My computer on startup is stuck on blank grey screen

My iMAC is stuck on blank grey screen at startup. Keyboard is not active, won't function at all. Anyone have any suggestions to resolve?

Please begin troubleshooting using Apple's Gray screen appears during startup advice letter.
Also please complete your profile, we know nothing about your system, what version of OS X, the specific model etc. Here is how you do it, click the Your Stuff link in the upper right of this page then select Profile and look on that page where you can add and edit. The process will take less than a couple of minutes.

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Computer crashed and is now stuck on a grey screen with the apple logo and pinwheel. What do I do?

Computer crashed and is stuck on a grey screen with the apple logo and pinwheel turning
Please help

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.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
     a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
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.
Step 7
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.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
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 10. 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.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
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.

My MacBook pro will not startup. I get a blank grey screen no logo appears so I can't chooseadiffer t drive nor boot from DVD. Safe mode and verbose mode also don't change blank screen.

It was running slow with the colored spining appearing often. This started happening weeks ago with Yosemite so I formatted the disk with the DVDs that came with the mid 2011 MacBook pro, 10.6.8. I then installed Yosemite on an external drive and this morning i was booted from the external hd with Yosemite and it stopped recognizong mouse clicks so I forced a restart and now I'm stuck with the blank grey screen. Safe mode and verbose mode also do not work.

Lao Bo,
yes, you can locate and copy a file from your HD to a USB key using UNIX commands. If you know the exact name of the file which you’re trying to locate, try this:
find / -iname filename -print
This command will search your entire internal disk for the particular filename. If you know that it’s within a particular user account, then you can save search time with this variation:
find /Users/username -iname filename -print
Either variation of this command will print all files found which have the given filename. Presuming that you’re able to identify the correct file, you can copy it to a USB key using the command
cp -p filename_returned_by_find /Volumes/USB_volume
If you’re not sure which volume name your USB key has, this command will show you what the possibilities are:
ls /Volumes
Please let me know if you have any trouble with these commands.

Accidentally deleted startupitems from library/startupitems on macbook now the computer wont startup and i get the grey startup loading screen with the apple symbol and a loading bar but wont load then turns off.

hi, please help.
Accidentally deleted startupitems from library/startupitems on macbook now the computer wont startup and i get the grey startup loading screen with the apple symbol and a loading bar but wont load then turns off.
i saved these files to a folder on the destop and then turned the computer off. oops!!! now computer wont start up
How do i put the startupitems back to this folder or beter yet get into the computer to fix this.
Please please help!!!

Reinstall OS X, either from disc or a recovery partition. You don't mention which version of OS X you're running so I don't know which it will be.

Blank grey screen on startup issue

I have started up my G4 powerbook and am met with a blank grey screen.
I had previously been using the laptop for connecting to a projector for a presentation and having been met with this problem I reconnected the laptop to a projector and the image of the desktop was viewable on the projector screen and thus I could manage the laptop via this. How can I get the screen on the laptop back to where it should be that I can see the what I am doing?
I am sure its something obvious and possibly relating to screen sharing or such like but I cannot think of the solution just now. Any thoughts?
Many thanks for you time.

Hello again,
In order to try to resolve this I need to connect the laptop to a projector to be able to see the desktop image and open such things as System preferences. This takes me bait longer than it should thus the delay in adding to this discussion.
I did connect it up to the projector. Switched off the mirroring and tried a few switching off and on's etc. I have also tried resting the PRAM and the PMU but to now avail. There appears to be a disconnect between the screen and the system. I reckon it is maybe to do with the fact that the last time is was used and functioned as usual was when I was using the laptop with the projector.
It is of course frustrating as the laptop in question though of a certain vintage is in very good condition and operates very well other than this issue.

How to go to finder from blank grey screen with apple icon and spinning gear

My Mac desktop won't start up, it showed blank grey screen with an apple icon and spinning gear for ages. Due my computer is vintage so I would need to backup my user files before I could re-install OS X via NetBoot. My question is how can I access to the finder to back up my user folder from the grey screen. Thanks

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
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.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
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.
Step 7
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.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
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.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
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.

My MB Air is stuck on a grey screen each time I put my password in

Hello,
When I start up my MB Air and put my password in, it just goes to a grey screen and gets stuck there. Occasionally it does come on, but mostly it does not.
I have a Macbook Air 2011 using OSX Mavericks 10.9.3
Here are some possible causes:
I think it could have something to do with Safari and Firefox, which I've had problems with lately:
Safari - Since I've had this problem with logging on, Safari wasn't working properly. I could only get onto the home pages of websites, and nothing more. Nothing happened when I clicked on links, and I couldn't type anything into Google. I since fixed this problem by disabling an extension.
Firefox - Lately whenever I've opened Firefox, it has automatically gone to an update, failed the update, and then went to Firefox. The first time I was able to get onto my computer Firefox went into a major update which took ten minutes to download, and then Firefox crashed, and now the Firefox icon looks different (it looks like a piece of paper with a ruler pencil and paintbrush).
Also, my computer Hard Drive memory only has 5.3 GB left, and I always get messages saying my disk is almost full.
In any case, this stuff about Safari, Firefox and my disk space is just suggestions of problems I've been having lately, but my main problem is that I keep getting stuck on the grey screen (I can worry about Firefox and the hard drive later).
So any help at all would be appreciated, on how to reliably get my computer started again!
Thanks!

