Chosen Solution
iMac 27" 2009 My graphics card is messed up. I get pink vertical lines when the computer starts up followed by solid blue followed by snow / tiny squares. I tried resetting the P-ram. I have a Genius Bar appointment but they will not help with Boot Camp If I hold shift while starting up I can get my Mac into safe mode and backup using time machine. However I cannot access my Windows 7 boot camp partition. When I got to Disk Utility on the Mac (while in Safe mode), the boot camp drive is there in the list but I can’t make a disk image of it, or try to copy it with restore. If my Mac would start up normally then I could see the files and copy paste them to an external hard drive but I can’t start the Mac normally. I want to start Windows in safe mode. I start the Mac, hold alt, select the Windows disk icon, then I press F8. The screen is solid black, no blinking cursor. I have a wired keyboard. I have tried fn + F8 as well. I tried putting in the Windows 7 install dvd disk and choosing that (after starting and pressing alt) - also a black screen. I tried booting either Mac or Windows with an external display attached, no video input is being received (although I can’t guarantee the hdmi adapter is definitely working) I need to make a back up of my files on the boot camp partition. Please help me.
Resolved. At my Genius Bar Appointment I asked them to put me into target disk mode with another Mac. Using a working Mac as a “bridge” or “viewer” I was able to copy folders from the Boot Camp partition onto an external hard drive but not able to make a “back up file”. That’s the best that could be done.
