How Can I get My iMac Running again when its stuck in the Loading boot up Screen?

Question

My 2010 21.5 Imac wont  stop loading, The wheel just keeps spinning and it doesn't even boot in safe mode. the only thing i can do is get into single user mode. My Mac doesn't respond to command + r. I am able to pull up a disk to boot from but it doesn't show a recovery disk, only "Macintosh HD", when i click it I'm back at the apple logo screen with spinning wheel.At this point i want to do one thing and that is factory reset the computer. a fresh install, delete everything, NO BACK UPS. I don't have the install CD (This Computer had a previous owner). If i were to buy a copy of the OS X from the apple store (I believe my computer was running 10.6.8, Im not 100%sure and i dont now how to find out at this point) would i be able to even put the CD in the disc drive? would it read the CD even though its stuck in the boot up(loading) screen? How would i get it out if the Drive doesn't read the disk? Do I have Other options? Thanks guys!

Answer 1

You are using Snow Leopard. There is no COMMAND-R for a startup. That's for Lion or later.
Call Apple and purchase replacement discs for your model. You cannot use the retail version of Snow Leopard on your model. You have no other options unless you have the original discs that came with the computer. When you get the discs:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer.  Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the  "C" key.  Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.  Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X.  You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.