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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Operating System
Early 2008 iMac El Capitan doing strange things
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<blockquote data-quote="chscag" data-source="post: 1868598" data-attributes="member: 46727"><p>I don't know where to start...... </p><p></p><p>An early 2008 iMac probably came preinstalled with Leopard (macOS 10.5.X) which had no recovery partition. Do you by chance have the original install DVDs? If you do, that would be the best way to start over. That is if the optical drive still works.</p><p></p><p>If not, it's possible to obtain a copy of Snow Leopard (macOS 10.6.X) on DVD from eBay. Booting with that would allow you to use Disk Utility from the DVD and also get around the password and to actually reset it.</p><p></p><p>Again, that's if the optical drive is working.</p><p></p><p>If the SSD drive in that machine is failing or has errors it might not be possible to repair it but will have to be replaced. Not difficult with a 2008 iMac.</p><p></p><p>As for MS Office 2008, a bad data base almost always means that it will need to be reinstalled. Office 2008 did not require activation by MS so that part is easy IF you have the original CD.</p><p></p><p>If you do decide to obtain a Snow Leopard DVD, make sure you get the commercial version (for all Macs) and not one specific for any particular Mac. The DVD will be white with a picture of the Snow Leopard on the face of the DVD.</p><p></p><p>If the optical drive on that machine is not working, you won't be able to boot from an external USB optical drive as the system will "see" the internal drive even if it's not working and refuse to boot from the external. It may be possible to boot from a USB installer flash drive.</p><p></p><p>Let us know. Hope this helps you somewhat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chscag, post: 1868598, member: 46727"] I don't know where to start...... An early 2008 iMac probably came preinstalled with Leopard (macOS 10.5.X) which had no recovery partition. Do you by chance have the original install DVDs? If you do, that would be the best way to start over. That is if the optical drive still works. If not, it's possible to obtain a copy of Snow Leopard (macOS 10.6.X) on DVD from eBay. Booting with that would allow you to use Disk Utility from the DVD and also get around the password and to actually reset it. Again, that's if the optical drive is working. If the SSD drive in that machine is failing or has errors it might not be possible to repair it but will have to be replaced. Not difficult with a 2008 iMac. As for MS Office 2008, a bad data base almost always means that it will need to be reinstalled. Office 2008 did not require activation by MS so that part is easy IF you have the original CD. If you do decide to obtain a Snow Leopard DVD, make sure you get the commercial version (for all Macs) and not one specific for any particular Mac. The DVD will be white with a picture of the Snow Leopard on the face of the DVD. If the optical drive on that machine is not working, you won't be able to boot from an external USB optical drive as the system will "see" the internal drive even if it's not working and refuse to boot from the external. It may be possible to boot from a USB installer flash drive. Let us know. Hope this helps you somewhat. [/QUOTE]
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Early 2008 iMac El Capitan doing strange things
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