When you start up your Mac, OS X will display a progress indicator on a background with an Apple symbol, right before loading the OS X interface. In versions of OS X prior to Yosemite this was a spinning wheel, and in Yosemite it is an iOS-like progress bar. This indicator should only display for a few moments before you see your login screen; however, if something goes wrong during startup then you might see your Mac pause either for a long time or indefinitely at this loading point. Continue reading →