Why won't my brand new iMac boot up?

Thanks babowa. I actually had 2 empty because I unplugged my P2 card reader. So more RAM takes up a USB port? I thought adding more RAM would be difficult. I'll do it. How would I take out the RAM that is there now. Is that in the video? If it's easy, I'll do that instead. I'll go check it out. I want as much as I can get. I hate problems and will do whatever is necessary to avoid them.

So, in the interim, I had issues and while re-booting yet again, an option for update was presented to me on the screen. I did it, and things seem to be running much better. (cross my fingers) I'm still exporting to the external drive, and tip toeing while I save everything there before I delete these files and attempt another capture. But I have a good feeling. (Also deleting the MXF files from the P2 card after copying might have helped a bit.)

We'll see how it goes. You all have been a wealth of information and very kind.

Thank you so much.

oh....thanks MichelPm. I'm on it.

babowa, I'm beginning to re-consider what my problem is. I'm going to get the additional RAM, but I think the nature of what's happening is pointing in another direction and I don't want to throw good money after bad. I was working along yesterday evening without incident - everything was great. I've exported sequences to the external in preparation for dismanteling this project and doing the RAM surgery as soon as I am able . I went to bed and got up and my screen is black. I hit enter (which used to bring up the screen when I first got the mac) and nothing happened so I hit the button on the back and the machine woke up. Now the bouncing beachball is spinning and it appears that I'm frozen once again. Nothing was happening during this time. That doesn't sound like a RAM problem to me. Is it? I'm reconsidering the lemon theory. This can't go on.

Oh, about the firewire, I do understand that firewire is preferrable to USB for transfer. I am curious though, when we speak of the speed of transfer being a problem, are we referring to time or quality? Always thought I knew, but probably don't.

I closed my program, and now I'm able to view the Activity Monitor while the spinning beachball continues and hovers over whats in my external drive. In red, the monitor states "finder (not responding)" So I quit the process (finder) and now its not coming up. It couldn't be possible to actually quit the entire option so how do I get it back? How can I access anything?

I seriously had a problem with a PC years ago that I had to replace almost immediately after buying it because it was simply a lemon. I never had those problems again with any machine. Doesn't all this random freezing and beach ball spinning sound just a little much for a brand new computer that I haven't used a full 1/2 of space on? This is normal? I'm thinking if it is, and the Mac is this sensitive...

I managed to shut it down again. Back to the white screen...

Thank you. This is my fear and why I was hoping it was something I could fix. I ordered it from Apple. I live in the middle of nowhere so I order everything. This is a big problem. Thank you though for your advice. I will run the test RRFS suggested to be sure and then contact Apple. I hope their return policy is not painful and long. I'll do the test first.

How trustworthy do you feel this test is?

I'm going to call a local Mac guy this morning just to make sure. I'm going to check on all that. I don't have any new programs or software on here except the Premier Pro. My email is not working either so that's not a part. I haven't had it long enough to do harm is the thing. Only the video which has not really taken enough room to crowd things yet. I'm going to do some more checking. Will report back if I find the solution.

(Am I supposed to get an antivirus? I thought Mac was immune)

I will try that if the problem persists but right now I'm wondering if it isn't a compatibility issue with the external hard drive I bought that is supposed to be compatible with either Mac or PC. I have removed it fromt the iMac and (for now) things are working again....I also have a call to a local person who is a certified mac repair person so I can get right down to it. I just don't have time to search and rescue right now. But I really appreciate everything!! If I had more time, I would try everything out but I have paying customers waiting.

Thanks again!!

it's a seagate and I formatted...I can't remember how I formatted. I'm pretty sure it was in Disk Utility but I think I'll offload whats on there and do it again. I really need to be able to share with the PC (just exactly for times like this) It's a go flex and it's system is NTFS which is confusing to me that the Mac is supposed to work with it. But I did d whatever I was supposed to to make it work. I did not create partitions because I wanted seamless. What about that speed thing. Is it quality or just speed of transfer? Does that affect quality? I only have the ability right now to transfer via USB to externals.