Finder crashing constantly - cannot start up from install disk

Looks like I have a conflict between spotlight and the finder. The spotlight icon is missing from the menu bar and whenever I try to launch an application etc. from the finder it freezes & I get the spinning beach ball. The screen refreshes but the dock remains
I have done all the usual tasks like repairing permissions,repair the disk, rebuilding the memory with DiskWarrior, Mainmenu tasks , Applejack, restarting, Tech Tool Pro etc.
I have tried using the install dvd but I get to the restart page and it reverts back to where I was before and does not read from the DVD so I can't get to the installer. Have tried the disk in the internal and external optical drives without success.
I also can't seem to restore the system with Time Machine because it says to use the install disk which
my computer will not read from the disk.
Short of doing a complete erase, is there any else I can do.
The console is recording both Spotlight crashes and the Finder crashes every few seconds.
Anyone with some suggestions, please.
Alan

Because you have known good backups, I'd try to get the disks working and Restore from Backup via Installer as you were trying. Reseting the PRAM and NVRAM can help with startup issues (power down, wait 10 seconds, turn the computer back on and hold down commandoption+pr until you've finished hearing the second startup chime).
Let the computer startup. Power down and try to boot to the install disk.
If you still cannot boot to your install disk, try resetting your SMC by turning the computer off, disconnecting it from AC, removing its battery, pressing and holding the power button for 5 - 7 seconds, then letting go. Reconnect battery and AC, try booting to the disk again.
If both these steps fail, verify the disk with another computer - can another computer boot to it? If not, call AppleCare for replacement disks. If so, book a Genius Bar appointment, there is a hardware issue.
Michael

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Repairing disk problems - cannot start up from Install Disk!

Tiger version 10.4.10
I need to repair the startup disk. I have gone through the usual routines (holding down 'c', changing startup disk in system + attempting to change the startup disk using Utilities on the Install disk). On startup the Install Disk is by passed and the disk I want to repair effects the start up instead.
I would appreciate any help!
PS - Would Disk Warrior help with this problem?
Regards - Pete S

Hi There
To repair the hard drive without the install disk you can do the following. Hold down the command + S keys at startup until you see a black screen with white text. Once the screen has fully loaded type fsck -f. Note the space between the k and -.
Hope this helps

"You Cannot Install OS X on This Disk. OS X cannot start up from this disk".

Hey, I am running Lion on a Macbook Air 2010 model and i recently bought Mountain Lion through the MAC App Store. ive had problems installing it as i cant install it onto my Macintosh HD (startup Disk). Ive opened the ML installer and its rebooted my mac into the installer Menu, but when it goes to install, it stops and says You Cannot Install OS X on This Disk. OS X cannot start up from this disk." i want to be able to install ML overwriting Lion on my MacintoshHD (startup drive), are there any solutions that can fix this problem?

Glad to hear it!
I ran into another problem: The USB cable I was using for my external backup disk was not reliable. I kept getting "disk ejects" at various points during migration.
I bought a new "2.0 certified" cable and it worked fine. The first two attempts resulted in re-installs.
I'm happy to report that after the 3rd re-install of ML everything appears to be OK.
I disabled TM and keeping my last b/u offline for a few more days to be safe....

Maverick upgrade issue : OS X cannot start up from this disk

Hi all, everytime I try to upgrade to Maverick for my new mackbook air, I got this problem 'OS X cannot start up from this disk' (MACOSX). I tried deleting files to get more space, repairing disk and determine that it is not time machine issue, but to no avail. I have 58 gb free space on my 128 gb SSD. Can anyone help ? It is really frustrating. I am not sure what is the other disk called OS X install ESD which is 5.42 GB total.

sigge44 wrote:
I'm trying to upgrade my tiger installation with leopard, but I get the message "Mac os x cannot start up from this volume". It is the internal disk and I have a Linux install too on that disk. Earlier I used Refit but I have removed it. Do I have to repartition? Partiontabel is GUID-partiontable in diskutil.
Removing an app or bootloader like rEFIt or OS such as Linux does not ensure that the drive is back to where it was before you installed these programs.
Even having a partition for TechTools eDrive will cause problems.
First I would run DU and check/repair your HD and then run a file permission verify/repair and zap the PRAM.
I would then suggest backing up Tiger and Linux with clones and completely erasing the HD using the full (not quick) erase and then installing Leopard and migrating your Tiger material back.

