Computer wont start up and shows gray screen

My Macbook Pro shows a spinning (thinking) dial when it starts up but does not go any further than that. Can anyone give me tips on how to proceed?

Hi T,
Here are Apple's suggestions; please try them all:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

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When I start MacBook Pro13 shows gray Screen and flashing file Image with question mark

When I start MacBook Pro13 shows gray Screen and flashing file Image with question mark , it's brand new I just receive it from Apple Store .

Startup Manager to select Startup disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836

HT1349 i upgraded to yosemite last week, now my computer wont start. it stops at white screen with apple logo. what do i do?

i upgraded to yosemite last week, now my computer wont start. it stops at white screen with apple logo. what do i do?

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If a desktop Mac hangs at a plain gray screen with a movable cursor, the keyboard may not be recognized. Press and hold the button on the side of an Apple wireless keyboard to make it discoverable. If need be, replace or recharge the batteries. If you're using a USB keyboard connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 11. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

Purchased my computer just before new ones came out in Oct. It runs slow and shows Gray screen sometimes when I open it. Anyone else having this problem?

I have a new but 2010 model. It operates very slow and has gray screen occassionaly. One store said it's "safe sleep", the other graphic board. Is anyone else having this problem with computer only 4 mos. old?

Your problems may be caused by software or hardware, including the gray screen and the slowness. The intermittent gray screen is a puzzler and probably is hardware. TUSL2C’s diagnosis may be right on the money. A question is how to isolate it to HW or SW that so you can get good service?
The obvious cheap and easy fix is to replace that cable but I don’t think you can do that because it is under warranty. There are other ways to isolate the problem that won’t void the warranty.
If the disk turns out to be healthy and it continues to boot to a gray screen then that will be a sign that internal hardware, other than the disk, is to blame. Since they are blaming it on software we will be able to test it with a pristine OS X installation that has no 3rd-party software to blame.
> They are calling it "Safe Sleep Mode" and that happens if I don't use the machine within 4 hours.
The machine should go to sleep and wake up almost instantly every time without a gray screen. If you can demonstrate the problem reliably by putting it to sleep and waking it up then that will be most useful. We will show it failing on pristine OS X software without 3rd-party mods to prove it is an Apple problem. Similarly if you can reliably show the gray screen from a power-on boot that will help.
My first question is do you have a current Time Machine (or other) backup? If not you should create one before we get to steps that could stress the disk. If it is a faulty cable or a faulty disk then the system could stop functioning at any time. It is always prudent to maintain a current backup and especially important when the system is sick. If you do not have a Time Machine (or other) backup then post back for instructions on how to create one.
In the mean time please download and run Etrecheck and post back the results.
http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck
This will indicate possible software compatibles and other details that may be helpful in a diagnosis.
Also run disk diagnostics with Disk Utility. This will check if the disk and filesystem are healthy.
From the Finder, pull down on the Go menu to Utilities. This will open the Applications > Utilities folder.
Then run Disk Utility.
Click on the upper left disk icon.
Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”.
If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced.
Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD”.
Verify Disk.
If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk.
If it shows errors in red then you may have found a problem.
Click on Repair Disk Permissions.
It will give lots of messages in black and white, which are OK.
If it gives any messages in red then there is an issue to address.
It will be useful to have some test that shows the slow speed that uses standard OS X applications such as Pages, Numbers, Presenter, iTunes, iMovie... or even just the Finder opening windows or starting applications. We can then use that test when isolating the source of the slowness.
How many seconds does it take to boot from power-on to either the login screen or the Finder is up? Please time that. It is a good speed test. If it is over a minute then something is wrong.
One way to isolate the issues will be to sandbox it using another disk to test what happens with different software on different hardware disks in different locations. That will not void the warranty.
But before going there or proceeding further let’s look at the Etrecheck and Disk Utility results, ensure the system is backed up, and then try some other standard tests.

Computer wont start up and says try reinstalling the program?

I have a Windows 7 HP G56, and ever since a Windows update didn't install properly every time it updates or shuts off and starts up again a black screen appears with just my mouse working. So to fix that problem I would use System Restore and use a different restore point and it usually starts back up properly, but a couple days ago it shut off and I used a restore point that said install instead of critical update and now when my computer starts up it says "Unexpected Error, Try reinstalling the program to fix the problem. Now when I use repair computer in the f8 section to go to system restore that old "install" point isn't there. What do I do to solve this while keeping all my files??

