Why won't my iMac boot past the white screen / Apple logo?

[iMore Question]

iMac will not boot past white screen / Apple logo

Mid 2010 27" iMac had what I assumed to be a failed hard drive. It would not boot or recognize the hard drive. I replaced the hard drive. Tried to boot it up again, but nothing has changed. I hit the power button, hear the chimes, see the Apple logo and nothing after that. I have tried booting with the option key held, click the install disc and it will go no further. Could someone please help?

 

[Just_Me_D]

Re: iMac will not boot past white screen / Apple logo

Did you format and prepare the drive for OS X installation? Is it set to boot to the correct drive?

 

[BryonG]

I am sorry to say that the hard drive was not formatted. I was hoping that the formatting of the hard drive would be done prior to the OS installation automatically. Obviously I was wrong. What steps would you recommend at this point?