Help ! OS X Won't Start !

[WinWord10]

I was booting into os 9 to use vpc and as it was booting, a folder with a flashing question mark in the center of the screen appeared... as if OS 9 cannot be found. Now that's all I get when I turn on the computer and I can't figure out how to boot back into OS X.

I don't have AppleCare and they want me to pay 50$/incident for support, which is just robbery and as I see it completely unfair considering the computer is only 4 months old. (1 month past the standard warranty) My dell came with 2 years of telephone support at no extra cost.

I do not have an OS 9 disc so I can't reinstall that as the knowledge database suggests for this problem. If anyone knows a way to boot back into 10.2, PLEASE let me know. Thanks.

 

[frederik]

Try holding the apple key as you start up. This should give you an "OS-chooser".

 

[Arden]

It's the option key, and you can hold X to boot into OS X.

 

[WinWord10]

Holding X did nothing for some reason, but holding command did work.. back to normal.. thx =)

 

[ex2bot]

I think holding X only works if there's an OS X installation on another disk or partition.

Doug

 

[Perseus]

I had the same problem: but I needed to boot up from the install CD, repair the HD and then reboot holding down X.