MacBook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. Tried to start in safe mode but get the same screen. The only thing different was that I loaded the zedge sync app yesterday. Now getting this problem.

Question

Macbook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. I tried to start in safe mode, but get this same screen. The only thing different is that I added the zedge update app to do a sync for adding ringtones to my apple cell phone. How can I get a good boot. I am fairly new to apple computer.

Answer 1

Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405 and then try a normal boot.
Run the Startup Manager to select Startup disk:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
If those did not work your disk may be sick or dying.  The top priority at this point is to make a backup copy of your data.
Check the health of the disk.  Boot in Recovery Mode (Boot, Command-R).  Run Disk Utility.  Click on the upper left disk icon.  Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”?  If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced.  Even if it does not show “Verified” you can still attempt a backup. 
Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD” and Verify Disk.  If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk.  If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up.  Do not attempt software repairs until you have secured the data.
If the disk will not show up at all in Disk Utility as your ran the tests above then it may be dead or it may have a bad internal SATA cable.  A trip to an Apple store for confirmation would be in order.
If you have an external disk drive you can use as a backup drive then do so.  If not Google “Hitachi USB 3.0 external hard drive 1TB” to purchase one or go to a brick-and-mortar store (including an Apple store) to pickup one.  Any 1 TB external drive will do.
Assuming it is still breathing you can try to recover the data without booting from the sick disk. 
Reformat the external disk.  (This will erase all data on the external disk.)
Boot in Recovery Mode.  Start Disk Utility.  Plug in the new disk.  Select it’s disk Icon (the second one down, left justified). Select the Partition tab.
Partition Layout > Single Partition
Name: Emergency Recovery 1 (or whatever name you wish to use)
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Options… > GUID Partition Table > OK
Apply
Select the Restore tab.
Drag the old system volume (Macintosh HD) to Source.
Drag the new disk volume (Emergency Recovery 1) to Destination.
Click on Restore.
It may take a long time for the backup.
If that will not complete post back for other emergency data recovery methods, including those from a brody.
If the backup succeeds, use the First Aid tab in Disk Utility to select the old volume (Macintosh HD) and Repair Disk.  If it does not finish with a green OK message try to repair it once or twice more.  If it repairs with a green OK message, will it boot normally?  If not, boot from the Recovery Partition and reinstall OS X.
If it is still not healthy, post back for further instructions.