Mac os x cannot start up from this disk

I have a 2008 MacBook Air which runs Leopard. I want to upgrade to Snow Leopard and then Lion. I have the Snow Leopard family pack disk and try to do the install but it say 'Mac OS X cannot start up from this disk' and shows a yellow triangle with a !
I went to the genius bar and they told me to put the Snow Leopard disk in the superdrive and restart holding down C and it would then work - but it did not. I also saw on a forum about using disk utility and partion and resizing the partition then putting it back as it was originally and then re trying but I get the same message.
Anybody got any ideas?

Saw an article by Topher Kessler: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330520-263.html
The extract from that article below worked for me.
Note when I first resized the partion (comment above) I did not 'apply', this time I did and then resized back to the original full size and hit 'apply' again. Although when the install starts it shows the size of the partion to be the smaller (temporary) size, it is not and the install completes with no issues.
Boot from the Snow Leopard DVD and select your language. Then launch "Disk Utility" from the "Utilities" menu and perform the following steps:
Select your boot device (the device above the boot volume name), and select the "Partition" tab.
Resize the partition by selecting the volume name in the rectangular volume representation and drag the bottom-right corner of it to change its size.
Click "Apply" to change the partition's size.
Revert the change by dragging the same resizing corner back to the bottom, and click "apply."
After this is done, quit out of Disk Utility and try installing Snow Leopard again. Since you are booted from the Snow Leopard DVD you should be able to continue immediately without having to reboot your system.
Hope this helps others. Thanks Topher!

Start-Up from Install Disk with Complications

Originally I had start-up problems (flashing folders with question marks), so after troubleshooting, I started up from the install disk. After going through Disk Utility, nothing appeared in the First Aid for me to Repair the Disk. So the next step would be to delete the disk, and reinstall completely using the cds. However, I cannot find advice on how to do this, and don't see my hard drive on the Disk Utility bar to delete. When I try reinstalling the disk, it asks me where I would like to put the hard drive, and nothing comes up. I love my computer and am desperate - please HELP!

To start up from your OS installer disk 1 insert it in the Mac. When it appears on the desktop restart and hold down the 'c' key. If that fails there may be a problem with the disk or you are using the wrong disk. Until you get a new disk you can do repairs by restarting and holding down the command-s keys until you see the white scrolling text on a black background. Then at the prompt type:
fsck -fy
hit return. If it repairs something do it again until there are no repairs needed. Then type"
reboot mac
hit return

Cannot boot either from install disk or hard drive

I have done a number of searches, and I have not found a problem precisely like the one I am encountering.
Earlier today, my MacBook (running Leopard 10.5.3) failed to wake properly from sleep. After I attempted to reboot the machine using the power button, I encountered a black box with the following message: "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button."
I have tried all of the usual fixes (e.g., zapping PRAM, removing all power sources, holding down the shift key), and nothing has worked. What puzzles me most of all is that, although the DVD drive is clearly working, I am unable to boot from the install disk.
I would add that, when I old down the option (Alt) key while booting, I am able to see all three of the available options for rebooting. This seems to suggest that the computer is still able to detect my hard drive as well as my DVD drive. Why, then, does nothing allow me to get past the black box with its cryptic (and rather unhelpful) message?
Out of desperation, I unsuccessfully tried to use the option of rebooting from my boot camp partition. I then received a message that might provide a clue. "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: system 32\hal.dll" Does this suggest anything to anyone?
If I continue to be unable to get past the black screen over the course of the weekend, I will take my computer in for service on Monday. But it would be nice to come up with some sort of solution before then.

