My Mac Book Pro (2010 - Snow Leopard) won't boot, or boot from safe mode.

Question

Hi, a bit of back ground knowledge bout the situation first, I was visiting home to see my family for two weeks in the UK, as i am currently on an internship in Dubai.
A few days ago (one day before i flew back to Dubai from the UK - Thursday 10/07/2014) I noticed out of the blue that my Mac book Pro (i believe early/mid 2010 model) suddenly started running extremely slow. (prior to this I had be using it fine, using an array of programs like Safari & Photoshop that i know usually slows down the Mac, but unlike what I would usually experience, this was pretty much a complete freeze for 5 minutes at a time every time i tried moving my mouse/closing a program or even clicking on something. I decided I would close everything and give the computer a rest. This took a long long time, I had to force quit many of the programs open, then once going to the drop down menu to shut down the laptop it wouldn't shut down. So after a long time of waiting to shut down I decided to force it to shut down by holding down the power button.
I left it for the evening, and then decided to turn on the laptop so it was 'on and working' for my flight back to Dubai as there had been 'stricter airport measures introduced in the UK for flights abroad' and there was a rumor that you had to prove that all electrical devices can be turned on when and if asked by airport security. after a long time it finally turned on and loaded the home screen, it had a long period on the grey apple screen with the turning gear. However still when turned on the problem of being extremely slow - freezing for 5 minutes every time i would click a program or something on the mac, like the drop down menu with the shut down option for example - still persisted. As I had to fly home the next morning (Friday 11/07/2014) I just closed the laptop lid like i had down thousands of times before over the past 3-4 years, packed it in my hand luggage and and went to bed. I flew back to Dubai.
Over the next few days (Saturday 11/07/2014 - Monday 14/07/2014) I used the laptop sparingly a it was super slow, but i did manage to watch the second half of the world cup runners up match between Holland & Brasil. I then went on to attempt to use the safari the on the Monday night, but it was too slow to really do anything, e.g. i couldn't even really look at the BBC website as it was too painfully slow!
This is when I decided to look up why it may be working so slow via my iphone.
So I shut it down,
I looked on forums and support ages and first thing they recommended was a 'safe mode boot up', so I decided to boot up in safe mode. This is where the problem seems to worsen. The Mac book pro would turn on to the grey apple screen and the progress bar appears, it begins to fill up but then reaches perhaps 20-30% then suddenly the laptops fan seems to go into over drive, making lots of noise when before this moment as it tried to boot up it was silent, then it just turns off.
I decided to retry booting up without holding down shift (safe boot mode), but it returns to the grey apple screen with the progress bar again, as if it was in safe mode even though I had held down shift. The same problem happens, its silent as the bar fills until abut 20-30% then it seems to 'overheat' and then turn off again.
I tried to boot it up again and again, both 'normally' without holding down shift, and 'safe mode', but the same issue arises.
So i turned to the forums and help pages again, and there was a mention of a PRAM reset. So i tried booting it up this time but holding down 'CMD + ALT + P + R' on the moment of the first chime, then as normal with a PRAM reset it chimed twice more before I let go of the keyboard. The progress bar again appeared on the grey start up apple page, and this time reached roughly the same 20-30% mark, but without overheating or making a fan noise, it then seemed to restart the progress bar a second time. This time as it reached the 20-30% it would again over heat and then instantly turn off.
I then decided to do a Hardware test. So i turned on the power and held down 'D', this successfully brought up the Hardware testing window, I did a regular test and within a few minutes it said there was no hard ware issue. Not convinced i decided to do an detailed/advanced hardware test which took alot longer. This time after a few minutes it started to make fan noises and 'overheating noises' however completed the hardware test and again said there was no hardware problems. I opted for the 'shut down' option on the screen instead of 'restart'.
I then decided to try and boot it up normally again, and the progress bar appears on the grey apple start up screen, it again reaches 20-30% then turns off.
I've exhausted my knowledge of what to do, and all the forums seem not to give the answer i'm looking for. It sees like no one has had the EXACT same problem i'm experiencing. Also being in Dubai for a further 7 weeks, I can't take the Mac book pro to an apple store, and I do not have any of the install DVD discs ect with me to try booting from DVD disc install.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me on what I could try next? I'd be hugely grateful! Please reply below or email me.

Answer 1

Some things you can try.
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)