Re-installation of Mac OSX

Question

Hi All.
I've had my macbook since July 2008. I have recently been having a few problems with it. I had to put in the installation discs twice within two-three weeks.
Just recently I went on a weekend trip and when I came home, I turned my laptop on and it was just the gray screen with the gray apple and spinning wheel. I a few forums and tried a few things, but nothing has worked. My dad found a way to get the install discs in and try to install everything all over again.
Here is the NEW problem. When I get the second disc in, after three minutes it says that there is an error with installing Mac OS X on my computer and tells me to click "continue" for more information. Once I click continue, it tells me that Mac OS X cannot be installed due to garage band not found...? I have no idea what that means. I don't use garage band.
Has anyone had this problem? This is brand new and did cost me a great deal of money. Geek Squad at Best Buy told me they could fix it for $200, but I don't have that kind of money. *HELP PLEASE*

Answer 1

itsthecrock, a couple of things come immediately to mind. With the gray screen w spinning wheel I would suspect maybe bad or poorly seated RAM... or hard disk drive corruption or failure.
The RAM is easy enough to reseat. Power off and unplug the MacBook, then access the RAM modules. Carefully remove then replace each module in its slot, making sure it is seated properly and locked in.
As for the hard drive, I would first run the disk utility to verify the drive. (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility). You may need to boot from the restore disc to run the disk utility to repair the drive if necessary. Even if the drive checks out as okay, I would still consider wiping the drive and doing a fresh reinstall of Mac OS from the factory disc(s).
Check to make sure your restore discs are clean and undamaged before using them.
Also, needless to say, if you can, be sure to backup any files, photos, music, etc that you wish to keep before doing anything with the hard drive.
Geek Squad, by the way, would probably take these same steps... but you can do it for free!
If the reinstallation continues to fail, I would consider making an appointment with a Genius at the Apple Store. If you bought the computer new in July, then it is still under warranty and they will help you... still FREE!
d.i.