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2009 MacBook Pro crashed while upgrading OS

Decided to upgrade my 2009 Macbook pro 15" to El Capitan 10.15

It froze at the window: "...calculating time remaining..."

The next day, I forced shut down with power switch.

Now when I turn it on, it starts with the error message in several languages about not shutting down properly, I get the grey screen with apple logo momentarily, then it goes black. (Repeated this several times.)

I have a Time Machine backup on an external drive. Any way to put it back the way it was?

Thanks!

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What was the previous system?

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@dunstanmorey

If possible to boot the apple diagnostic, try checking your HDD and hardware too.

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Thanks for the replies.

1) It was running OS 10.11.6

2) How do I boot the apple diagnostic? Whenever I turn it on, I get the grey screen that lasts a few moments with error message, then apple logo, then it goes black again (I think it powers off; not sure about that.)

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do you have your original OS disk around?

read up on this:

https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardware...

you need to invoke to this to test your hardware

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If you have another mac you can follow these steps to make a bootable USB with any of the OS installers in the purchased tab in the App Store. ( preferably the same OS you are on or newer)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

If you can get to recovery by holding down Command + R or Command + Option + R or use the USB you just created.

I would first go to Disk Utility and find the Main Hard Drive which is named Macintosh HD by default. Then click First Aid, Verify or Repair disk. If the drive is OK then you just need to go back to the main screen and reinstall OS X to fix it without losing data. If you don't care about data you made after your Time Machine Back up then restore from Time Machine.

If the drive fails I recommend getting a cheap SSD and use the USB or Time Machine drive to format it to Mac OS Journaled then restore your Time Machine to it.

NOTEDid you know you can boot directly from your Time Machine? If all else fails hold down the option key when you start the Mac while your back up is connected and you should see it. Just click on it and it should boot into the OS stored on Time Machine.(Should)****

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Thanks - exactly what I needed!

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Boot up holding down the Option key, then select the repair partition. Once booted, run Disk Utility on your main drive.

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dunstan morey will be eternally grateful.
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