What's just happened to my iMac?

[regis169]

Guys,

I'm having a panic attack and I'd really appreciate if anyone could give me any advice.

To start off, ever since the recent software update, the spinning beach ball just pops up out of nowhere and it froze everything. I couldn't do anything other than manually turn the comp off and restart it.

Just a few minutes ago, I had the same problem. (Spinning ball appearing while I was on Windows XP using VMware Fusion) So, I turned the imac off manually by holding down the power button. When I tried to restart by releasing the power button and then holding down the "power button" again, I get the sound on a blank screen but the gray apple logo never comes up! I've tried this 5 times already. I even held down the shift key while I turned on my Mac to go to safe mode but nothing happens.

 

[Rapmastac1]

Be careful how you go about this. I had this EXACT same issue. That last time it did it was like yours, the computer would simply not boot. Sad to find out the hard drive bit the dust. I had to get a new one (the original one I got with the Mac). I have tried bringing the drive back to life (freezing, ect) and none would work.

I sure hope it isn't that but be prepared for the worst.

Insert your OSX Install/Restore discs and do a hardware check to see if everything is ok.

 

[regis169]

After over 20 attempts, I managed to get past the logo and now I can browse the internet. It seems everything is fine at the moment.

I checked the hard drive and it's working fine too. Thanks for the tip, Rapmastac1.

Now, the only question is

How do I react when I get the beach ball again and my iMac is frozen? (Other than turning it off manually)