OSX 10.5 Bootup Chaos

Hello, I hope someone can help me. My iMac is not booting up. After I turn it on, it will only load up til the desktop wallpaper, and stop. The mouse cursor is visible on my screen, but there is no dock, no finder, or anything; the computer will not respond to any keyboard commands either. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. My processor is 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo and my Memory is 512 MB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

Have you tried booting the computer with the disks that came with it (assuming you got it new)?

If you bought this computer used (and don't have the disks that came with it when new)...do you have a "black" Mac OS install disk?

If you can boot successfully with a CD/DVD...that would help to eliminate that there is a hardware problem with your computer...and maybe narrow it down to something software related.

HTH,

- Nick

I have the disks, unfortunately they are in storage in another city! I guess I will have to go get them.

uillchi said:

I have the disks, unfortunately they are in storage in another city! I guess I will have to go get them.

Click to expand...

Depending on how important it is to get this iMac up running (or how fast)...another option would be to buy a Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) install disk from a nearby Apple Store...or see if you can buy a "Black" OS 10.4, or 10.5 install disk from e-Bay (but they aren't cheap).

I'm guessing that you don't want to spend much additional money getting this iMac running...so maybe getting the disks at the other location would be the the least expensive option.

BTW...this "disk option"...is just one thing to try to help narrow down the possibilities. It is possible something else could be wrong...such as a bad hard drive or logic board.

Good luck,

- Nick

Thank you so much for your help.

If I buy a disk off eBay, and I use that, will I lose anything that was previously on my hard drive?

Also, when looking on eBay, the "black disk" is the same as the "full retail" version, right?

THanks so much, I really appreciate it.

uillchi said:

If I buy a disk off eBay, and I use that, will I lose anything that was previously on my hard drive?

Also, when looking on eBay, the "black disk" is the same as the "full retail" version, right?

THanks so much, I really appreciate it.

Click to expand...

Whether you get an install disk from e-Bay or the Apple Store...you shouldn't lose anything from your hard drive (as long as you don't reformat the hard drive). Of course it's always a good idea to have a backup of your hard drive.

Also remember we don't know exactly what's going on with your computer at the moment. If your hard drive had gone bad in some way...then there is a good chance of data loss.

Yes you want the "black" OS install disk with a BIG "X" on it. You DO NOT want gray disks. You also don't want an "upgrade" or "drop-in" black disk (but these are rare, and it will say this on the disk). These "black" discs generally sell for $100+ on e-Bay.

- Nick

hello, me again, i did buy an osx disc off of ebay (10.4), and I am trying to get the computer to boot off of it with no success. I am holding down the C key while the computer boots up, but it's not booting off of the disk. It's loading onto my hard drive desktop, which fortunately loads right now - with problems: my dock is visible, and I can open programs, but they are very slow; also, the file folders on my desktop are invisible and the white bar at the top of the screen is missing.

Again I am most appreciative of your help and any advice you can give me.