imac shut down and won't reboot

hello...im fairly new to macs..i have no idea what version i have, but i have an imac that came out a yr or so ago...anyways, its been working perfectly since my purchase but for some reason today it froze. following, i held down the power button to turn it off. every time i try to restart it wont turn on... a grey screen appears and after approximately 2 minutes a folder with a "?" mark in the middle begins to flashe....does anyone know what i can do to fix this? sorry for my ignorance and the possible confusion as i know you all are mac enthusiasts..any help would be great. have a nice day. -lauren

If you have the original OS disks with that iMac, power the Mac on and immediately put Disk 1 into the slot and hold down the C key. The iMac should (hopefully) boot from the dvd.

Then you can open Disk Utilities from the top menu bar and run diagnostic checks/tests therefrom. The flashing question mark indicates a corrupted or missing System folder, or a malfunctioning hard disk sector containing it. Disk repair can be done from Disk Utilities using the Disk 1 dvd. If you need further help with this process, post again.

my start up disc is in another city in storage = /...is there any other solution? a friend told me i could access everything i need by rebooting and holding down the option key, but i havent tried this yet..again, any help would be great..have a nice day and thanks for your reply

Read this Startup key combinations for Intel-based Macs to see what keys do what - at startup for example. The Option key will simply provide you with startup volume options, and, if I understand your post correctly, you have only the one iMac with one internal hard drive (volume). You really need that Leopard disk 1 - or take the iMac to a Mac repair shop.

ah, so i was mistaken. my start up discs arent in storage, theyre here with me...i followed your instructions and when i accessed disk utility i wasnt able to run any checks bc the option wasnt highlighted to do so...my friend works at the apple store and suggested i take it to the genius bar and have them do an "archive and install"..i have no idea what that means. i'm hoping itll archive my documents, music, files.......before i take it in, have you any advice?....thanks again for your reply. enjoy the night. -lauren

lauren1975 said:

have them do an "archive and install"..i have no idea what that means.

Click to expand...

A new OS will be installed, but without first wiping your hard drive of all your 'archives', ie. the files you've made and want to keep. You'll get a renovated OS, and you'll still have all those music and other files to use.

If you want to back up all your files before taking the iMac in for service, you can transfer them to an external hard drive, but from what you post I don't think you have that setup.

However, Archive & Install should take care of things. Keep us in touch with what's happening.