NEED HELP!! G5,gray screen ,spinning thing....

[xlegox]

hello,Im going nuts,I have an iMac G5 20inch "iSight" or whatever its called

I bought it on my birthday (Dec 30th) one month later the Logic Board crapped out( I guess a common problem)

NOW,I was on my computer tonight,something weird happened,I got a black screen,with some weird writing in the top left corner,I wanna say I paniced and shut it off manually

now I get a light gray screen on start up with the spinning "wheel" and doesnt start up,just stays in that screen,..

is there anyway I can get it to start up?

I wont lie, I have some porn on my computer (nothing illegal by the way) and to avoid embarrassment( not to mention the naked girl as my desktop wallpaper) ,I'd like to get rid of it in the event I need to take it for service ( I know ,.. shame on me)

I'm not very computer savvy,Im your basic,.."check email,play poker online,... and yes look at porn)" and thats pretty much it,..Im not loaded with programs and stuff,..this is my 3rd Mac, and has been the one with the most problems,

can I just clear out my hard drive completely and reinstall everything? I have just the basic "iLife"



thank you in advance for any help

PS,..I'm using my old G4 at the moment

 

[Lt Major Burns]

hahahaa praise be your honesty, lad.

find your original iMac disks that came with it (a set of grey cd's, possibly just one). put in the first one and hold down 'c' on start up (right after you hear the bahmmmmmm! chime). this will boot from the cd.

now you can choose an erase and install (or even an archive and install, which does a completely new install on another part of the disk, saving al you're old files in another folder) to wipe the disk and restore the mac to exactly how it was when you got it.

btw, macs aren't susseptable to virus's or spyware, so i would see no reason to link the porn with the problems. these things just happen i suppose...

 

[xlegox]

hahahaa praise be your honesty, lad.

find your original iMac disks that came with it (a set of grey cd's, possibly just one). put in the first one and hold down 'c' on start up (right after you hear the bahmmmmmm! chime). this will boot from the cd.

now you can choose an erase and install (or even an archive and install, which does a completely new install on another part of the disk, saving al you're old files in another folder) to wipe the disk and restore the mac to exactly how it was when you got it.

btw, macs aren't susseptable to virus's or spyware, so i would see no reason to link the porn with the problems. these things just happen i suppose...

haha,.. yeah I wont lie,..I like porn,..what can I say,part of being a guy..BUT,not a big issue

so far I cant find the grey disc,I honostly dont remember getting any when I got the computer,the most files I have on my computer are stuff from iTunes,no biggie if I have to clear out all apps and reinstall my programs as my computer came,..all my artwork photos are backed up online in Photobucket (yes artwork and photgraphy,..not personal porn stash back up haha)

I just wanna avoid Apple Service,like I said if I can erase my whole computer and reinstal my apps,I'd rather do that than wait FOREVER for Apple Service for repairs,like the last time the logic board went out,..

I should have researched before buying my 20 inch G5,Ive been having problems left and right,and seeing thru searches,other people having the same problem,...

my old G4 may be small and slow,..but Ive never had problems