Macbook won't boot up pass apple logo, lion reinstall and preserving all settings, programs, and most importantly data

Hello Guys,
Currently I am having a problem booting up passed the apple logo, have done alot of troubleshooting and looks like there is corrupted missing file or corrupted files on my macbook that won't allow me to boot up. Looking to do a reinstall of the OSx but preserving the original state of my macbook, basically just upgrading or re-installing the software. I am a professional photographer and videographer and have some very important media and projects on there that I cannot lose, none of the data can be deleted on the drive. And I did not back it up! When I do a re-install does it just re-install the OSx on top? and keeps all the original state of my macbook? I know there is an option for fresh install to and deleting everything, just confirming though that when I re-install the osx I can keep everything the same on my macbook and not lose anything? Also my macbook came pre installed with the software so I do not have the disk cd. Please any input would be appreciated. Also is this the right fix for this problem? any other suggestions? I am sure some people have had the same issue. Thanks

When I do a re-install does it just re-install the OSx on top? and keeps all the original state of my macbook?
Reinstalling will only replace OS components and basic Apple apps, such as TextEdit and Safari. All of your data, settings, and 3rd-party apps are left in place.

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MacBook won't boot past the apple logo screen!

So my MacBook started freezing up and I went to restart it and it wouldn't boot past the grey logo screen with the spinning gear. Its pretty old and therefor still has the Leopard operating system. I've been trying to run Disk Repair using a Snow Leopard install disc but it just gets about 30% done and then doesn't go any further. Eventually I stopped the disk repair and just tried installing OSX but when it asks me what drive I want to install on there are no options available to click. I've got alot of unsaved work on this old thing and would love to get it running soon! Any help would be extremely appreciated! Thanks

I've been trying to run Disk Repair using a Snow Leopard install disc
Install discs are "machine specific" .. you can only use the install disc that came with the Mac for repairing the hard disk.
You may not have enough free space on the startup disk.
Follow the directions for starting up in Safe Mode
A Safe Mode boot can take a little longer then a normal boot so be patient.
When you see the Desktop, right or control click the MacintoshHD icon. Click Get Info. In the Get Info window you will see Capacity and Available. Make sure there's a minimum of 15% free disk space.
If there isn't enough free space, help here > Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk
You can use Disk Utility to verify the startup disk from Safe Mode but you can't repair the disk. You will need the install disc that came with your MacBook for that. While you have Disk Utillity open check S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom of the window. Make sure it says: Verified
When you are finished, click the Apple menu icon top left in the screen. From the drop down menu click Restart.
If you don't have the original install discs you may be able to request a replacement. You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.

Macbook won't boot past grey Apple logo.

Hello! My mother's unibody white MacBook will not get past the grey apple and spinning gear when you first boot up the computer. This was after she opened a link in an email from a friend who had her email compromised. Now I'm getting spam emails with the same link from my mother's hacked email, and her computer won't even get to the login screen. I took it to the genius bar only to be told it was likely HD failure, but the windows partition works without a hitch! What could this be? A trojan? Is there any way to retrieve data (really just pictures) before I attempt to reinstall OS X?
Thanks!

P.S. The one or two times it did get past the mentioned screen, it moved it horribly slow speeds. It took near an hour to get the spotlight feature to open!

I did force shutdown on my MacBook Pro (2006 year, 15.4"), so, when I tried to boot, it shows apple logo (as usual) and shuts down. When I booting MacBook with Option key pressed it shows lock icon and field for password. Please help me.

I did force shutdown on my MacBook Pro (2006 year, 15.4"), so, when I tried to boot, it shows apple logo (as usual) and shuts down. When I booting MacBook with Option key pressed it shows lock icon and field for password. Please help me.

Wait for advice on repairing a damaged filesystem. Forceshutdown stops processs in mid-stream and leaves some parts not-valid.
Do not proceed until you get that avice.

