeks with me having to reboot. The other day however I tried to do it again and the imac would not acept the diskk and kept ejecting it during restart whilst holding down the c key, and the same happened when i tried holding down the alt key.

In my desperation to get it back on track, i restarted and loaded up disk one, mentioned above, in the hope that it would allow me to erase my hard drive again. To cut a long story short, i ended up erasing the hard drive and began installing from this disk. It then asked me to insert disk two to complete the set up (which i dont have) and unsuprisingly, it is now stuck...asking me for disk two.

When i insert this disk again to try and reboot again in order to erase the hard drive and then some how eject the disk, i just get a white screen with the turning wheel symbol...

Im at my wits end and feel sure that ive wrecked it!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...im thinking that maybe i need to try and get hold of a complete set of osx 10.4.1 discs???

I'd buy yourself a retail version of Snow Leopard. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.) it's only $20/£14 or similar, depending where you live

But, from your description I'd suggest that your hard disk has issues and may need replacement. That would explain the recurrent issues even after clean OS installs.

Hi mrplow...thanks for your reply. This sounds like a good piece of advice as the hard drive has taken a battering over the years. I used to use it for professional photographic post production so there has been a lot of images and associated software run through it.

I am obviously going to look into this option but do you roughly know how much a replacement HD + fitting would cost?Can you reccomend any reputable UK companies?

Once again thanks for your help, I really appreciate it

Not the easiest job in the world however if you are experienced dismantling machines, have a look at this link:-

iMac Intel 20" EMC 2133 and 2210 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit

If not take it into an Apple or PC shop for a quote to get some idea.

Hmmm...when this option was first suggested to me I was thinking that I could maybe do it myself but after looking into.....probably not a good idea. I think ive found a company who can provide and install a hard drive for around £100ish, Mac Upgrades - Macintosh Upgrades in the UK

If anybody on here has used this company before, lemme know how it went.

Thanks for your help harryb....;-)

I own a late 2007 iMac. To me the hardest part is getting off the Glass without breaking it. Before I go any farther, is your iMac White plastic or Aluminum?

If the Aluminum one, you need some suction cups. Here I was careful and just used a knife sharpener that has a suction cup on it's base and 3 times now and no broken glass.

Once the glass is off, a bunch of Torx I believe T-9's and the bezel comes off then 6 Torx T8 or 9 and you carefully lift up the LCD and unplug the inverter wires. There is the Video plug that has two Torx T-6 screws. Once the display is out, you see the hard drive and bend this bracket that locks it in and it pops right up and into your hand. Put the bracket and pointed screws on the new drive and drop it in after you plug in the SATA and Power cable. I had the new drive installed in 15 min or around and reassembled.

Hi dTravis....thanks for your info. That kinda does sound doable but the problem I have is a lack of tools for the job. Ive since had a quote for supply and fit of a new HD for £136.......

I think ill have a look to see how the cost of tools plus the hard drive adds up and consider it...!

Keep us posted! If you do decide to to it yourself and you get stuck, I for one will be glad to offer advice since I know your iMac so well. Is yours a 20 or 24"?

Ah thanks dude,Ireally appreciate that! Its a 20 inch..I had to go for the cheaper option at the time.

Im currently installing from the first of those two discs. I unchecked everything I could before clicking install, so Im hoping that it wont ask for the second disc. We'll see....I'll keep you updated on everything!Thanks again ;-)

sildking said:

Ive since had a quote for supply and fit of a new HD for £136.......

I think ill have a look to see how the cost of tools plus the hard drive adds up and consider it...!

Click to expand...

Tools should be very inexpensive...and the HD shouldn't be too much either. Having someone else (a professional) do the install is almost ALWAYS much more expensive than doing it yourself. But not everyone has the confidence, experience, or desire to do DIY repairs.

Go to:

iFixit: The free repair manual

...to see the install procedure to see if it is something you might feel comfortable with.

- Nick

p.s. Oops...I see that harryb2448 already provided you with a link for iFixit.

For what it is worth, consider paying to have the job done. If the machine is worth say £100-120 go for it. Your link provides supply and install a 1TB WD drive for that.