Grey Screen

[Bazzra1714]

Hi. I have an iMac 27' 2009/2010 model running Leopard with Boot Camp at the back for games. Recent problems have been very slow start up, defaulting to OpenOffice at start (which I have now deleted) but still very slow start with almost constant noise of the HD working away. Working this morning , slowly, so I rebooted but now have a grey screen showing the Apple logo and a small spinning wheel. Desperate for help here. Many thanks. Barry.

 

[chas_m]

Sounds like the hard drive is going. You really, really, really should update the OS version on there. Lots of security risks you're taking, for starters.

 

[cwa107]

I just did a similar repair for my dad with almost the same symptoms, though I believe his machine was a 2008-vintage model. It was indeed a bad hard drive.

What I ended up doing is going with an OWC SSD with their adapter bracket in place of the original hard drive. I also upgraded the memory and brought him up to Mavericks (10.9). All told, it was about a $250 investment, but what an incredible difference. I am convinced he'll have another 3 years of use out of this machine, if not more - and it's now way faster than it was from the factory.

 

[Bazzra1714]

Thank you. Trying a couple of things recommended by Apple but it does look as if the HD has burnt out. Regards.