Help! My Mac won't start!
This month we'll have look at some basic checks you can do if your Mac just plain won't start.
Pretty much the first thing your Mac will do when you press the on button is to check it's basic systems and if all is well it will start up with a chime. If your Mac wont even get this far then you may have some serious problems.
Firstly, it sounds stupid, but check the power lead, they do come loose. Pull it out and push it firmly back in. You should here a small clicking noise as the power supply in your mac earths (desktop macs only). If you dont hear this you should suspect that your power unit has failed.
If your Mac chimes but does nothing else you should try to star it using the DVD or CD that came with it. Restart the Mac with the system DVD or CD in and hold the c key down on the keyboard. Your mac should start and and run from the system on the disc and display the installer screen. On the top menu bar you will find the menu to launch Disc Utilities. Disc utilities will allow you to perform some basic health checks on your Mac including checking if your hard disc is OK and if your system permissions are fine.
If your mac wont start from the system disc you can try starting it again and using the supplied hardware diagnostics. Restart your Mac with the disc still in the drive but this time hold the d key down. Once the diagnostic tool has started you will be able to check your Mac's hardware in more detail. Sadly any faults you find will probably not be repairable by you as a user, but at least you will know what is wrong.
Posted on 1st Feb 2008
Next month: Things to check if your Mac starts but runs erratically or crashes regularly.
