Start up not happening

Question

I installed some software (no i don't know which ones i trusted my mac to just know ) and then shut it down. My power did go out that night. I came down the next day to start it up and it was on and just had the apple symbol on the white screen with the cursor symbol going in circles like normal start up only it won't go past this point. I have tried all the trouble shooting tips in the little book that comes with the computer and now have the install disc stuck inside of it....PLEASE HELP this stunted apple user! Did the hard drive blow up with the power failure?

Answer 1

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
If it appears to be time for an Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.