I had this previously and did a complete erase and reinstall. This time I have reset my NPRAM and used disc utility, but no issues found. On console I have this message recurring  com.apple.launchd[1]         (com.apple.SystemStarter) Failed to count the number of files in "/System/Library/StartupItems": No such file or directory?
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
I have not been able to startup my iMac for 3 days. When I turn it on all I get it is a white screen. After about 10 minutes a folder with Question mark inside apears in the middle of the screen and it just stays like this. I unplugged everything from the computer except for the mouse and keyboard. I had this computer since 2008 and never had a problem until now.Please help
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IMAC 24 2.8, Mac OS X (10.5.2), 2 GB RAM
I can't start up my laptop, it has a flashing picture of a folder with a qustion mark inside,
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Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
I have a lamp style iMac and when I boot it up I get the flashing folder from the mac face to the question mark. I booted it up with the OS X DVD, but a padlock comes up. I have never set a password for this computer, except to login, and that password isn't working. Is there a way around this? I've tried everything I can think of.
View 8 Replies View RelatedI have a 13" unibody MacBook running 10.5.8
When I start it up I get the Apple "chime" then the flashing folder with a question mark. Have tried all the standard procedures, ie. reset PRam, try to reboot i safe mode, single use mode etc... to no avail.
I can reboot from the install drive.
When I go to disk utilities my System Hard Drive shows up, passes Repair Disk Permissions as well as Repair Disk.
I can even go into Images>Scan Image for Restore and see all the files on my HD are still there - Documents, Photos, Apps, Desktop, Music. It shows how many folders and files there are. I can aslo go into System Profiler from the startup disk and the HD structure seems fine. So, I don't believe I have a catastrophic HD failure, but something else with hardware etc... Is there a ROM chip on a Mac that holds boot info similar to a Windows machine that has a BIOS chip? IF so, has anyone heard of these going bad?
I am not a hardware guru, but it seems it is not reading the startup files. So, I reinstalled the system using Archive my data and it still will not boot. I really need to save the data off this HD. It is under warranty.
Today my I had used my macbook like normal and all of the sudden it was frozen for an extended period of time and would not respond so I had to hit the power button. When I turned it back on a folder with a question mark flashed on the screen. I did some troubleshooting and tried "safe booting" but it took forever and it didn't fix anything. I don't have my original installation DVD because I am a college student at home for spring break and it is at my house back at school.
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MacBook Pro
my macbook won't start, instead a picture of a file folder with a ? on it keeps flashing
View 2 Replies View Relatedmy Macbook wont start-up. When I switch it on it comes up with a flashing folder with a question mark in. I have been advised to start from my Mac OS X installation disk.
However, the website says "Insert your Mac OS X installation disc (if you have discs with both versions, use whichever is closest to the Mac OS X version installed on your Mac; do not use a startup disc which came with a different Mac or which contains an earlier version of Mac OS X)."
My original installation disks are Mac OS X 10.4. But I have been upgrading my system. My last upgrade was to Mac OS X 10.6.
Which disk do I use? Do I use the 10.6, as this is the one with the current operating system or do I use 10.4 as this was the original disk that was bought with the macbook.
I replaced my hard drive after it crashed. I formatted the new drive and installed mavericks from a bootable flash drive. I first tried installing lion over the internet, it took over 40 hours to load on an ethernet cable and quit when it was 98% done saying it could not download additional components. I then tried the flash drive thing, which was just as painful as a process. It would not install on my hard drive, saying the partition was damaged and needed to be repaired, however disk utility could not repair it.
I recreated the partition about 50 times and it never worked. Then I erased the hard drive and started over, and mavericks was able to install. I used my computer for about an hour, setting everything up and what not. I then opened my computer for the first time since, and nothing would work. It wouldn't even restart or shut down. So I forced the power off and when I turned it back on I saw the flashing file with a question mark again.
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MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)
Saturday, my Macbook was working ok and I left it for a few minutes. When I returned, it instructed me to press and hold the power button to restart it. I did, but the only thing that came up (and still does) is the gray folder with a ? flashing. I took it to the Apple store and they said the hard drive was dead and wanted to sell me another hard drive. A different computer repair person (not at Apple) told me that he could re-install the operating system but that all the files would have to be wiped from the hard drive.. Now, I'm just a bit confused and think this hard drive might be salvagable. The Apple store said the hard drive is not even visible with the test they ran. However, Apple.com gives me an option to insert the installation disc and try rebooting. I bought this remanufactured and it did not come with a disc. I do NOT have those discs.Â
Question: is there anything that I can do to recover the hard drive, or, at least, the files I stored there? I just restarted it, held down Cntrl C and the screen is gray with no flashing ?.Â
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MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
My computer seemed locked up, nothing would open. I had to force quiy everthing. I tried to normally shut it down and it wouldnt shut down. I held the on off power switch. When I tried to turn it back on It stays tuck on the white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it . Has my hard drive gone bad?Â
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iMac (24-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Getting the Flashing Question Mark Folder on start-up. What to do?
