I-Mac stuck in start up

Please help. English major, Apple newbie.
My imac (intel, G-4), gets as far as the white screen with the Apple and countdown clock, but never actually starts up.
It's a family computer. I was in one user account w/ admin privileges, had just downloaded most recent updates (itunes and something else). Had been loading a disc in Itunes at same time. When download was complete needed to restart but another user had stuff open, so tried to log out user to close down other person's work in order to restart safely and imac screen went skyblue and stayed that way.
So, I turned off the power, waited, turned on power..came right on, but never fully restarted..got only as far as white screen.
So tried both suggestions for powering problems from manual, restart holding option key. Got the hardware icon as manual suggested, clicked on it. nothing. double-clicked on it, got the white screen.
Turned off power, disconnected power cord. REconnected, and tried again. Same thing.
So then tried powering on with apple, option, p & r held down, got the second reset music, but then....hello again white screen.
I've been staring at the white screen in dismay for twenty minutes now.
Anything else I can do? (Besides visit the rude Genius at the Memphis store?)

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Unfortunately, your actions may have seriously messed up your Mac. From your description you appear to have done a hard shut down while the Mac was updating the Mac Operating System.
I suggest restarting from the Restore DVD that came with the Mac to see if the damage can be repaired. Start your Mac and immediately slip in the DVD and press and hold the "C" key. When you get to the Installer select your language. Then from the Utilities menu select Disk Utility. In DU select your startup volume in the list in the left hand pane and press the Repair Disk button in the right hand First Aid pane. Hopefully DU can repair the startup volume. If not you may need to reinstall the Operating System, Mac OS X.
If you need to reinstall Mac OS X, try to do an Archive & Install to preserve the User Accounts and everyone's data. If you cannot do an A&I, all data would be lost and the hard drive would need to be erased and then install Mac OS X.
You can see from this experience that updating/upgrading the Operating System, if done haphazardly, can result in grief. You should always close all other user accounts on the Mac before doing a Software Update. It is best to not do other operations simultaneously with the Software Update, like surfing the net or ripping CDs. Stop all other operations and let the Mac's resources be devoted to the update/upgrade.
Lastly, your Mac is not a G4 or a G5, Apple no longer makes those models. You have an iMac Core 2 Duo.

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If your hard disk passes the verification test in Disk Utility, the Mac will not start up in safe mode or single-user mode (command+S held during boot), you've repaired permissions, there are 3 things left to try:
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2) Reset the SMC. To do so, remove the AC adaptor, take the battery out of the notebook, and hold down the power button for 10 seconds.
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Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
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.
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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 you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
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.
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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.
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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.)
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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.

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STOP AFTER STEP 13!
1. Open a command line in administrator mode
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Make a copy of your e:\efi\microsoft folder to e.g. your desktop.
Delete the e:\efi folder
Copy the \efi folder from a windows 8 installation disk (I used Windows 8 (x64) Professional) to the e:\efi folder. Sorry I cannot provide this for you.
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http://
hodgin.ca/2012/10/02/creating-a-uefibios-windows-7-usb-and-installing-to-gpt-partitions/
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I do not make changes in the Bios after install. The Boot priority is automatic set to “Windows boot manager”. If I change the boot mode back to OS Mode Selection = UEFI OS, the computer will freeze at the “starting windows” screen again.
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Remember if we stand on each other’s shoulders we will reach higher
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NOTE: Here the installation program should create three partitions automatically!
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Partition 2 - MSR - The Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition that reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by operating system software.
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