Iphone 4s stuck on apple logo and goes to black screen

First of all, make sure that it is fully charged (charge for at least 30 minutes). Second, hold down the home and the sleep/wake button simultaneously for 10 - 20 seconds until the apple logo appears. If nothing works, try to backup the phone (if possible) and put the phone into recovery mode. To get that, open itunes and connect the phone to the computer. Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time. As soon as the screen goes black, release the Sleep/Wake button. Continue holding the home button until you iTunes pops up a message telling you that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You can now restore the iPhone using iTunes.

Thanks Lushy....my only problem with your solution is my sleep/wake button is inoperable. iTunes doesn't even recognize my phone now.

iphone won't turn on past apple logo, can't restore. HELP

I have the same problem...I've even tried a hard reboot by draining the battery and recharging. HELP!!!!

Still try it, because sometimes even if it is inoperable under normal circumstances, it will still allow you to do a hard reset.

Thanks alot lushy9160....it really works for my iphone 4s!!!your a big help