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Model A1312 / Mid 2011 / 2.7 & 3.1 GHz Core i5 or 3.4 GHz Core i7 Processor, ID iMac12,2

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Clone dual boot drive (Mac/Bootcamp) that can't boot?

I have an iMac with a hard drive that (partially) failed.

It was loaded with the iMac OS (which I didn't use) and bootcamp. I was able to remove it from the iMac, hook it up to a PC and get all the data off of it that I needed. It seems to be pretty unreliable, and will not boot.

I purchased an SSD and would like to to install it in the iMac, running windows. I tried cloning the Bootcamp partition (EaseUS Todo Free), but installed in the iMac it just game me a folder icon with a question mark, would not even boot to a drive selector screen.

I'd prefer not to repurchase windows or Mac OS, although it looks like I could get Mac OS pretty cheap.

The SSD is the same size as the old HDD.

I've tried loading the old drive as a USB (USB-SATA cable) but the iMac didn't recognize it. I'm thinking my next steps would be to try a mac bootable USB flash drive (of course I can't find one at the moment), take both drives to Simply Mac and tell them to make it go, or. . .

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Dano

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Are you sure you've selected the correct model here??

Both the 2011 21.5" & 27" use a 3.5" HDD drive in this series. The newer 2012 models onwards use a 2.5" in the 21.5 and a 3.5" in the 27" HDD. Only the 3.5" models need the in-line thermal sensor when you swap out the drive.

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Yes, this was a 27" with 3.5 inch HDD which needed the in-line thermal sensor. For now, it has again failed, even with the new hard drive, so it's off to see a diagnostician smarter than I am.

edit: I just figured out what confused you. when I said the new SSD was the same size as the HDD, I meant they are both 1 TB. The SSD is 2.5", the HDD is 3.5"

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Firstly, make sure you have the inline digital thermal sensor installed in the iMac like the one listed here (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDI...) This will prevent your Mac fans running at full speed. furthermore if you'd like to clone the bootcamp installation from your old drive I would recommend downloading a trial copy of windows to a usb and installing it on the iMac, then clone the old drive to that partition. (if you clone without first installing a copy first the boot order will be wrong and the Mac will fail to boot) I use paragon disk utility for cloning but I don't see why ease us wouldn't work.

Mac OS is free you can use network recovery on most modern Macs to reinstall os. as the iMac is switching on hold these keys down until you see the globe.

Command (⌘) – Option (⌥) – R

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Yes, I used the inline digital thermal sensor. I did as you suggested and created a USB boot device, tried to use that to reinstall windows. I ran into a snag in that I could not find a way to get the product key of the failing hard drive. Finally I gave up and just used a product key off of another computer. However, it has now again crashed into a blue screen of death. So perhaps the hard drive was not the only problem. I guess I'll pay the $70 or whatever to have Simply Mac diagnose it, and go from there.

I did find the above helpful, unfortunately I couldn't go all the way through the process to see whether it would work.

Thanks,

Dan

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Have you tried running a diagnostics on the imac this is most likely what simply max will do first

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25696?loc...

Hold the d key upon starting the imac up

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Dan Robrecht will be eternally grateful.
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