HELP!!! On start up won't get passed grey apple and progress indicator!

OMG! Someone please help me. Last night, for the first time, my imail froze on me and i was not able to send any emails. After that, the imail crashed and continued to crash after i restarted it. Then this morning the same thing occurred. But this time, the whole computer froze and only the rainbow progress wheel kept was present and it did not let me do anything else. I was not able to open files, click on anything, so the held the power button and turned it off. Now, on startup the computer remains on the grey screen where the grey apple is and there is a progress wheel there that continues to go around. It has been like that since. I tried to turn it on using the safe mode but it won't let me.
Please help!!!! This computer is less than 2 years old and it is almost finals week and all my files are on here.

So I followed your instructions, and I got it to boot up using the DVD installation disk. But there was no menu for me to pick the Disc Utility from and I continued on with the installation process to "Select Destination" now it is stuck there and says "Some volues are unavailable until the installer has finished processing" the grey progress wheel keeps going around and it has remained like this for 10 minutes.
What should I do now? Please help me!

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Start Up won't get past grey Apple screen

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Boot from your install disc & run Repair Disk from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
Select your language.
Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
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Restart your computer when done.
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Hi, sounds like the HD is dying.
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Hi,
I was working on a Word document when we had a power cut yesterday afternoon. They then said it was OK, the power came back on and I stupidly believed them and turned the iMac back on.
Within second, just as it got the grey screen with the Apple sign and little grey wheel, the power went again. It has been back all night, so have tried to get it started this morning and although it starts with the little tune and goes to the grey screen with the Apple sign and little wheel, after an hour nothing more?
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HI Anamusic,
Many thanks for the link I will save it, but unfortunately I have a wireless keyboard and tracker pad, so I don't think the keyboard is active when I need to use it, I have tried but it seems to be exactly the same.
Thank you for your help anyway.
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Ref: Apple Studio Display: Computer starts to Gray Screen after installing Apple Display Software.
Symptoms
Do not install Apple Display Software if Mac OS X is already installed on your computer.
Doing so may cause the computer to start up to a gray screen.
Resolution
Follow these steps if you installed the Apple Display Software included with your display, and are experiencing the symptom described above:
Start up the computer from your Mac OS X Install CD.
Reinstall Mac OS X.
Do not install the Apple Displays Software version 2.1.1 for Mac OS X.
Verify that the computer starts up correctly ("boots to desktop").
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Ryan,
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Message was edited by: chiff

severe damage to the directory, can cause and prevent booting from any drive or device until you unplug the drive.
put it in a fw case and don't turn on until the system is up, then run Disk Warrior or TTPro or Drive Genius 2.
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If you can boot off the installation DVD, then your computer's fine, and there is something broken with the system software.
You could try re-installing Mac OS X (not a clean install, or an erase-and-install, but just an upgrade of the existing OS), but that may lead to having your apps broken, which may be more work for you.
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I went to the mac store and they told me it could be two things 1. need an archive update or 2. need a new hard drive. It ended up being the hard drive is shot. It seems many people are having this problem even though it hasn't been out for long, so if you are having trouble restarting it (error reading 0x7 or any error reading driver messages) you should take it to the mac store.

Start-up won't go beyond grey apple screen

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When you started from the install disc did it come up all the way to the GUI? If you can boot to the GUI using the install media, it might be worth a try to Repair Disk with Disk Utility, if you haven't already done that.
Erase and install erases everything. Is Upgrade one of the available options?
Here is an overview of OS X install options:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301270
If you've been planning to buy an external hard drive to use as a backup volume, now would be a great time - you could create a backup before doing anything else.

On start up i just get a grey screen with the apple logo-this has suddenly started happenin. Please help?

on start up i just get a grey screen with the apple logo-this has suddenly started happenin. Please help?

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.

I have an old ipod touch which won't go past the Apple logo, all it does is show me a loading symbol, but will go no further, i have tried restoring it and i have, it conects to my itunes and computer, but just won't get passed the logo..what can i do? :/

I have an old ipod touch which won't go past the Apple logo, all it does is show me a loading symbol, but will go no further, i have tried restoring it and i have been successful. It connects and is recognised by my itunes and computer, but still after restoring it, it just won't get passed the logo..what can i do? what is the problem?

Try:
- iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
- Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
- If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
- If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

HELP!!! On start up won't get passed grey apple and progress indicator!

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