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
We did the most recent update that Apple produced and our iMac has yet to turn back on properly. We get a white screen with a flashing grey folder that has a question mark on it..
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
I sometimes receive a flashing folder with a question mark when I reboot. If I wait a little while and reboot again, my IMac will reboot successfully. My instincts tell me that my hard drive may be failing.
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
During turn on monitor displays a flashing file folder with a question mark
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.0.x)
I just bought a new iMac. I have been trying all week (with no success) to transfer files and apps from my previous iMac. The last time I tried to transfer, I used target mode on the old computer. It looked as if it was finally working, so I left with 2+ hours remaining on the transfer. When I returned, the computer was frozen and nothing would work. So I held the power button to turn it off. When I tried to turn it back on, there was only a gray screen with a flashing folder with a question mark. I feel like I have tried everything listed in other discussions. The only thing I am not able to try is to reinstall Lion because the new computer did NOT come with an OSX disc of any type.
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iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
My imac from 2009 won't boot up. It just keeps flashing a grey file folder with a question mark. Of course now I do not know where my start up cd is.....is there anything that I can do???
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iMac
My iMac at start up has a blinking folder with a question mark on it. Iv done the option, command, p,r 2xs but it doesn't fix it.  Also I lost the loud up disc to reset the computer altogether.
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iMac
A few day ago I startup up my iMac and only a folder with a question mark was shown in the screen.Â
I boot from the Lion DVD, run disk utility but the only drive I get was the DVD and disk1/Mac OS X Base System.Â
I turned off the computer and next morning I turned on agian and this time with no problems, I use it for a few days with no problems but yesterday it happens again...Â
I do run disk utility again onlu turn it off, and this morning I tried to turn it on again, but the same foder appears...I run disk utility (get the DVD and disk1) and turn it off for a few hours.Â
What I should do ? Is there any 3rd party tools that I can try do use to solve this issue ? Â
PS: when the iMac started up with no problems I run disk utility and made a repair disk to the mac HD...
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
I'm having the same problem, which I start-up my mac with the flashing question mark, but when I open the disk utility I don't have the Mac OS disk. I've only dvd-rom and "media" to choose. What can I do..
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.3)
Today I turned on my Macbook Pro and all that was displayed what a flashing question mark, what does it mean?
View 2 Replies View RelatedAfter trying to fix the flashing question mark folder problem, I took my iMac to the Apple store and, naturally and a little embarrassingly, the iMac booted up just fine and everything seem to be intact.However, when I brought it home it reverted but to same problem i.e. question mark in flashing folder. I read and tried most suggestions I could find but still cannot get the iMac to startup. I tried holding down the "C" key, then the Option key, then PRAMed it and even attached the separate back up disk I use as a Time Machine for my new iMac. IThe problem Mac is a 2008 iMac though I don't exactly know which OS came with it, in any case, I cannot find the original disk. The iMac is networked with my latest iMac.
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iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)
I have a Mac Pro dual quad 3 ghz and had it for almost 2 years with no problems. Today when I went to work on it, it had a grey screen with the flashing apple folder question mark appear. I've tried everything, from Pram reset, to rebooting from Snow Leopard install disc but it just wont recognise the main HD. Is there anything else you can recommend me doing? Is my HD dead?
If I was to reinstall the OS from Snow leopard will I lose all the information I had on my HD. Is there a way to save some of the files?
Oh gawd I hope this is not the end of my HD as I had some files I forgot to backup lately
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Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6)
It appears that our iMac has died!! The first two options haven't revived it so the next option is using the installation disk but I'm concerned about loosing all our files on the computer. How can we save and hopefully retrieve our files? Will we need to take it into Apple?
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iMac
I tried holding the option key for 20 sec during startup then i got a blank grey screen with no flashing question mark but still cant get my laptop startup..
Info:MacBookPro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
i just move to dominican republic and here you guys dont have apple store i have macbook pro and A flashing question mark appears when start my Mac i have lion cd and everything is any way i can do to fix my computer
Info:Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
I have tried to repair the disk using disk utility but I am getting Filesystem verify or repair failed message. When trying to reinstall OS X, my hard drive never shows up. I cannot boot in safe mode.
This all happened after I came back from a week vacation. I shut the computer down before I left and when I came back, I got the flashing folder with the ? mark in it.
i have recently bought a macbook white late 2009 from amazon,the macbook came without a hardrive and when i bought one all that came up is a flashing folder with a '?' following the guides online i bought a mac osx snow leopard disc to try and fix the problem but when i insert the disk on a reboot it just ejects, iv tried holding c on the reeboot but it still does the same thing,
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MacBook
I have an iMac G5 iSight. When the power button is pressed there is no sound and a white light flashes, but nothing else happens. I tried the power reset method and replaced the power supply, but the same thing happens. The white light just keeps flashing.
View 6 Replies View RelatedMy computer started getting really slow all of the time and then it froze with the spinning rainbow. Normally if I simply press and hold the power button to restart it, the computer is fine. This time when I turned t back of I got a grey screen with the flashing question mark.
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MacBook