Macbook Pro won't boot up, get apple logo and gear just keeps cranking

I've done quite a bit of searching, but just can't find an answer - it appears this problem may be fairly common as I got a lot of search results about it.
Anyway, here is what is going on, when I boot up normally the hard drive spins very fast and then slows/stops and the crank over the apple logo just cranks and cranks - never getting anywhere (i've waited as long as 20 minutes).
I can boot into single user mode and can type and navigate w/o issue.
When I try to boot into verbose mode, it shuts down after about 5 seconds. Go to http://mjg.org/apple/screenshot.png to see a picture of the console moments before rebooting.
Thanks for any help that you all can provide!
-mjg

Thanks for all the help; however, I still continue to have problems booting off of any other media.
I've tried the Apple CD w/ no success - I made an image of the apple cd and restored it to a USB drive, and it won't boot. I've tested both methods on another mac, and both options boot fine.
I'm going with my last restort here and am going to install OSX on a portable USB HD, and try to boot off of that (no clue if it will work given the outcomes of the other things I have tried). From there I'm going to backup the HD, and try DW as suggested.
Any thoughts as to why the mac refuses to boot off of any other media? It always boots halfway and then tells me I need to shutdown my mac.
Thanks again,

Macbook pro won't go past the apple logo (Lion)

I've installed Java Runtime, and after that tried to use "software update" but the application quit.
Tried to restart, but it stays stuck on the apple logo (with the wheel turning) for ages. Restarted in recovery mode, ran disk utility, repaired permissions and verified disk. no problems found. Restarted again, still the same thing - won't go past the apple logo.
If reinstall is the only way to go, is there a way to access this hard drive to back up files (it is a recent computer, still hadn't made any backups...)
Thank you all, help would be much appreciated!

Shut down and startup holding command-r keys into Recovery Disk from there choose Disk Utility and Repair Disk.
polymolly wrote:
I've installed Java Runtime, and after that tried to use "software update" but the application quit.
Tried to restart, but it stays stuck on the apple logo (with the wheel turning) for ages. Restarted in recovery mode, ran disk utility, repaired permissions and verified disk. no problems found. Restarted again, still the same thing - won't go past the apple logo.
If reinstall is the only way to go, is there a way to access this hard drive to back up files (it is a recent computer, still hadn't made any backups...)
Thank you all, help would be much appreciated!
Ooops you've been there, done that. You can use Target Disk Mode if you have another Mac.
EDIT: Was the Java Runtime from Software Update?

Won't boot past the Apple logo...

I have an '07 MacBook that was upgraded to Snow Leopard about 6 months ago. I've had it for about 3.5 years with no problems-- until now. Last night I turned it on and it booted fine. However, once it had booted, the spinning pinwheel would not go away when I was on "Finder". Despite this, Firefox loaded up fine. But I didn't want to do stuff on the computer when I knew something wasn't right. I tried to restart it, but it wouldn't shut down, so I was forced to cut it off with the power button. When i tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't get passed the white screen with the Apple logo and the little spinning load signal. Along with that, a load bar that I have never seen on that page before began to load up, but it disappeared after filling up to about 10%. I let it sit for a while before turning it off and trying again. By this point I was freaking out, because I have some valuable documents/files that I haven't backed up yet that I really need. I got on my sister's computer and began to research all the topics where people had the same problem. I did everything. I tried the verbose mode, but everything seemed to be okay. In verbose, I did the fsck -fy and reboot, but it still wouldn't start. I did the PRAM and SMC resets. I tried to open it in Safe Mode, but I couldn't get it to open. This morning, I got out my Snow Leopard disc and was able to boot that up. Unfortunately, I, stupidly, have not used time machine to back anything up like I should. I don't want to just wipe and restart everything because there are some files I really need to get. I'm trying disc utility. When I verify the disc, it says that the Sibling Link is invalid and it can't repair that. It tells me to back up as much as I can and then to wipe it and start over, but I don't know how to back stuff up from here. I've also tried "Permission Verify". It comes up with all this things that say either "Group differs on..." or "Permissions differ on..." and then it goes on with a long line of text starting with "Applications/Utilities/....etc. etc." and they all end with either "should be 0, group is 80(or 90)" or "should be -rw-r--r--, they are "-rw-rw-r--". But before it finishes verifying them, it stops loading with about a minute left and pretty much just freezes other than the mouse being moveable.
I'm out of town right now, but I'm probably just going to take it in to the local Mac store when I get home since there's not one around here. Of course, if this is something that I can fix, I'd prefer just to do that. Someone please put me out of my misery and tell me that my files are recoverable. When I'm in disc utility, it says I have the exact capacity I had when my computer was booting, so that gives me hope that all of my files are still there, not to mention the fact that I could see them in another program under "Utilities". Unfortunately though, I'm not computer-savy enough to know what to do. Sorry for all this writing, but hopefully this way all you tech-wizards' questions will be answered so that you know how best to help me.

