Kernel Panic from system file permission changes

Question

A friend and i were trying to share some image files with each-other so we firewire connected our two macs... (both mac book pros mine a intel core on snow-leopard hers the latest is7 operating system -prob Lion) when the corresponding computer did not appear on our desktops I entered "sharing" console on my system prefs and attempted to allow her computer to see and read/write mine... I got a pop up prompt asking if i wished to share all my internal files and I said "yes"  Shortly thereafter a repeat prompt kept popping up on my computer saying something like ~"can't share system files" I pressed "ok" each time it appeared and after a few pop ups it all seemed ok...
By now as a backup attempt to share my files i had plugged in my external (open permissions) hard-drive which at this point suddenly told me i am not allowed to read or write on it... I ejected it and since the whole system was still spinning and wanting to share permissions I force-quit the finder and selected "shut down" my system to start fresh but when attempting to restart finder I first a few moments later I got that - multilingual kernel panic prompt
it won't start up - it won't boot from disc (at start i hold down option and insert operating disc) it wont start up (I've depressed shift after start and arrived at a spinning wheel that never ends... i'm also out of my warranty and hoping to solve this without paying for a new mac

Answer 1

Unfortunately, the log files are full of scary-sounding messages. Unless you have some specific problem other than the logs, there is usually no need to worry about it. Sometimes, a problem may be reflected in the logs, but you can't start with the logs. You'll never finish.