White screen of death getting worse!

I have been having problems with my iMac for about 2 weeks. Earlier in the week, it would take several attempts to restart, getting hung up on the white screen with the Apple logo. Now, the Apple logo doesn't display, but a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle appears.

Break it to me gently; how bad is it?

I was going to take it to the Genius Bar this week, but the Apple store is closed for the next week for store renovations!!!! Just my luck!

One of two things has happened. My guess is the hard drive was dying and finally gave up. The other possibility is the boot sectors of the OS are damaged.

Do you have your OSX DVD's that came with your Mac? Also is this an Intel or Power PC Mac?

If it's an Intel Mac, put in DVD #1 and hold down the D key and load the Apple Hardware Test. Run the extended test.

Also you can hold down the C key and boot into the OSX Installer. Don't install but up top in the bar will be a Utilities drop down. Click and find Disk Utility. See if the S.M.A.R.T status says pass and also try and run a repair disk on the drive. If the drive does not even show in Disk Utility, it's probably dead.

dtravis -- thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. I just tried both options, and nothing happened at all; the white screen just stayed there. As a matter of fact, the computer spit the DVD out after about 30 seconds, not a good sign, huh?!

I've got to admit, I am getting a little frustrated with my Apple products. This same computer had to have the optical drive replaced after 2 months, and now this...my pc's ALWAYS lasted at least 4-5 years before they started having any problems. My iPhone also crashed after 6 months and had to be replaced. Trust me, I want to be a total Mac convert, but this kind of stuff makes it difficult (2 major product issues in just 18 months of beginning my "conversion" to Mac) . I will say that the Apple store and the customer service have been fantastic, but if you can't trust the product...what good does it do?

Sorry, just had to vent...

Hey folks... This can happen to you..Keep your Mac happy do some maintance to it. Run Utilities every so often.

The Mac spitting out the DVD does not sound good. Is the DVD scratched or dirty at all? Also did you hold down D right after the startup sound and keep it down for a bit?

dtravis7 said:

The Mac spitting out the DVD does not sound good. Is the DVD scratched or dirty at all? Also did you hold down D right after the startup sound and keep it down for a bit?

Click to expand...

The disc appears to be fine. I held the D key down for about a minute or so.

Sorry to hijack, but can Disk Utility be accessed under normal operation? I don't have the Tiger disc. I just want to see if all my hardware is running like it should be. (I've only had my Power Mac for about 4 months now, so how would I know? It's my first Mac ever!)

You have to run it from the installer disc.