MacBook Pro :: Gray Screen On Startup With Question Mark Folder
May 7, 2012
I recently upgraded to Lion on my MacBook Pro but it didn't sit well with my compuer. It became sluggish and would take forever to load applications, pictures, music, movies, etc that only took SL a few seconds at most. I decided to downgrade back to SL so I put in my Install DVD (version 10.6.6) and tried to format the hard drive so I could start new. However it would not work with the CD, so I continued looking around online and I came under the impression that if you erase the hard drive it will allow you to start new (in my case, with SL). However now I get a gray screen with a folder with a question mark.
I do not have my files backed up through Time Machine.
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Sep 11, 2014
on startup, macbook pro showed flashing gray folder with question mark, but no startup. After several retries, now shows circle with diagonal diameter, and still no startup. worked fine yesterday.
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Sep 22, 2009
I am currently getting a gray screen with a folder and question mark. I have tried resetting the PRAM and when I hold down the option key, no drives show up at all. I also can't boot into OS X in safe mode. I don't hear a clicking noise that you usually get from dead hard drives.
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Aug 7, 2009
How hard is it to replace the hard drive? I have a disaster recovery company step up to get all my info off of it if they can. But I really don't want to spend the money to have someone pull out the HD and put a new one in if I can do it myself. I have experience building pc towers but I haven't ever pulled apart an iMAC. Its an iMac 23(or 24) inch from Dec 2007 (I don't have the model info on hand as the box is in storage).
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Jun 17, 2012
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.
Info:
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Sep 3, 2014
Have tried different things that have been suggested....reboot PRAM holding down option command P R etc but nothing yet has worked. Don't have installation disk as MacBook is 9 years old so must've thrown disk out years ago.
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.4)
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Jul 2, 2009
I think the hard drive in my Macbook (2007 Model) has died. My macbook froze and when I restarted I can hear an usual clicking noise and I only get a white screen with a grey folder icon and white question mark inside. Fortunately, I use super dooper to create a bootable clone of my hard drive as a back up. When I attach this and hold down the apple key I boot straight into the clone and the computer runs fine from the external hard drive. If I go to disk utility my computer can not locate the internal hard drive, nor if I go t sysyem prefs-startup disk. Should I assume its dead or could it be a connection problem. I don't have applecare so I'm willing to buy a new hard drive and swap it myself. However, this is making the assumption the hard drive is the culprit. Can anyone else diagnose this problem from the desrcitpion before I shell out on a new hard drive?
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Feb 25, 2012
I have an issue with selecting (restart). If i choose restart after a software update, from the apple drop down, or when i select the drive in startup disk in preferences, it will boot into a gray screen with ? mark. if i choose (shut down) from apple drop down menu and then start up from the power button on the air, it boots up with no problem. I have checked with the SSD maker and i have the latest firmware I cannot use the old HD to see if it is a drive issue. Its dead.Â
Info:
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7)
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Sep 12, 2010
So I have a Black MacBook with 2gb of ram and a 160 gb hard drive. I have about 1gb left on my computer. The stuff I have that is taking up the space is all stuff that I need, I cant just dump it on to an external hard drive.
I have a problem where ocassionally I will start up my computer and instead of the apple logo showing up I see a folder with a question mark. I have to turn off the computer and let it sit and usually it will start up.
My question is, what is the cause of this problem, and what is the fix?
Is it the dangerously low amount of space?
If I upgrade the hard drive, will it fix it?
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May 8, 2012
I have a macbook a1181 that I bought used that I believe has a failed hard drive. I get the question mark folder on startup and the clicking noise. Drive doesn't show up in the utility and osx 10.4.1 says cannot install on machine. Tried all options I could find online for the question mark folder. Thought I would try to format and reinstall osx 10.4.1 (grey) that I got with laptop but it says I cannot. I'm wondering if anyone has other ideas or if I just need to buy a new drive and a new copy of the os. And if so is there a recommend drive and os I should consider?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.10), Black Intel machine
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Jun 18, 2007
well i just got back from vacation and I tried turning on my macbook, but it wouldn't startup. it made a clicking noise and all that appeared was a white screen and a folder with a flashing question mark inside it. I then put in the apple disk it came with and went to 'disk utility,' but it wasn't able to find my hard drive. Is there any way of retrieving the data on my hard drive, or even better, fixing my macbook? luckily, for me, my warranty just expired while I was on vacation, and I'm not able to talk to apple customer service without paying 50 bucks.
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Oct 17, 2009
I was with the messenger Adium on, when I left, then I came back and the keyboard was blocked, the sentences wouldn't come up when I tried to type so I decided to reboot the laptop. when it restarted the grey screen showed up as usual but instead of appearing the apple and then the desktop, there was a folder with a question mark in it instead. I put my ear on the keyboard because I could hear there was a lot of noise coming from inside which makes me think it's not something related with the software or weird downloads' stuff.
