My iMac freezed and when I reset it comes to OS X Utilities

[NoeGarcia]

It asked to repair Disk, I select that and it shows


Verify and Repair volume "disk0s2"
Checking file system
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely.
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk... disk, and restore your backed-up files.

-I try to use Time machine but it does not show any dates to restore to.

Any advice? I'm about to have a nervous breakdown, lots of work and not even backed up.

 

[Puevlo]

You are going to have to erase it. If you haven't backed up you have a couple of options. Boot it into target disk mode and try to backup to another Mac. Or you could install Mac os x onto an external hard drive and boot to that instead and back it up.

 

[NoeGarcia]

You are going to have to erase it. If you haven't backed up you have a couple of options. Boot it into target disk mode and try to backup to another Mac. Or you could install Mac os x onto an external hard drive and boot to that instead and back it up.

Thank you so much for the reply.
So can I boot from the CD and back up onto an external drive?

I have a Seagate external drive of about 500gb - could I install OS there or could I use that has a backup?

 

[Puevlo]

Thank you so much for the reply.
So can I boot from the CD and back up onto an external drive?

I have a Seagate external drive of about 500gb - could I install OS there or could I use that has a backup?

Yeah you can use it for both. Just make sure it is in GUID and the format is Mac OS Extended (journaled). So install the OS there and then you can boot to it. Then just copy your files across.

 

[NoeGarcia]

Yeah you can use it for both. Just make sure it is in GUID and the format is Mac OS Extended (journaled). So install the OS there and then you can boot to it. Then just copy your files across.

I hope I did it correctly, left it installing last night and it is still has 11 hours left LOL