Yes, I'm using my snow leopard DVD. I wrote all of this in my first post. I tried to boot safe mode from Terminal by doing the "sudo nvram boot-args="-x"" thing. Also in my first post, I said that i used Disc Utility and that it told me the Sibling link was missing or was wrong. Read my first post and you'll see everything that I've tried.
Also, an update on something, now when I upload in Verbose mode, it tells me the bugs; it didn't do that before.

Macbook won't boot past main apple screen

I was using my computer this morning (13" black Macbook that I've had since December) and it was working fine until I closed it to go get something to eat.
When I got back and opened the lid again, the screen was black, as if it was off, but I could make out the outline of the Apple logo in the centre. So I turned it off, gave it some time and turned it back on. Now it won't boot past the main Apple screen, where the little timer thing spins and spins and spins while apparently nothing else happens.
I left it alone for a couple of hours, thinking maybe it was overheated, but that didn't make a difference. I tried taking the battery out and restarting it, but that didn't work either. I called Apple, but my parents opted for Future Shop's warranty instead of Applecare, so they told me to search the website as "the issue is well-documented," since I have no tech support with them.
I've searched around to see where this is posted or if it's been answered a billion times before, but it's 35C in here, and my rage/frustration are ruining my ability to be rational, haha.
Anyone experienced this before / is there a resolution that doesn't involve me being without my computer (which is like sweet, sweet crack to me) for an undisclosed amount of time?
Thanks in advance,
Emy
Oh, and I'm not sure about the operating system version beyond that it's OSX and I regularly install whatever updates they tell me to.

Maybe Disk Utility can repair the disk this way:
-Search your installation DVD's.
-Insert the disc 1 and sthut down your Mac
-Start your Mac again while holding down the C key
-Now your Mac should boot from the CD, this can take some time.
-After a while you will see a installation screen where you can chose a language.
-Chose English and continue.
-Then click some time's next and agree with the "Software Agreement".
-Open Disk Utility. Top menu bar --> Utilities --> Open Disk Utility.
-Select your hard disk in the list of disks and volumes on the left side
-Go to the First Aid (tab somewhere on the right).
-Click the button to verify the permissions.
-Then Click the button to repair the permissions.
-Click the button to verify the disk.
-Then Click the button to repair the disk.
-Exit the Disk Utility

Mac won't boot: stuck on apple logo and spinning wheel

My MacBook pro 13 inch(mid 2010) won't boot. It just gets stuck on the apple logo with the spinning wheel under it. I have done the following but they have not solved the issue:
Zap pram
Attempt to boot in safe mode
Try to access windows partition( resulted in flashing folder with question mark)
I am dying to try to insert the Mac os x install disc and use disk utility, but it is not going into the drive. This all started when I had to turn off my Mac because it had completely froze. Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially if there is a way to insert the install disk.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Try this:
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
If you have a problem with the above, then try:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "OPTION" key.
3. Wait for the boot manager screen to appear, then insert the installer disc into the optical drive.
4. Wait until the disc is recognized and appears in the boot manager screen.
5. After the disc appears select it then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
If you are running Snow Leopard, then reinstall it. Your HDD will not be erased, and all your data will be preserved.
If you are running Leopard then do this:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Radeon 5770 in 2008 Mac Pro, won't boot - hangs at Apple logo screen??

