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.
my 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.
My macbook pro, upon start-up, shows the apple logo for a short amount of time then either a prohibited sign or a folder with a question mark gets shown and the computer does not start-up. I have re-installed the OS but it did not seem to work. Any ideas?
disk utility is unable to repair the "Macintosh HD" disk. Re-installing mountain lion is not an option due to the computer's inability to detect the HDD disk. How do I differentiate between a corrupted (dead) hard drive or a broken SATA cable (in which acts as a medium)?
Just came back from the Genius Bar at Apple Amsterdam. Both iTunes and iPhoto had problems launching and libraries were not loading. Ruled out hardware problems so they tried installing OS Snow Leopard over my 10.5.8 in a way to keep my documents safe. All went well until halfway it said it couldn't install succesfully. Made a new appointment for in 3 days from now. They would then overwrite the current OS with the new one so i should go home and make sure to back up all my files in the meantime. Problem is that when i came home and started my laptop i got a blank/white screen with a blinking documents folder symbol with a question mark in it! Does anybody know what it means and will i be able to ever make a back up of my documents?
When i turned on my iMac I was surprised to see a folder icon blinking as it was running fine before this. I didn't delete or install anything.
My DVD drive does not read properly so i am unable to boot from the installation disk, tried to boot using BootCD from Charles Soft that didnt work either. Even tried resetting PRAM/NVRAM, unplugged keyboard and LAN cable as well but still no luck.
Read many articles online regarding this issue and it seems that my hard disk must have crashed. I don't have backup of any files.
Just rec'd a new(er) to me Mac Pro 1.1 w/no HD & possibly bad video card 8GB memory and very dirty inside. To test this mac, I put in a new seagate barracuda SATA 1TB HD, hooked up display and tried to fire it up. Got to chime in and then the display showed a grey screen w/file folder with a question mark on it. Only had a mouse last night when trying this and my G5 has a bluetooth keyboard and the mac pro isn't bluetooth, so where do I go from here?
I'm thinking a wired keybrd would allow me to open drive bay to receive Leopard Install disc that I already own and proceed from there? I figure, once I can get this up and running and know there is no problems, I'll dismantel and clean. Also all 8 GB memory was installed on the top riser card? I reset the memory banks to 2 on the top card and 2 on the bottom card as this is what the downloaded manual shows, am I reading that right?
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.
A few day ago I startup up my iMac and only a folder with a question mark was shown in the screen.
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.
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...
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.
What I should do ? Is there any 3rd party tools that I can try do use to solve this issue ?
PS: when the iMac started up with no problems I run disk utility and made a repair disk to the mac HD...
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
My 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.
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?
My macbook is about two years old and recently have encountered problems. When I turn on the computer all I see is a blinking folder and question mark. I have tried putting in the install cd but it does not work. I try to reinstall mac os x but it tells me it could not be done. I have tried repairing the disk and numerous other things. I did not have anything truly important on the computer so I am not worried if I lose it.
I replaced the HD on my macbook, and when I tried to start it up to install the OS, the question mark folder appears. I pressed the "C" key when I restarted and that did not work. I also pressed the option key and nothing. I just need to install the OS on my new HD.
My MBP (mid 09) is showing a folder with a flashing question mark. I tried the usual things like PRAM Reset and booting with a external drive. I also changed the hard drive and could use it as a external drive on an other Mac - so this seems to work. Another drive could not be used too. The Apple Hardware Test does not work - my Super-drive is broken.
On Saturday afternoon April 7th I was at the Apple Store and they ran a diagnostic on my Black Mac Book. All things checked out with green check marks. I was a happy person. Well, yesterday, at start-up, a strange gray folder with a question mark appeared.
Yesterday when I open my computer it was frozen. After rebooting it a folder with a question mark came up. After I tried to reinstall the original software (10.4). The computer came up with a message saying that the software cannot be reinstalled. The computer also heats up and I can always hear the fan on high whenever it is on.
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
My wifes mac book worked fine yesterday and earlier today. During her last session (probably surfing the net) mac locked up. She attempted to restart it and now she has a flashing folder with a question mark. Of course the HD is full of info, pictures etc.
I have a problem at the start up of the Macbook. It shows a flashing folder with a question mark. I don't have the installation disk that came with it. It was running Leopard OS X 10.5.8. If I buy Snow Leopard OS X 10.6, will it work?
i have an early 2011 macbook pro 2.7 i7 i have a folder with question mark flashing, i have replaced hard drive and also hard drive cable but can't see the hard drive, if iuse the old hard drive from usb the mac boots up, re fitting the old hard drive still does not show,