Boot from SSD on iMac with faulty HD

[Brecht Acke]

Hey guys

I've got a 2010 iMac with a faulty HD. The Mac does not boot anymore. I went to the genuis bar and they did a diagnostics scan and it showed the HD is dead. Opening the Mac to install an SSD will cost me over 400€

Is there any way I can use and external SSD, install the OS on it, and boot the Mac from that drive? If yes, how would I do this?

Cheers!
B.

 

[TwoH]

Who the hell quoted you over 400€ to open up the iMac and install an SSD?? That's an insane price..
You can use an external SSD easily yeah, simply with a SATA to USB adapter.
But it's very simple to instal the SSD inside of your machine yourself..

 

[Brecht Acke]

The official Apple store ...
The 2010 iMac is glued together, you can't open it up easily
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I think I can download and install the OS on the disk using my Macbook. But how do I boot the iMac with it, since I cant get it properly running. It gets stuck at the apple logo screen, stays there for about 15 mins and then gives me a black screen

 

[TwoH]

The 2010 iMac can be accessed by removing the glass with a suction cup since it is held in place with magnets. And the actual LCD can be removed by 8 T10 screws. Are you sure you have a 2010 if they are saying this? Or perhaps it's the Genius Bar with their 'Genius' knowledge again..
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When you turn your iMac on, immediately hold down the ALT (option) key and it will let you choose what you want to boot from. Afterwards when you are booted into your OS, select it in Start up disk on your system preferences so you no longer have to alt boot to get into it.

 

[Brecht Acke]

Ok, thanks.
My mistake, its the late 2012 iMac

 

[TwoH]

If it's a 2012 version, then yeah the LCD is stuck down and I could see why you wouldn't want to go inside of it to update the HDD to an SSD. That is still a stupid price from Apple though..

 

[Fishrrman]

IF it's a 2012 iMac
and
IF it has USB3 ports
then
You can buy a USB3 SSD, plug it in, and set that up to be the new boot drive.

It won't be as fast as the new iMacs, but it will actually run quite well, and I fearlessly predict that you'll be quite happy with that solution.