Hi Artie: I looked up the second link Dianne gave me and it contained this sentence. (See words in parentheses.) What do you think?
Rita
"Disk Utility cannot repair the directory structure of the active startup disk but in Mac OS X 10.4 or newer it can verify the active startup disk. To repair an OS X system disk with Disk Utility, you must startup the computer using an Apple Software Restore disc (included with newer Macs) or a Mac OS X Install disk (must be the same version). Insert the disc, restart the computer, and hold the C key when you hear the startup sound. You can release the key when the gray Apple appears.
Hi, Rita,
"
(M)ust be the same version" means that if you're using a
retail install disc (rather than the
restore disc that shipped with your Mac) it must install
at least the same version of OS X as does your restore disc, because, almost invariably, Macs cannot boot from discs that install an earlier version of OS X than that with which they shipped.
(Note that
"live verification," the subject of your quoted paragraph, is unreliable at best and should only be used if you haven't got either a restore or install disc to boot from.)
Sorry to have started off your year with extra work, Rita, but what you reported was so unlikely that it demanded investigation, and, indeed, your posted screenshot showed precisely what I expected it to show...that, as both Jon and tacit pointed out, you had gone past the point at which you could have accessed Disk Utility and begun an installation.
