Imac not starting up after power cut!

[Matthew Smith]

Hi,

Just before Christmas I did a software update on my Imac, usual stuff like iTunes update, Security Update ect.

I know these updates can take time but this one seemed to have stopped and with quests arriving I foolishly and impatiantly unplugged as I couldn't shut down in the conventional way!

A few days later I switched the power on and the apple logo popped up as usual but then stayed there. 30mins later was still there.

I've looked around for help and tried doing "Comand / Option / P / R this just fets me to the same point.

The screen is grey with the Apple Logo and thats it!

I've tried to search on this forum and found nothing yet but as I am new appologies if I sound like a broken record!

Help would be greatly appreciated,

Kind Regards,

Matthew

 

[BlueRevolution]

Yeah, interrupting the system in the middle of a software update can seriously bugger things up. You'll have to reinstall the operating system, which is happily not a major headache on a Mac.

Insert the restore disks that came with your computer, or the OS install disk if you've upgraded since you bought the machine. Start the computer while holding the C key until the Apple logo appears. A few steps into the installer, you'll be presented with an error saying that it cannot be installed on your machine with the current settings. Choose to archive and install and select the option to preserve users and network settings.

Once the install finishes, you should be able to boot back up to OS X. All of your files, settings, applications, and so forth will still be there, but you won't have any of the updates. Run Software Update a couple of times and you should be back where you were, except your computer will actually work this time.

 

[Matthew Smith]

Imac not starting up after power cut!

Thankyou very much for your prompt help!

Will let you know how I get on in the morning after trying your solution this evening!

Kind Regards,

Matthew