Getting weird error message when booting up our computer

Question

when booting up our iMac, we get a gray screen with an error message in 4 languages saying: "you need to restart your computer"
upon restarting, we keep getting the same message.
at the same time we noticed that the screen was very fuzzy... I re-starting holding commandoption+pr to re-set the pram. that worked to get the screen clear, but i still ended up on the same message.
after a few re-starts, the screen went back to the fuzzy view.
I have also already checked the led lights on the back to assure that the power supply was working appropriately, and i got all 3 lights ON and solid. the 4th light (overheating) was not coming on...
any ideas or recommendations??
Tks
Leo

Answer 1

What you are seeing is called a 'Kernal Panic'.
What is a Kernel Panic?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227
Try this:
Repairing permissions is an important part of regular maintenance, and should always be carried out both before and after any software installation or update.
Go to Disk Utility (this is in your Utilities Folder in your Application folder) and click on the icon of your hard disk (not the one with all the numbers).
In First Aid, click on Repair Permissions.
This only takes a minute or two.
Background information here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
and here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
If you were having any serious problems with your Mac you might as well complete the exercise by repairing your hard disk as well. You cannot do this from the same start-up disk. Reboot from your install disk (holding down the C key). Once it opens, select your language, and then go to Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Select your hard disk as before and click Repair.
Once that is complete reboot again from your usual start-up disk.
More useful reading here:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417