Let me add a quick update to my original posting.
I finally managed to run Apple's hardware tests on my machine. According to the tests, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my hardware. But the fact remains that I still cannot manage to boot into OSX--even using my original installation disk.
As I mentioned in my original post, I am able to get part way into the version of Windows XP that is installed on my boot camp partition. However, I am a little nervous about pursuing the possibility of repairing my XP installation. I am afraid that, by doing this, I may inadvertently damage my OSX partition.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. In particular, I would like to know whether there is perhaps some secret way of forcing a MacBook to boot from the installation disk. Is there anything that one can do when holding down the "C" key does not work?

Can't start up from Install disk

I'm using a MacBook purchased 3/07. System 10.4.11
I can't start up from the Install Disk for Leopard. I only get a screen with the apple logo and the spinning thing. I wait 10 minutes. Nothing happens. I've tried both using the Disk for the start up and clicking on Install icons but when it shuts down to restart....nothing.
Can anyone help me?
Thanks. Lois

Hi Josef,
I left it on for over an hour and nothing happened. Finally called Apple and after an hour and a half of all kinds of testing, restarts, zapping and I don't know what else, the nice man there talked to his supervisor and then had me test the hardware (hold down D when starting). Turns out there is a problem with my ram so now I have to take it to a local technician and if he can't fix it, it'll have to go back to Apple for repairs. Ho hum. I just hope it finally gets working to make all this worthwhile.
Thanks again for your interest and help.
Berengaria

Why won't my iMac start up from install disk?

I get a gray screen, apple logo in the center with a spinning gear underneath it. I have started my computer holding the c key, the option key selecting the install disk and startup disk in system preferences. The iMac hangs every time. The hard drive is in need of repair.
thanks in advance
bradley

Funny you should mention that, as that happened a few months ago. When it did, I could still start up from the install disk, there was just no destination for the software to be installed. I am currently running the iMac off an external drive via firewire. Disk utility informs me that disk is now in need of repair, even though it seems to be functioning fine, I can't start my machine from the install disk without it hanging up.

Start up From Install Disk

I can't start up from my Mac OS X 10.4 install disk. I need to to do some possible disk repairs. When I follow the directions for starting form another disk, I fail to get the DVD as a start-up option. It only shows me the MacHD, which is my computer. One set of directions says hold down the option key, the other says hold down the C key. I've tried both.
Is there something I don't know about that could be interfering with the other start up option.
Rick Kesler

To start up from your OS installer disk 1 insert it in the Mac. When it appears on the desktop restart and hold down the 'c' key. If that fails there may be a problem with the disk or you are using the wrong disk. Until you get a new disk you can do repairs by restarting and holding down the command-s keys until you see the white scrolling text on a black background. Then at the prompt type:
fsck -fy
hit return. If it repairs something do it again until there are no repairs needed. Then type"
reboot mac
hit return

Can't Install Leopard "Cannot Start up from this volume"

I have 10.4.10 currently installed on my MacBook (120GB aftermarket HD).
HD works fine and is properly partition/formatted and working just fine in 10.4 (GUID partition, journaled, etc). Ran repair permission/disk to be safe and it checked out ok.
10.5 installer loads up ok but when I get the list of drives to install to my HD has a red exclaimation on it and when I try and select it I get the message "You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume. Mac OS X cannot start up from this volume."
I have no problems running 10.4 on that volume and I don't want to reformat unless I am 100% sure it will fix the problem.

Since nobody replied after 26 views I assumed nobody wanted to help me.
So I ended up reformatting my HD to the same options it currently had and that fixed it. SO I am starting to do the install now.
Thanks to the 26 people who viewed it and didn't offer any help.