Hi,

HT1338 White Mac book will not start up just shows gray screen with apple logo

White Mac book will not boot up gray screen only

There are some recovery steps for this condition outlined in the below article.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

Mac won't start up and shows grey screen

My mac won't start up this morning ? It has a full charge of battery and even plugged in it just shows the grey screen. Any help.

Please restart your Mac and hold the 'Option'-key to see your start-up discs. If you do not see any start-up discs it could be your hard disk cable that is faulty. This is a common problem with Macbooks, but I am not sure this issue has been fixed with the Retina models. I've had this problem with my 2012 Pro, and a new cable did the job. Very easy to do yourself!
You can also start Internet Recovery (need wifi or cable) and start up Disk Utilities to see if your hard disk shows up there.
Please let me know.

My computer wont update itunes & and show all my music?

Alright, so I opened my itunes after awhile since I first downloaded it (new user). A pop up said there was a new version but I dismissed it. I then was looking at my itunes, and there was NOTHING in my library. I was confused seeing as when I first downloaded it, with my account everything showed up that was also on my phone. I clicked around and still coundnt find anything. I then decided that maybe it wasnt showing me my music because I decided not to update. So then I tried to find out how to update, and then I ended up just downloading itunes again? I then checked again and found the alt and help button. However... when I click check for update it gives me an update, I press download... and nothing happens?! I dont understand why? I went through my account information and it said I had nine downloads, I down loaded them... but its only 4 albums, and just pieces from each?

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash.
See also the Further Information area of Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for download advice and direct links if required. Updating iTunes won't fix any issues with your library, but the links should help if want to ensure you are properly updated to the current version.
tt2

Electric went out my computer is just showing gray screen with apple logo and wont start up

my mac mini is just showing gray screen with apple logo on it i cant get into it

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

15" i7 Macbook Pro from early 2011.takes the mac laptop two or three tries to boot successfully. It would turn on, show gray screen, shut down, turn on again, show gray screen, shutdown, and then turn on, show gray screen, before it can finally get

Hello All,
I have a 15" i7 Macbook Pro from early 2011. The past few weeks, it has been getting increasingly difficult to get on my computer. It takes the mac laptop two or three tries to boot successfully. It would turn on, show gray screen, shut down, turn on again, show gray screen, shutdown, and then turn on, show gray screen, before it can finally get to the dark gray log-in screen. Even when I finally get logged in to start working, thinking it would be okay now, it shuts down randomly.
I've ruled out the possibility of a software problem because I've just done a clean re-install of Mac OS X Mavericks on my computer just yesterday.
I did upgrade the RAM recently, about a month and a half ago, from 4GB to 16GB, I went to the apple store four days after that upgrade to have them do a hardware test, and clean the inside of my laptop, which helped with previous heat issues. When they did the hardware test, the hardware was all registered as fine from their system.
I've tried resetting the SMC, PRAM, and doing the internet recovery hardware test, but to no avail. I thought I could at least find out what parts needed to be replaced from the hardware test but it seems that when the hardware test is almost finished, the computer just shuts down, So I am unable to see the results.
My computer is also having battery issues, under battery condition, it says "replace now," parts have been ordered, waiting for arrival. But if the battery health is low, it should still boot up fine, it would just hold a significantly less charge.
Could this be a hard drive issue?
Has anyone had similar symptoms and how was it resolved?
Does anyone know what I can do to alleviate this issue?
I haven't had time to take it to Apple because I'm currently taking a 21 credit semester academically. I'm an art and design student so my computer is basically the bane of my existence. Help! Any constructive advice is welcomed!
Thank you so much for your input!
-Christina C.

Problem description:
The Hard Disk is failing.
EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)
Report generated November 4, 2014 at 7:59:28 AM EST
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) (Verified)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
16 GB RAM Upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
Color LCD 1440 x 900
AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB
System Software: ℹ️
OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 0:3:43
Disk Information: ℹ️
TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF disk0 : (750.16 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
HDV4 (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 749.30 GB (712.10 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/fileshield/unsigned
[loaded] com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.9) Support
/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned
[loaded] com.avast.PacketForwarder (1.4 - SDK 10.9) Support
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist Support
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
[loaded] com.avast.init.plist Support
[loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist Support
[loaded] com.avast.update.plist Support
[invalid?] com.perion.searchprotectd.plist Support
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[invalid?] com.avast.home.userinit.plist Support
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
[invalid?] com.jdibackup.ZipCloud.autostart.plist Support
User Login Items: ℹ️
None
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.1 Support
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
TroviNPAPIPlugin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9 Support
Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: Unknown
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
Avast Online Security
Trovi Search for Safari
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
None
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
      16% mds
      7% WindowServer
      1% loginwindow
      1% fontd
      1% com.avast.daemon
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
120 MB com.avast.daemon
86 MB Google Chrome
52 MB Finder
52 MB WindowServer
41 MB Google Chrome Helper
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
13.45 GB Free RAM
1.34 GB Active RAM
944 MB Inactive RAM
1.43 GB Wired RAM
1.11 GB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs

My Imac is showing gray screen with red line when booting and restarts again

My Imac is showing gray screen with red line when booting and restart again, I can load it in windows 7 safe mode with red lines across the display, pls help

The graphic card is damaged. You can't do anything more than taking your computer to an Apple Store or reseller and getting your graphic card replaced.
Sometimes, when the graphic card is damaged, operating systems can't start. That's caused because the drivers that make the graphic card work detect an error, telling the operating system that the graphic card is unusable, so the operating system can't start and it restarts. However, you can start in safe mode because operating systems use a basic driver in this startup mode

When trying to launch (D)iagnostics, iMac shows gray screen with lightning bolt and USB icons

Just in time for my birthday...
Mid 2011 iMac with 10.6.8
Occasionally its fans would rev up to the maximum and stay there until computer is restarted or put to sleep. But today the fans were blowing (albeit more moderately) from the start. Previous solutions would not help and iMac would even put itself to sleep after a minute or less.
Resetting SMC didn't help, so I've tried to launch AHT while pressing D during the boot. It worked in the past, but now it showed gray screen with these two icons jumping around. On top of that, I couldn't find find both OSX and Drivers discs (facepalm). Luckily I had Lion install disc, so with it I launched Disk Utility and verified the disk. HDD itself passed, but OS partition was declared unrepairable and in need of format.
I have Time Machine, so I happily formatted and started installing Lion. But during install, every few minutes or even less, computer would go to sleep again. Despite that install managed to continue, but when it got to "Downloading additional stuff" part, progress stopped and countdown even started to go UP minute by minute.
I figured that every time iMac went to sleep (because probably it thought it was overheating) download had to start again and it would never finish. So I cancelled and restored Snow Leopard system from Time Machine. After booting from HDD, I verified it and it passed. But Diagnostics still won't launch.
Any ideas?

Apple Hardware Test comes installed on the hard drive by default, but it's deleted when you erase the hard drive or you upgrade OS X.
In your case, you need the Mac OS X DVD. If you haven't got it, call Apple to get replacement discs > http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
After getting the DVDs, insert the Mac OS X DVD and press D key while your Mac is starting to start Apple Hardware Test. Remember to run an extended test

My computer won't start up past the gray screen

My computer won't start up past the gray screen and then shows up with the forbidden sign where the apple logo should be. I have tried booting in safe mode and PRAM and neither works. Any suggestions on what I should do next? Or any idease of what might be wrong?

I had the same problem, I believe it is called a kernal panic. They had to replace my hard drive. I did have apple care or it would have cost $450. The guy at the genius bar did some tests to see if he could fix it, he couldn't, so I had to have the hard drive replaced.

TS1411 my desktop Mac OS X is not starting, I get the gray screen with the apple logo and a bar below and then shot off by itself.

My Imac is not starting , I get a gray screen with the logo and a bar below and about one minute the bar desapier and shot off by itself. I try evething that I can think of and not luck. I did disconect all accesories and still the same, I use the start up disc and same.. now I can not get the disc out.
Please advise what I need to do to solve the problem. Recently this computer was upgraded from 10.4 to Mountain lion and add more memory.

Thanks for your help.
Same thing happen when I hold the button, it idle for a while and then turn off by itself. Any more suggestions?
I got the disc..

IPhone 4s wont start-it's showing the iTunes symbol and the charging cable symbol

My husbands iPhone 4s wont start-it's showing the iTunes symbol along w/ the charging cable sumbol. I tried to press on the two buttons at the same time and only the sumbols reappear. I'm afraid to plug it to the laptop since my information-my back up is on that laptop. What do u reconmend?

Your iPhone is in recovery mode and because a reset did not resolve the issue you are left with plugging the iPhone into a computer with iTunes and restoring it to factory settings.

Computer wont start up and shows gray screen

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