Stuck at the grey screen!

Last night I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of a Windows XP disc, so I start BootCamp, partition my 2.3 GHz MBP (40 GB) for Windows. Then restart an begin setup. While in setup, I realise that the partition choice being displayed to be isnt the 40GB one I partitioned earlier, so naturally I cancelled setup (installation hasnt even begun) which automatically restarts the Mac.

Now I'm stuck at the grey screen you are displayed when you switch on any Mac. The Apple logo doesnt even show up, but the chime always plays.

I tried ALL commands you can think of (Resetting the PRAM, Disk Check, Disc Boot, reset the power) but nothing seems to work at all. Holding the option key only displays a mouse cursor which is movable for just 30 seconds then freezes.

So I use my other Windows PC to pay our good old friend Google a visit in an attempt to resolve this issue. It came to my surprise that almost EVERYONE who cancelled Windows Setup before it began got the EXACT same issue, so please dont tell me its a hardware failure. Ofcourse, if I take it to Apple they will simply point the finger at my HDD and just replace it, but I'm not buying that BS. I am certain its a software issue and I'm also certain that its not a mere "coincidence" (as Apple says) that all of those other Mac's HDD got fried during the Windows setup process.

I'm in deseperate need of any help here and I'm willing to try anything. Taking my Mac to Apple is the LAST thing I will do because they usually just blame the hardware.

A desperate Mac fan in need

Your drive is messed up enough with out of order boot blocks, drivers and directory errors that you probably need to grab your installation CD, reformat and start over. As far as the drive being fried, it is certainly possible given the work out that system installs and partitions demand. It is quite the load and could force a drive to fail.

Isnt there any other solution to this? It's quite ridiculous how many Mac users faced this exact same issue yet Apple seem to be doing nothing about it

I'm not clear on what problem you want Apple to address?

Have you tried to just do a reformat?

I would boot from the DVD, choose utilities and then try disk repair

Sherman Homan said:

I'm not clear on what problem you want Apple to address?

Click to expand...

The problem of the Mac being stuck in the grey screen after cancelling the Windows setup process.

Please note that Windows setup hasnt even begun. I exited the installer when it asked me to choose the partition. The same move many of the other Mac users did which I read about in other forums.

I dont understand what possible confusion is being caused to the hardisk considering nothing has been installed on the Windows HD partition yet!

I would have formatting the computer if only it would let me but as I mentioned earlier it wont respond to any commands including booting from disk.

I just know this is a software bug but sadly Apple will just tell me to have my hardisk changed.

Isn't there anyone here who faced the same issue? Or anyone with knowledge of how to overcome this? I'm giving tonight a last shot. Otherwise I'm just going to have to surrender to the big boss (Apple)

I understand that it is frustrating, but are you convinced that your drive is toast? Have you tried to run Disk Utility, Repair Disk? Or reinstall with an Archive & Install? Or worst case, reformat and reinstall?

^ Cant do any of those. The screen wont respond at all.

As for the hard disk, I dont know really. I mean what are the odds of the drive to stop working after canceling the Windows setup (Which the installation of hasnt even begun).. I dont know, its happened to many guys who've cancelled it as well.

I guess I have no choice but to wave the white flag and submit my laptop to Apple tomorrow and pay a fortune to just have it replaced.

I'm still open to any advice for the night.

Note: Forgot to mention, holding 'D' during startup shows a box with a question mark.

Thanks in advance.

Reboot, as soon as you hear the startup chime, hold down the following four keys:
Apple Option P R
You want to hear three startup chimes.
Let go of the keys. If nothing changes,
Pop in the original system installation CD. Reboot, hold down the "option" key. That will give you the ability to boot from the system CD.

Crap, the exact same thing happened to me! I exited windows installation and now I get the same blank, grey screen at startup and I tried everything, but nothing seems to respond. Did anyone find a solution?