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Jul 14, 2010
I've had my mac for about a year after someone gave it to me. I think it's pretty old, I'd say about 5 years maybe. Its using snow leopard right now. I was on safari yesterday and once I opened my email the computer froze. Mouse and everything. So I held the power button down to turn it off and when I turned it back on there was a flashing folder with a ? on it. I looked this up on google but every thing I found told me to put a disk in the computer. I can't do this because I don't have the disk and the disk drive is broken anyway.
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Apr 16, 2012
I turned on my computer this morning (it has been working fine until then) and a flashing folder with a "?" appears. White screen. I don't know what to do, I held the Alt key at startup and that just gets me to a gray screen with my mouse.Â
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Aug 31, 2014
Macbook air just show "?" in a folder when I try to turn on computer.Â
Info:
MacBook Air, iOS 7.1.2
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Nov 12, 2009
I got a 3 year old white macbook. I was surfing the net when suddenly it turned off. On restart, I got the grey screen for a while, the a picture of a file with a question mark in it, waited for ten minutes, still the file. I have done the following:
1.- Reset the PRAM: I use the combination of keys, and it reboots, but on rebboting it goes back to the picture of the file.
2.- Use the option key on startup: I get a grey screen with the curso on it, which I can move with my mouse, but no buttons to click or nothing.
3.- Use the X key: as if doing nothing
4.- Resseting the SMC: as if doing nothing
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Oct 24, 2010
I have my mac pro finder screen it has a question mark in the gray bar I can't get rid of it.
I created the problem by downloaded a few hundred screen saver photos. they were a mess.
after weeks of deleting cloning and fixing files. I had everything removed except on the finder bar a little Flag of Israel . I managed to get rid of the little flag but now have a question mark instead. If I click on the mark it says the item can not be found.
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Jun 4, 2014
When I start up theres a ? Mark on screen
Info:
MacBook, iOS 6.1.3
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Sep 10, 2014
Last week when starting my Mac Book Pro I was faced with a gray screen. On start up the it won't boot fully. Turn onGray Screen with apple logo - loading bar and wheelOnce fully loaded it turns itself off..I have tried control R to do a reinstall of the OS, however it won't let me complete it saying Apple account does not match (yet there is no login for this).
Info:
Mac Pro
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Apr 20, 2009
I was using my computer normally, it started to move slowly, so I properly shut it down. After leaving it off for a few minutes, I started it up again. However, every time I press the power button, it comes on and there is just a blank gray screen. No folder with a question mark on it, just a blank gray screen.
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Jan 2, 2010
I have a 13" Macbook that I bought when they first came out and upgraded to OSX a couple years ago. It's been running fine until a couple days ago when I turned it on and it was displaying a folder with a flashing question mark. I immediately went online to get suggestions for rememdies, but so far none of them seem to be working. When I insert the installation disc it gets recognized, but pretty much all options for reinstalling are grayed out. I hooked up my external hard drive that has my backups on it, but don't know what to do from there. Like many people, I haven't backed up my files for a few months, and there are docs in there that I'd prefer not to have to lose. I've noted that this seems to be a rather common problem.
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Apr 30, 2012
have a folder with a question mark on startup? What do I do?
Info:
iMac, Mac OSX (10.2.x) , Folder with question mark at start
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May 15, 2012
When my wife starts her iMac the screen stays gray and in the center of the screen is a folder with a question mark. I am not sure how to get it running.
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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May 15, 2009
So my girl friend was using my IBook G3 and shut it down normally she says. We then went to turn it on and we will hear the chime but then it will get stuck on that first gray screen, nothing else comes up, no spinning no nothing. Hard drive is not making any different noise, I just don't know whats up.
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May 7, 2012
I still have the appearance of the gray screen after performing all the solutions provided by apple support. What shall I do now?
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Sep 30, 2007
My computger shows the flashing question mark in a folder icon upon booting just after the chime. I've been reading up all about it and am pretty clear about what actions I should take.
The very first direction that all instructions give me is to insert the Startup CD, shut down, and then restart holding down the 'C' key. The problem I'm encountering is that a little while after starting up, the computer ejects the CD, and then goes onto show the flashing question mark again. I'm pretty sure i'm inserting the correct CD as it does itself have the directions to hold down 'C' for booting from CD printed on it. I've tried the other CD which came with my MacBook too, but the same result.
I've booked a slot with a Genius on Tuesday, but does anyone have any suggestions as to why it would be ejecting the CD?
p.s I've also tried to boot in target disk mode, and although the attached PowerBook sees the harddrive in disk utility, the repair utilities are greyed out, and it doesn't see it in finder so can't access the contents.
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Apr 15, 2012
Getting the Flashing Question Mark Folder on start-up. What to do?
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
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Sep 1, 2014
iMac start up... Why my imac start with question mark sign on gray screen
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Feb 16, 2008
I just installed a new hard drive in my mac ibook g4 - but when I turn it on I still get the blinking folder with a question mark.
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Apr 9, 2012
I'm getting a blinking folder with a question mark on startup. What is it?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.7)
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