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

My macbook is stuck on a grey screen with language select and every time i click english it brings me back to the same gray page what do i do?

My macbook Pro is stuck on a grey screen with language select and every time i click english it brings me back to the same gray page with language select what do i do? Also i dont have enough monet to go to the apple store to get it fix and another thing this happen after i tried to factory reset it without the disck uising coomans i found on youtube.Lastly befor doing the comands my macbook would open any applications and the finder would just blink on and off on the dock.
Heres the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5e5thk0O9o

Shut down your computer and disconnect all peripherals (keyboard & mouse if pertinent) from your computer. Now reboot.
If the Mac starts up normally, shut it down again and then plug in one of the peripherals (keyboard or mouse first) and start up your computer again. If it does so successfully repeat the process, adding one peripheral at a time until your Mac acts up. At that point, disconnect the last peripheral you added, reboot your Mac and search the peripheral vendor's website for an updated driver.
If no driver exists or the problem remain after installing the new driver, try a different cable or a different port on your Mac.
If none of the above works, again disconnect all peripherals from your Mac, hold down the "shift" key to start up in "Safe Boot" mode.
If the Mac starts up correctly, restart without pressing the "shift" key.
If your computer still does not start up properly, shut it down and restart it while holding down the Apple+Option-P-R keys; keep holding "all 4 keys" down until you hear the startup sound "twice."
If none of the above work Disconnect all peripherals from your computer. Boot from your install disc & run Repair Disk from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
Select your language.
Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
Select Disk Utility.
Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click First Aid.
Click Repair Disk.
(If Disk Utility cannot repair, you will need a stronger utility (3rd party) - Diskwarrior or Techtool PRO)
Restart your computer when done.
Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751 and restart your computer.
Remove any 3rd party ram.
Reinstall Leopard - This will install a "fresh" copy Leopard without archiving old system files but leaves the rest of your files in place.
If you still want to restore your computer to factory level...
Start up from your install disc, go to Disk Utility and select the disk and click erase - to securely erase data click Security Options and Erase Free Space which will entirely wipe your disk, overwriting it with zeros so that no data is recoverable.
To restore read the instructions in the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard - Installation and Setup Guide PDF

Mac Pro gets stuck on the grey screen and won't finish booting

I have a Mac Pro 1, 1 recently (successfully) upgraded to snow leopard that gets stuck on the grey screen with the spinning rainbow cursor (after the apple logo and brief blue screen) and won't finish booting up. This happened after my computer froze up and I had to force quit. I checked out the forums and I tried all the all the suggestions (like disconnecting peripherals) and appropriate disk utilities, saw no errors with the HD reported, and had no trouble doing a safe boot (everything works o.k. there) or starting up from the software disk to perform the repairs. I did notice that during the repair permissions command, it gets stuck in the last few minutes, the CD starts to chug along, and everything freezes and I have to force quit. This happens every time I try it. I eventually backed everything up, erased the HD and reinstalled the OS, reset PRAM and NVRAM, but I'm still getting the grey screen on restart. Tech tool deluxe reports a "fail" on the video RAM, but everything else seems to check out. Could it be a graphics card issue? I did notice some funky visual glitches occurring prior to the breakdown. Any other ideas?

I wouldn't trust Apple Disk Utility to do a hard drive repair, but I would go with TechTool Pro 5/6 if you have that instead of Disk Warrior from Alsoft.
Clone the drive, though you should have some bootable backup clones already; repair the clone; then boot and work from that drive. Always have a working copy of the system.
And off load all your data to other drives.