Installing Leopard over Tiger: "MacOs X cannot start up from this [volume]"

That's the message I get on an iMac dual 2-GHz. Each partition has a yellow '!' with the message "MacOs X cannot start up from this [volume]" (I think it says volume) not 'cannot be installed on this..."
Trouble is, it says this about the current 10.4.11 start-up volume. Is this a GUID partition map thing? Any ways around it?
TIA,

TimDanaher wrote:
"MacOs X cannot start up from this [volume]" (I think it says volume) not 'cannot be installed on this..."
Trouble is, it says this about the current 10.4.11 start-up volume. Is this a GUID partition map thing?
That's easy to test. Launch Disk Utility, select that drive (not volume) in the column on the left, and look for "Partition Map Scheme" at the bottom of the window.
Any ways around it?
If it's not already GUID, you'll need to repartition the drive. That will erase everything on it.

New mbp - finder crashes constantly??

My new MBP arrived today. I transferred everything with the Migration Tool and for the most part, I'm ready to go.
BUT.... Finder crashes constantly and isn't really even useable. At first I thought it was the trackpad, but now I see it is any activity in finder crashes it.
Is this a known problem? Is there a fix?
Thanks,
Tom

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Step 1
Enter the name of the crashed application or process in the Filter text field. Post the messages from the time of the last crash, if any — the text, please, not a screenshot.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.
Step 2
Still in the Console window, look under User Diagnostic Reports for crash reports related to the process. The report name starts with the name of the crashed process, and ends with ".crash". Select the most recent report and post the contents — again, the text, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.) Please don’t post shutdownStall or hang logs — they're very long and not helpful.

Solution: mac os x cannot start up from this volume

I purchased a new WD 300GB SATA drive recently to replace a failing OEM 250GB drive in a G5 tower. I installed the new drive and ran the 10.4.3 Installer DVD. I opened Disk Utility, selected the new drive, clicked the Erase tab, etc., etc. Went back to the Installer, saw an error: "You cannot install OS X on this volume. Mac OS X cannot start up from this volume."
Long story short, it appears that sometimes Disk Utility doesn't actually correctly format the drive. The key thing to look for is that if you go to Disk Utility and select the physical drive volume, then hit Get Info, under Partition Type it will say "FDiskpartitionscheme," even though it claims to be formatted Mac OS Extended, Journaled. The Installer will reject any disks not listed as "Applepartitionscheme."
The solution is to go back into Disk Utility and try different methods of reformatting (select the physical drive, select the logical volume, Erase, Partition, etc.) until you get "Applepartitionscheme." Then it should work fine.

To install Panther, you need the retail install version CDs (black with silver X). I suspect you are trying to use a model specific version or upgrade version (gray), that won't work.
When you formatted the new drive, did you check to install the OS 9 drivers? The drivers need to be installed if you want to be able to boot OS 9.x. If you just want to be able to run in classic mode, the drivers are not necessary.
If OS X has never been installed on your Mac, you need to check if your Mac requires a firmware (Boot ROM version in System Profiler) update. Mac OS X: Available firmware updates
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117 If an update is required, the update must be installed (using OS 9) BEFORE you install OS X.
 Cheers, Tom

Upgrade "Mac os x cannot start up from this volume"

I'm trying to upgrade my tiger installation with leopard, but I get the message "Mac os x cannot start up from this volume". It is the internal disk and I have a Linux install too on that disk. Earlier I used Refit but I have removed it. Do I have to repartition? Partiontabel is GUID-partiontable in diskutil.

sigge44 wrote:
I'm trying to upgrade my tiger installation with leopard, but I get the message "Mac os x cannot start up from this volume". It is the internal disk and I have a Linux install too on that disk. Earlier I used Refit but I have removed it. Do I have to repartition? Partiontabel is GUID-partiontable in diskutil.
Removing an app or bootloader like rEFIt or OS such as Linux does not ensure that the drive is back to where it was before you installed these programs.
Even having a partition for TechTools eDrive will cause problems.
First I would run DU and check/repair your HD and then run a file permission verify/repair and zap the PRAM.
I would then suggest backing up Tiger and Linux with clones and completely erasing the HD using the full (not quick) erase and then installing Leopard and migrating your Tiger material back.

Finder crashing constantly - cannot start up from install disk

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