I'm stuck at the opening screen with the apple!

i think this was caused by quitting an intel update but now i can't get passed the apple with a spinning ball. i tried reinstalling the RAM, unplugging everything, and the install disk plus C, but nothing worked. Any suggestions please!!

In your previous post, you asked "Can data be backed up safely when computer is in this condition?"
Since disk repair failed, it appears that your first priority should be trying to copy off your data, and at this point if you have any access (even borrowing) to another Mac with firewire, your best bet would be: How to use FireWire target disk mode
Best would be if you had access to a more recent Mac, one with a large enough hard drive (so you wouldn't be inconveniencing the lender) to move over your entire User folder, except I don't know if 10.2 is setup that way - I'm sure you know what folders your most important stuff is in - such as a documents folder, or photos folder, or ???
So those are the folders you want to grab off first, possibly along with email messages, and whatever comes to mind that worries you? Anyway, nothing worth saving that you've already got on discs, such as the OS or applications.
The idea is to copy from your current hard drive onto another hard drive, using your iMac as the target computer. Once your data is safely saved from the uncertainties of the problem machine, you can move your data to a backup hard drive or burn to DVDs, afterwards giving back the borrowed machine, having verified that you moved, not copied, your data.
Then you can go about trying to rebuild your iMac's usefulness, at least without having to worry about your data. Good luck:)
The best boards to which to direct future questions regarding a G4 iMac would be:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=137
and
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=161
Message was edited by: myhighway

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