Question:
Hi. My friend's macintosh laptop won't fully boot.
Any ideas about what can be done?
One day, my friend was using Safari and the computer crashed.
Now,
When one powers up the computer, you first see the initial Apple logo
and then there is a nifty cursor which turns around and around in a
circle.
The boot procedure never gets beyond this circling cursor.
My friend tried putting in the installation CD but it isn't doing
anything and now it can't be removed. We've tried various
combinations of hitting Shift-Option-Control-Apple-PKey-RKey, et
cetera, but still haven't gotten anywhere.
Answer:
You must hold down the C key while trying to boot with the install DVD/
CD in order for the computer to boot from it.
To eject the disc hold down the trackpad BUTTON while pressing the
power button.
Try repairing the disk and also repairing disk permissions (in that
order) if you get the CD to boot. Disk Utilities is selectable from
the CD's menubar when it is at the install screen.
Hi, You don't say exactly which model, amount of Ram, size of HD; this
information can help us be of more help to you. Especially, important
here is the version of the OS; is it Panther 10.3.9? Is it Tiger
10.4+?
You could try booting into Safe Mode:
Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
Learn how to start up Mac OS X 10.2 or later in Safe Mode.
To start up into Safe Mode (to "Safe Boot"), do this:
1. Be sure the computer is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the
Shift key.
*Tip:* The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after
the
startup tone but not before.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple and progress
indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
During the startup in Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3.9, you will see "Safe
Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen.
During the startup in Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you will see "Safe Boot"
on the login window, which appears even if you normally log in
automatically.
To leave Safe Mode in any version of Mac OS X, restart the computer
normally, without holding any keys during startup.
If your computer won't start up in Mac OS X at all, see "_Your Mac
won't
start up in Mac OS X_ ".
Also, check out information specific to either Panther or Tiger:
apple.com/support/tiger or apple.com/support/panther
Basic tips for a Happy Mac:
- Some people endorse doing, Repair Permissions, both, Before & After,
downloading anything.
I'm one of them, and do this religiously. So far No stalls, No
Crashes, No probs.
- Get a Unix utility for regular maintenance, like: Macaroni from
atomicbird.com, or Onyx or Cocktail or macJanitor. These work
automatically. You can also find out more at Versiontracker.com &
macupdate.com
- Apple stores have free classes, and online seminars & tutorials.
