MBP: blank white screen at startup

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I got my MBP this past July - I'm a new mac user. Tonight I was working on Comic Life Deluxe and got the spinning "raindow wheel" (this kept spinning for about 10 - 15 minutes) so I got tired of waiting for the mouse pointer to reappear and I pressed the power button to turn off my MBP. Now when I try to start it up again, by pressing the power button & holding down the option key, the "Macintosh HD" icon does not show up - I have a blank white screen. I'm alrady panaking - did I break my MBP?

What can I do to get my MBP working again??

The power cord is connected to the computer and plugged in the electrical outlet. The computer was running and booting up just fine until this happened. This happened suddenly, first time since I had my MBP. This MBP was one of these unveiled at the WWDC during June 8 - 12, 2009, & ordered brand-new from apple.com's online store.
 

bobtomay

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Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Sounds like a dead drive.

Boot up with your original install disc (pressing C) at boot up.

Go into Disk Utility, see if it sees the drive and maybe try a repair.

Call Apple today.

You do have a backup right?

This is why SuperDuper! is so great. You can boot to your external drive and keep on going until you sort out the internal drive.
 
OP
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Sounds like a dead drive.

Boot up with your original install disc (pressing C) at boot up.

I tried putting in my OS X install disc and pressing C at bootup, but this did nothing. I didn't buy Apple Care - I didn't think I'd need it. So if I have to have my drive replaced by the geniuses (if we have to take my MBP to the Apple store at South Hills Village Mall, a one-way trip of 13 miles from our home in West Mifflin - I can't drive, so Mom will have to take me) how much will it cost to get this fixed?
 

bobtomay

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You have 12 months Applecare on every new Mac. Shouldn't cost anything except your time.
 
OP
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You have 12 months Applecare on every new Mac. Shouldn't cost anything except your time.

You were so right about this, Bob - We took my mac to the Apple Store Sun afternoon and I got it back today. They said this blank white screen at startup was because the hard drive failed, they replaced the hard drive and the optical drive. And it didn't cost me a cent.

As for buying Apple Care, right now I'm saving up my money for a new desktop PC (I'm both a PC/Mac user) so after I get this, I might start saving up my money to buy Apple Care come March/April 2010.
 

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