iMac won't start/get past loading screen?

[jsf8x]

Hi. My mid 2010 iMac started running really slowly a couple of weeks ago. I used disk utility to repair my disk and everything was ok. But now just today it started acting incredibly slowly so I tried restarting it. However it wouldn't staged past the loading screen. I've tried starting it holding command option but that doesn't work either. Could someone please attempt to give me just a little guidance? I know this is a common thread subject but it's better to have your own so you can continue to ask questions and get responses to your specific issue rather than reading a thread from 6 months ago.

Thanks

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Have you tried any of these steps?

Mac doesn't boot

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac​

 

[jsf8x]

Yeah I have. The problem is that it won't boot in anything but safe mode but when I go to disk utility there it says that I need to repair my hard drive by rebooting it under something else (i.e. rebooting holding the option key) and that doesn't work.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Yeah I have. The problem is that it won't boot in anything but safe mode but when I go to disk utility there it says that I need to repair my hard drive by rebooting it under something else (i.e. rebooting holding the option key) and that doesn't work.

Run Apple Hardware Test in Extended Mode. You can find instructions at:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

Running AHT in Extended Mode will take 30-60 minutes, if no errors are found then you need to run another 2-3 times to be sure. Time consuming but it doesn't always catch errors on the first pass. I suspect the HD is marginal at best or your OS is corrupt so it can only boot in Safe Mode.

I hope you have been backing up, at the best I think a total reinstall is needed and at worst a new HD.

 

[jsf8x]

Thanks for the help so far. I'll work on the hardware test now. I started backing up when I initially began to have issues a couple weeks ago so I won't be losing anything.

Again thanks.

 

[kpgh554]

Yeah I have. The problem is that it won't boot in anything but safe mode but when I go to disk utility there it says that I need to repair my hard drive by rebooting it under something else (i.e. rebooting holding the option key) and that doesn't work.

have you got disks that came with comp or system discs as what it asking to start up from there you can run disk utility etc and repair .