Two Macbook pros circa 2009 in our temporary household in Turkey suddenly failed to boot and got stuck on the grey screen. They were able to boot at the Apple store, but not when we brought them back to our apartment. Could this be a coincidence? A

Two Macbook pros circa 2009 in our temporary household in Turkey suddenly failed to boot and got stuck on the grey screen. They were able to boot at the Apple store, but not when we brought them back to our apartment. Could this be a coincidence? A

THank you Ogelthorpe. When my wife's computer I went on line to the site that you sent and tried everything But nothing worked. When my son came to visit and his MacBook Pro did exactly the same thing we became suspicious - too much of a coincidence. We took both computers somewhere else, out of our apartment, and they both booted. We ran disk utility on both, but the report in both cases was that there are no issues with the hard drive. Back in our apartment neither will boot up. My MacBook Pro is a later model with a solid state drive and it seems to work fine here.. I tried an external drive and it works fine. We think that this has something to do with some kind of magnetic interference in our apartment to which the 2009 drives are susceptible. It is indeed a mystery!
alf

MBP 10,1 - Blank grey screen before login (Landing Zone Dock)

MBP 10,1, i7 core, 2.4 GHz, 8 Gb
OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)
Also running VMWare 6 with Win7 Pro when needed
I got the Landing Zone dock in December, and it has been working fine. An external "vga" monitor connected through the display port, and when needed an HDMI monitor to make 3 with the MBP display.
I always set the MBP display as the login screen.
This week, I started having problems on boot / restore from sleep.
Restoring, the screens are grey and the keyboard is unresponsive, except for the power key (I think except for).
Booting, the blank grey screen comes on after the startup tone, but will not provide the login screen.
When I disengage the dock, the login screen appears.
Help? Advice?

MBP 10,1, i7 core, 2.4 GHz, 8 Gb
OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)
Also running VMWare 6 with Win7 Pro when needed
I got the Landing Zone dock in December, and it has been working fine. An external "vga" monitor connected through the display port, and when needed an HDMI monitor to make 3 with the MBP display.
I always set the MBP display as the login screen.
This week, I started having problems on boot / restore from sleep.
Restoring, the screens are grey and the keyboard is unresponsive, except for the power key (I think except for).
Booting, the blank grey screen comes on after the startup tone, but will not provide the login screen.
When I disengage the dock, the login screen appears.
Help? Advice?

My Mac pro will not boot. it gets stuck on the grey screen.

My Mac pro will not boot. it gets stuck on the grey screen. What can I do?

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
If using 10.7 or later, the Installer/Utilities DVD has been replaced with a special emergency partition on the Hard drive called "Recovery_HD"

Why have all of my camera roll images suddenly turned to a blank grey screen that says jpg in the middle?

all of my photos in my camera roll suddenly turned to blank grey screens the other day and they all say jpg in the middle of them, i did nothing for this to happen so can't understand why it has. I literally went on my camera roll and they all started changing as i scrolled up. Can anybody tell me why it has done this and what i can do to get all of my pictures back?
thankyou.

Here's what I'd try (starting at 1 and if it doesn't work, then 2);
1. Try opening the images (try taking a picture and see if that opens also)
2. Try plugging it into computer, check if you can view the photos on that
3. Check when the last backup was made (hopefully it was recent) and restore from that
4. Try an alternative itunes manager like copytrans and see can you get access to the images with that

Grey screen no apple followed by blue screen with vertical lines. Graphics and logic board replaced 6 months ago. What to do? I held down shift, it gets HOT HOT and makes noises. (for safety mode) followed by a blank grey screen and blue screen

grey screen no apple followed by blue screen with vertical lines. Graphics and logic board replaced <6 months ago. What to do? I held down shift, it gets HOT HOT and makes noises. (for safety mode) followed by a blank grey screen and blue screen. Then tried the other way (sorry, I think it's command alt delete? I don't remember) and it turned from grey (no apple symbol) to blue blank. Then third time, grey followed by blue with vertical lines, not blocky clear lines that you can see if you are close to it.
Thanks for any help!

You have to take the computer to the Apple store to have it checked out.
Genius Bar reservation
http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
Best.

Macbook won't boot...kirr kirr sound with blank grey screen

Hi everyone,
I am visiting a remote part of the world with no mac support at all. I have no install discs either . All of a sudden my mac froze and so after a while I restarted. Since then, it won't boot. I could hear a kirr kirr sound somwhere close to slot drive...I tried to restart xp from bootcamp partition but besides blank grey screen it won't go further (not even ugly question mark or rotating circle)..I hope my hard drive has not crashed because i have my entire life on my computer with no backup either.. it tried restarting in verbose mode (cmd+v?) but effect to that either..Someone please suggest something..I have winxp cd and other random cds and dvds...
Help

Hi Gregory,
Thanks for such a quick response. I think my luck ran out. I did a lot of work while I was away and couldn't back up. I figured out that weird sound (sounds like a termite) comes from the hard drive. It took the hard disk out and the noise is gone and question mark (which probably symbolizes hard disk not found) is back.
Now that I am almost sure it is a damaged disk problem, I just worry whether is would be possible to retrieve data in future. I am going to find a external enclosure (i might be able to find it here) and try it on a pc with macdrive. I don't have much hope because this kirr kirr sound gives me the feeling that the disk won't be detectable. Any ray of hope. I will buy any piece of software that gives some hope.
Zia

My computer on startup is stuck on blank grey screen

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