MacBook won't start up properly and keeps freezing

C

Caketin

Registered
Hi everyone,

So I'm in a bit of trouble.
I have a MacBook, and have had it for around 2 years. Last year I had it completely wiped, as there was a problem with the hard drive. 8 months or so later, it's starting to crash on me.

It started today, when it kept freezing, and I was prompted by the computer that it was something to do with the startup disk. So I reset it, well, attempted to reset it. But it refused to go past the loading screen. So I started it up and used the PRAM shortcut to help give it a kick. It then started up fine.

Went to system preferences -> startup disk, and made sure the startup disk selected was the hard drive. To make sure it didn't keep crashing, I then deleted several apps I didn't need, so as much RAM wouldn't be taken up.

It was going ok for a couple of minutes, but as soon as I went on Safari, it started beachballing, and froze up. I just manually restarted it, but I'm back to the beginning - it won't go past the loading screen. Even after I reset it again, with also resetting the PRAM, it's still currently on the loading screen.

It NEVER used to do this. All I know is that I need a solution ASAP - work is due in soon!

Thank you so much to anyone that answers.
 
Can you startup with the original system disks? If so, run Hardware test 1st, and then Disk Utility in repair mode.
 
The thing is, I don't have the discs with me..
Just moved country and didn't think I'd need them..
Such a stupid thing to do!
 
If you had some problems with the hard drive a few months ago, and now have similar problems again, then you likely need to replace the hard drive, and install everything from scratch.
You need something that will let you reinstall OS X, so, your next step should be finding your disks, or buying an OS X installer DVD.
 
Look at these Apple Documents:

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

See if either of these document or thread [HOWTO] Use Apple Hardware Test and other diagnostics to test for hardware (if you have an older mac with OS X disks or a modern Mac Book Air with a USB installer).

Lastly it sounds as if the internal hard disk is/has given up the ghost. Think about replacing it and pray you have been keeping a backup.
 
No problem everyone - got a tech in today.
He put in the Snow Leopard OS disk, ran Disk Utility, verified the disk, and my MacBook pretty much repaired itself.

He said it was probably down to software corruption. Luckily nothing got wiped..

Thanks for the help though!
 
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