Disk not booting up... stuck on password screen

[youradhere4222]

My Mac has been having a lot of problems recently. Often times, I will open up an application like Finder or Chrome that cause my computer to freeze so badly that I need to force a restart.

This last time, getting my computer back on has been a challenge. I turn on the computer and get prompted for a password, which I enter correctly. Then I see the Apple logo for a long time and it usually takes me to the same page where I enter the password. But the page doesn't respond to my keyboard or trackpad... everything is frozen.

I tried using the install disc to open up the disk utility and repair my hard drive. But I can't do anything, as it says "Incompatible Format."

Has anyone had similar problems? I'm kind of lost at this point.

I'm using a mid-2011 15" MacBook Pro.

 

[Fishrrman]

Can you get booted to the finder?

If so, try this:
- open system preferences
- look for either "users & groups" or "accounts" (depends on what version of the system you're using)
- try to create a new "administrative" account. You don't want to "migrate" anything into it, you just want an "empty account" for testing purposes.
- now you need to set up, so that you get a _choice_ of accounts at boot time (you have to change your login options)
- get this set up, then reboot.
- when you get to the sign-in screen, select the new temp account and log into it.

Important question:
Do things go the same as before, as they did with your "regular" account?
Or, do things change?