Just today my imac started booting up to a blue screen. I can somehow get to a screen that gives me access to menu at top where I can get "recent items" including Safari, but cannot find "Finder". Files on desktop are not available, or even visible. Just blue. Where did finder go, and how do I fix it?
imac g4 1.25, Mac OS X (10.3.9)
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Kappy,
Thanks, but did not work. The only discs I have are the original imac system discs, and could not get it to boot up ...tried booting up while holding down C, then same while holding down option key. Both times it settled on the same blue screen.
Funny, once I can open an application I can do anything ( safari, firefox, excel) which is 90% of what I need.
Now wondering whether to take into Apple store to see if they can fix it, or just buy another one. Its 5 years old now. Not sure I don't have something on this one I cannot access or recreate though....
Problem booting up with 10.6.8 and imac 10,1
