PLEASE help!

[stephbakes]

I am borrowing my mom's one year old iMac 24". I have had it for about two weeks. It was running fine, then started running a little slow, then noticeably slow. Then today I was watching a TV show on Hulu and the screen froze. I was unable to escape or force quit Safari, so I held down the power button on the back of the iMac until it shut off. Now when I try to restart it, it takes literaly 20+ minutes to get restarted.

What in the world is wrong?

I tried booting it in safe mode, but it's still taking 20+ minutes to start. Any suggestions?

Help! Thank you!

P.S. There's plenty of hard drive space. At least 200gb.

 

[TattooedMac]

Welcome and try repairing permissions

Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility and in the left column choose your HD then click the First Aid tab then the repair permissions button down the bottom.

Once finished log out and back in then report back if you need more help

TM

 

[Collin Bl]

Do you have an Admin account - next step from tattooed above - go into Sys Prefs > Accounts and click the + to add a New User - make sure it has admin settings then set it up to log into that User and see if takes as long to boot up in there. Might help with troubleshooting.

 

[stephbakes]

Thank you both! I am trying the permission repair. I'll let you know how it goes. I really REALLY appreciate your help. Worst case scenario: I think the computer is covered by apple care, so that might be the solution.

 

[stephbakes]

I have been running permission repair for almost an hour and it is not doing anything. The status bar is still doing the blue barber shop pole (you know the one that shows up before anything actually happens).

Any suggestions?

 

[toMACsh]

Holy moly, another "Please Help" thread title!

Were you doing the repair permissions from the Disk Utility on the hard drive, or from the OS installation disc? Try the other one...

Please identify the subject in your title next time.

 

[stephbakes]

Holy moly, another "Please Help" thread title!

Were you doing the repair permissions from the Disk Utility on the hard drive, or from the OS installation disc? Try the other one...

Please identify the subject in your title next time.

Sorry, I'll make sure I am more clear next time.

I was doing it on the hard drive. If I use the OS install disc, will it wipe out my hard drive?

Everything takes so long. I just clicked "stop permission repair" and I have had the spinning wheel of death for about 20 minutes now.

What should I do next?

thank you so much for the advice!

 

[chas_m]

The hard drive could well be dying. Make sure you have a backup FIRST and FOREMOST.

 

[stephbakes]

The hard drive could well be dying. Make sure you have a backup FIRST and FOREMOST.

Oh geez! So now that I have the spinning wheel of death and cannot get rid of it, what step should I take to back up my files? I do it every few days, but do have some important information I would like to get before it craps out.

Any suggestions? Is it bad to force my computer to shut down?

 

[chas_m]

Just be patient. Give it an hour or two before forcing a shutdown.

The best way *at this point* to back up your data would be to connect another Mac to it via Firewire and use Target Disk Mode. If that's not an option, is your normal backup a bootable one?

 

[stephbakes]

Just be patient. Give it an hour or two before forcing a shutdown.

The best way *at this point* to back up your data would be to connect another Mac to it via Firewire and use Target Disk Mode. If that's not an option, is your normal backup a bootable one?

Chas you're amazing! I really appreciate patience and advice.

I do not have a firewire, but can go buy one tomorrow. Is that a pretty easy thing to figure out how to do?

I am not sure what you mean by a bootable backup. I don't always use time machine... I have been doing it manually for a few weeks. I just didn't back up my latest files. I am a photographer and have one current photoshoot that I can NOT lose! :/

Is it bad to keep trying to restart? If I force a shutdown, should I wait until I have the firewire and am ready to backup my files before starting again?

 

[stephbakes]

Ok, I don't get it... I waited a few minutes and the spinning wheel of death stopped. Now the computer is acting normal ( I think ). It is letting me back up the files I need. I am not trying anything else until that is complete.

What is going on? Why is it working properly all of a sudden after being so SO abnormal? What do you guys think was happening to make my computer to cranky, and what should I do to stop it from happening again?

This was weird and scary!

 

[toMACsh]

I was doing it on the hard drive. If I use the OS install disc, will it wipe out my hard drive?

No, it wouldn't. Get that file backed up, and then you can try it while it's behaving itself.

Why is it working properly all of a sudden after being so SO abnormal? What do you guys think was happening to make my computer to cranky, and what should I do to stop it from happening again?

Well, that's the mystery of intermittent failure. As was suggested, perhaps the hard drive is failing. You might not be able to do anything that will help.

You mentioned that it's one year old. How literal is that? If it's less than 12 months old, you can still buy AppleCare for another two years of free repairs. If it's just a little over 12 months old, you might try that anyway and see if you can persuade someone to sell it to you. Be nice. It might work. If not, you might need to have it looked at and decide if the cost is worth it to you.

Good luck! ...and let us know how it goes.

 

[stephbakes]

Thank you for your wisdom! It seems to be working fine for now. I believe my mom bought apple care when she got the computer, so maybe now I should call them and see what's up.

I got my files backed up! Hooray!

Thanks everyone!

 

[stephbakes]

Alright, I just got off the phone with Apple Care and they did a bunch of stuff. Apparently my hard drive is ok (even the Apple Care guy was surprised). I think that running a repair of the disc permissions is what fixed it! Thank you to TattooedMac! Great suggestion.

Thank you to all of you! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me!

 

[toMACsh]

Fantastic!
Great foresight on your Mom's part to get AppleCare.
Make sure you tell her "Way to go, Mom!"

 

[Collin Bl]

Now that the dust has settled how about getting yourself a bootable back up - Insurance for when the HD does actually fail.
Read up on Superduper and Carbon copy cloner. Superduper