Re: Has all the data disappeared off my old core2duo iMac?

 What year is the computer? That it wants to "El Capitan" suggests 2015 which (to me) is not an old computer.  Core 2 Duo suggest closer to 2010 if not older...
 It could be (with a new drive and install) a great starter Mac for someone out there with modest computing needs.

No, a I remember it, this dates from 2008!  So it is only useful as backup storage, and then only if it works. Not if significant time has to be wasted on it. which is the position now.
I did manage to restore a TM backup onto it but it boots to an apple with no progress bar starting. So it seems to be thinking it is a DosDude1 Mojave installation that hasn't been patched. I made a fresh USB stick and tried to run the patches but when I booted off the USB stick, it still gets only to the black apple on that white background.
Time to throw away?