Computers that won’t start and the need for many different OS CDs
Today I had another computer that would not boot. It gets as far as the gray Apple and gears spinning screen and hangs there. Normally, my “quick fix” solution is to boot it to CD and then run Disk Utilities. I even have a supply of system discs for each OS X version. Then I discovered that all the discs I had were for desktop machines and they would not work on a laptop.
Fortunately, I was able to boot the computer in Safe Mode (Shift/Power Button) and that cleared up the problem.
New item for my to-do list: get original CDs for all versions of laptops we use.
When I returned the laptop to it’s owner, I also gave them a hard copy of
http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/my_mac_wont_start.html
It’s a tiny booklet that has the basic troubleshooting steps in it.