Okay, so I had the Radeon 2600 XT and it kept giving me issues with pink & white checkerboards and freezing, then eventually wouldn't let me boot past the white/grey apple logo loading screen. Now, today I installed Apple Radeon 5770, just installed, got the MiniDisplay to DVI-D adapter and everything, but it STILL won't let me get past the white/grey apple screen! I can't seem to get the DVD drive to open either. Both of my hard drives have been working fine and I've even swapped slots and i still can't get past the white screen! What gives? I just dropped over $300 for this, so you can imagine my dismay and frustration. Can someone please help me with some ideas? Would be GREATLY appreciated.
It's a 2008 Mac Pro dual 2.8Ghz (3,1), running 10.5.8
M

Yeah, ok thanks for the response about the screen! So, I don't have 10.6.5. I'm running 10.5.8, which the Radeon 5770 says it needs 10.6.5, but -finally- I got my computer to boot up with the 5770 in it, on 10.5. Al I did was hold OPTION+ Power button and it took me to a blue screen, then to my 500 GB new HD. I then switched over to my other username on Macintosh HD (drive that came with the MacPro) and OSX loads fine! I can tell that it still needs to be on 10.6.5, so I can download the drivers because the text is ever so slightly fuzzy, and the color isn't tuned well (too much contrast) and images take a little longer to load/ are a bit laggy. I'm just glad it's up and running! No more pink transparent checkerboards, and loud *** fan sounds! I am wondering though, what was causing this hold up? Is it only booting up because I have the 10.5.2 install disc in the SuperDrive? I almost don't want to take it out and try without it, after the trouble i've had, just in case lol. I'd like to have an idea as to why, because I don't want to mask a problem, and have it eventually turn into a catastrophe.

Yellow Tint Macbook Pro After Boot Up Screen(Apple Logo with White Background)

Hi guys
I have just recieved my macbook pro 13" 2012 base model, the screen is yellowish when compared to other macbook pros.
The strange issue is that I notice when I power it on, the screen is normal(white is white) at the boot up screen(white background with apple logo in the middle). But the screen will turn yellowish at that screen right before it finishes booting up(right before the screen logs in), like it has loaded a display profile. But thats is not the case though because my display profile is at default like others.
So the screen turns yellowish right before it finishes booting up and comes to my desktop screen.
Any suggestions please? this is my first mac

Hi Colloc
I bought my macbook from the apple online store.
I found out that every macbook pro screen changes colour before the booting up process completes. I did a comparison with another macbook pro (same model) and it turned out like that too. but the thing is, during usage, it can clearly be seen that my screen has a stronger yellow tint compared to the other one.
I returned my macbook and got a refund for now. I really want one but not sure if I should try buying one again.
I sure yours is normal

Mac won't boot up past apple logo and spinning wheel

It wasn't responding at all, so I had to hard shut off (Hold down power for 10 seconds). When I tried booting it up, this happened. So after 10 minutes, I tried to hard shut off again, and retry. Same problem. I didn't know what to do at that point. Needless to say it's now off, but when I try to turn it on, it goes to the apple logo, the wheel sins endlessly.
I just got a new hard drive and battery in January. I can't lose this because it has some VERY important information on it

ok, it MIGHT be the hard drive, but I don't know enough to be for sure. When I booted from the leopard disc, it couldn't dint my hard drive to install it on. I went to disc utility, and it did show my dvd drive, but not my hard drive. I tried booting without the disc and holding option down, and nothing happened. I tried booting holding down the s key, and a folder icon showed up that had a question mark over it.
Any advice?
I have a late 2006 2.0 intel with 512mb RAM 80 GB hard drive
Message was edited by: basstone97

G4 Powerbook won't boot; grey screen Apple logo only

My G4 Powerbook 17" 1.33 stopped booting. I reinstalled OS 10.4.3 successfully, but on start up only get a grey screen with Apple logo with no spinning gear. I have reverified HDD with Disk Utility from the OS Install DVD, and it confirmed no problems. Any suggestions?

If you have the original OS X disks that came with the system, run the Apple hardware test. Find the disk that says 'AHT Version x.x' in small print on the label, insert it and reboot holding the alt/option key down. Choose the Apple hardware test, and when prompted choose the extended test. You want to see if it finds any hard drive access issues.

