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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AMACL" data-source="post: 1898882" data-attributes="member: 298303">Hello all,[USER=56379]@pigoo3[/USER] [USER=46727]@chscag[/USER] [USER=190607]@Randy B. Singer[/USER] Just reporting back on the problematic 2014 iMac that was the subject of my original post on Oct. 27 :After refusing to boot on several tries, all of a sudden the machine decided to start up. It took a very long time, I don't know how long as I just left it to itself and to my surprise, as I noted in my last post, it had booted from the internal hard disk. it was still very slow so I left it for a while. Again to my surprise, yesterday I tried some operations on it and it was much more responsive than it had been. So I decided to try to make another Time Machine backup. Bad decision - the backup remained in beachball status overnight, with a black screen. I should have just tried to erase the hard disk.. In the end, I turned off the computer, so as to restart in Recovery mode and erase the hard disk so I can be rid of this machine. Result : it will not boot in Recovery mode. Just hangs on the startup page (apple logo).I just wonder if this behavior could be related to hard disk heating due to dust buildup on its fan (though the computer doesn't feel hot), I saw on the internet that that can case sudden slowdowns. I have ordered an Ifixit kit to remove and potentially replace the hard disk (and clean the fan??) - don't have the replacement disk yet but that's a detail. I'm not really interesting in keeping the computer but it might be useful for someone going forward.Is there a way to erase the data on the original hard disk if I can't access it through the computer? I only want to erase it to protect my husband's data. Of course I can look for local tech support in my neighborhood, just never needed it before.Thanks as always,Ann</blockquote>

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