Problem booting OSX Lion

Hello

I am new to the forum but nevertheless I'd like to ask a question about a problem I've encountered with my iMac.Here's the story so far:

I had my iMac turned on and I was browsing through firefox when all of a sudden my screen blacked out while the computer was still running.Naturally I did a forced shut down via the power button.When I turned the computer back on it started up as usual with the apple logo and the progress icon running but it doesn't enter into my main desktop it just stays there with the progress icon circling around.I tried to run the boot disc and safe mode but it still does the same thing.
Can anyone tell me if they've encountered this situation and perhaps share a solution?

Thank you

It would help to know the year and model of your iMac? However, since you're running Lion, did you try to boot to the Recovery partition? You do that by holding down the option key as soon as you hear the chime (bong) and then choosing Recovery.

What boot disk did you try? Lion does not use a boot disk. Try booting as I indicated above and post back the result. If you can not boot to the Recovery partition to run tests, it may be because your hard drive has failed. Which is why we need to know the year and model of your iMac as it may still be under warranty in which case it's best to take it to Apple.

I am also having a hard time with the recovery for Lion. I just received an imac and upon starting up the computer, all my data from my old computer transfered over. I did not want this to happen, and I chose the option to have data imported from another drive. Anyhow, all the data came over to the new imac and was in the locations from my old computer from a long time ago. I wanted to start over from scratch and tried to hold down the command and R keys at the same time. That did absolutely nothing. I then downloaded the recovery from Apple to a thumb drive, but was not able to put this recovery on the new imac. There seemed to always be an error and the attempt was unsuccessful. In the meantime, I deleted all the files and applications off of the new imac so I can start over and only import the data I would like on the new imac. For future reference, I would like to know what to do about a recovery if needed. All my data is backed up on a few external drives. Thanks.

For future reference, I would like to know what to do about a recovery if needed. All my data is backed up on a few external drives.

Click to expand...

Since Lion does not come on a disk, the correct way to reinstall in case of a problem or some other glitch is to use Recovery.

To enter Lion Recovery: Reboot holding down the OPTION key and select the Recovery partition, or, Reboot holding down Command R. See the following Apple KB article for more information: LINK

Once in Recovery you can then select to reinstall Lion which will be a direct download from the Mac App store. (you will not have to purchase Lion)

The best way to copy data from one Mac to another when you purchase a new Mac is to use Time Machine. Otherwise you can use the Migration Assistant to move select items.

You may wish to create a Lion install disk or thumb drive for yourself in the event the hard drive crashes. Or you can purchase the Lion preinstalled thumb drive direct from Apple for $69.

Also keep in mind that your new iMac is warranted for one year and if you purchase Apple care that is extended to three years.

Thanks for the help.... We were able to start over from factory settings. We should stop working in the middle of the night, because all it took was a complete hard shut down and restart holding the command and R key. Originally we used the option of restart computer and were not able to get a response when we held down the command and R button. Appreciate the suggestions. We did save a copy of Lion on a thumb drive in case we will need to use in the future. We came across an issue when trying to use the program off the thumb drive because our old Mac had a hard drive partitioned. We were able to work through that, but setting one of the partitions to 0.00 space