MBP stuck at gray boot screen with apple logo, loading wheel, and loading bar

Today i was using my mac book pro and it was working just fine, and i shut it off and when i tried to use it later I get stuck at this screen. I have never seen this loading bar and it doesnt seem to do any thing because it only goes as far as it is in the picture then it dissapears leaving me stuck at the apple logo and the loading wheel.
Sadly i cant get my warranty information since i cant get past boot up, and the serial number in the battery area is to small to read (the letters or numbers are literaly blobs)
I have tried holding shift at boot and it does nothing and holding alt during boot only shows the hard drive icon, but when i click it im back to stage 1.

Spaghettipopsicle wrote:
Today i was using my mac book pro and it was working just fine, and i shut it off and when i tried to use it later I get stuck at this screen.
Your Mac is attempting to fix your drive and it's not succeeding, you can let it go for some time and see if it clears up.
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS3148
Do these steps.
If on 10.6 stick a clean and polished 10.6 disk into the computer and reboot holding the c key down.
If on 10.7 hold the command and r keys and boot, you'll enter Lion Recovery Partition.
Under the Utilities Menu is Disk Utility, use it to Repair Disk (note any failures!) and Repair Permissions (ignore list)
See if your computer boots, if not repeat the above steps and use Disk Utility to format a blank external drive, Partiiton Tab, Option: GUID, format OS X extended (J) and click apply.
Next quit and install 10.6/10.7 onto the external drive, when that completes, hold the option key down and you can boot from it. Retrieve your files off the internal drive to the external.
If you cant' see your internal drive in Disk Utility, it's likely failed.
Sometimes you can software like Data Rescue, installed on another Mac or a external boot drive and "read" the failed drive for any salvagable data, provided it's still working mechnically. Good thing about DataResue supposedly is you don't pay unless it's sure it can recover some of your files. I never used it as I make many backups, or bootable clones.
Mechanically failed drives data can only be recovered by platter dissection, a very expensve process.
There is several ways to read the drive, take it out and place it in a enclosure or use a IDE/SATA to USB adapter cable with another Mac or PC (with MacDrive) or use another Mac and Firewire Target Disk Mode (hold T on the sick Mac)
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
If the drive works and you got your data off of it, you can erase it (use the Zero option, GUID/OS X Ext.J) and reinstall OS X, same user name as before, update, (Repair Disk from disk if on 10.6.8) install programs and return files last (and in that order exactly) your machine will be as close as possible to the way it was.
Lastly, consider making a clone, this way you can simply option boot and use that.
http://www.bombich.com/
If the above is too much for you, please let a local Mac/Pc specialist assist you to prevent data loss.

IMac (late 2009) with Yosemite ran slowly now won't boot; stuck on Apple logo loading

I've been using my iMac less and less over the past weeks mainly because I have to much to do and can do most of my work on my Macbook Air, but today I had to get an old file of my iMac and when I woke it up from sleep it wouldn't run as fast as normal but instead so laggy that it felt exaggerated, so after waiting a couple of minutes while it did one thing per minute I understood that it wouldn't blow over on it's own, so I tried to restart it bur iTunes was syncing with my phone (and the chunkiness made it impossible to stop) so I forced it eventually to shut down by holding the power button. Now it is stuck on the Apple start-up logo but with a loading bar underneath that has been stuck on more or less 49% for a long while, I manually shut it down once more but it is still stuck on the same place. I have also noticed that it is extremely warm on the back. I have no idea if this helps but I wasn't home the whole last week and the iMac was on during that time + my window is on the sunny side so it might have been damaged by the sun. I have no idea whatsoever what to do, I'd appreciate any help I could get. Thanks in advance.

Snaleks wrote:
I have no idea when to press shift because my sound is turned off, I can't turn it on in Recovery Partition mode, help? (Sorry for being so helpless):
Within 1 second of seeing any video at all should be OK.

Macbook won't boot up pass apple logo, lion reinstall and preserving all settings, programs, and most importantly data

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