# iMac Grey Screen of Death



## me xp (Jun 11, 2011)

My iMac is stuck at startup, showing the apple logo and the spinning wheel beneath it. I first encountered this when my iMac froze while I was using it, and I was forced to shut it down by holding down the power button. When I held it down again to start the iMac up, it got stuck at the startup screen as described above. 
I have tried various methods, including holding down almost all the keyboard commands but to no avail. I have also tried booting up from the Mac installation disc and holding down the 'C' button, but nothing happened. I was only able to eject the disc by holding down the left mouse button on startup. 
After all that, I wondered if it was my (wireless) keyboard that was not working, and bought an Apple USB keyboard. Even then, none of the keyboard commands worked. I also realized that the 'caps lock' button did not light up when I pressed it. But when I connected the Apple USB keyboard to another iMac, it worked perfectly. 
I have tried using a firewire cable to transfer my data to another iMac, but the main account with all my data was apparently protected by FileVault, and could not be transferred.
Is there anyway I can fix my iMac without losing any data at all? 
Please help! I'm on the verge of tears right now, as all the data in the iMac is really important to me.


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## macbth (Jun 6, 2011)

Try shutting down the iMac then take out the power plug from the back.
Wait a few minutes, Then press and hold the power button for 15 to 30 seconds,
This should reset your power management. Then try restarting.
I would then buy an external hard-drive and back up. You can also use the other mac to back up using migration assistant and pulling over your user folder.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

If the keyboard that is plugged into the Mac doesn't respond when you push the Caps Lock button, there is usually a low level hardware issue, like RAM, CPU, or motherboard. Being you said FileVault was on, I do not know how to get your information. You should take it to Apple at this point before you loose any data.


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