MacBookPro won't boot up - frozen?

I read a lot of similar posts already here, but none seem to have the same symptoms as mine. I'd love to fix this problem on my own before I go to a "genius bar" but I'm not sure where to start.

When I turn on my computer, I hear the chime, my battery is functional, I see a white/pink screen with an apple and then a small rotating circle appears and this is my screen indefinitely. It does not progress. I am able to turn off the computer again. I have tried removing the battery and pushing various buttons while I turn in on, but nothing changes.

I have never had a problem with my computer until now. The only thing that happened before I restarted my computer was that my google chrome was "not responding" - which happens from time to time anyways....

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/93819-basic-os-x-mac-troubleshooting.html

In particular, step 9.

thanks! I didn't see that post!

and yay! success 9 worked beautifully! Thank you!

I've got similar symptoms, but no results with the methods tried above. Also, my disk doesn't seem to be spinning during boot, if that makes a difference. I've got an appt with the Genius Bar this evening, but would love some advice before heading that direction!