OS X :: Flashing Mac Folder With Question Mark
Mar 4, 2009
I recently purchased a Quicksilver machine from the original buyer. It came equipped with Panther. After getting it online I contracted a virus (should have loaded an antivirus program first). So I did a hard shutdown, since I couldn't close anything. When I restarted I went to options and made a bonehead move in selecting something that doesn't let me restart any farther than a "flashing folder with a Mac icon and question mark on it. How to rectify this?
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Jun 3, 2009
I am getting the flashing mac folder with the question mark when trying to boot up. It started the reboot after I (unsuccessfully) tried to remove iTunes 8.2 so I could go back to 8.1. I was following some instructions from another site, but interpreted the code to be segmented and not to be entered as one large command. So I entered this into terminal while iTunes was still running. "sudo rm -rf /Applications/iTunes.app /System/Library". I think the system was hanging, so rebooted the computer and that's when this started. I can't enter single user mode, diskwarrior has rebuilt the directory successfully, but no luck. I'm on a 12" Powerbook 1.5GHz with 1.25 GB RAM, Leopard 10.5.7.
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Nov 2, 2009
Basically, I hadn't used my MBP in a couple of days and it was sitting there in sleep mode and I thought nothing was wrong but I came to use it today and it had frozen so I restarted it only to have a flashing folder with a question mark appear.
I Googled around a bit and I thought that a quick repair disk in Disk Utility would fix it as it has for others but when I tried that I get this error:
Code:
Invalid B-tree node size.
Volume check failed.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.
This is a mid '09 Macbook Pro (specs in sig) so something going wrong with it was the last thing I expected, especially the hard drive.
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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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Nov 15, 2010
So I went to sleep and my computer was just fine, just sitting there being normal as normal gets. I wake up and the cursor is beachballing, no response from anything, holding power button doesn't do anything, so I unplug it. Now when I turn it on it goes to the gray screen with a folder with a question mark blinking. Google told me that this means it can not find the startup disk, and my hard drive is probably toast. Upon advice of forums I grabbed my snow leopard install disk and am going to attempt a boot from disc after work today. If this does not work is it safe to assume I need to replace the hard drive? Computer is out of apple care so this will be a DIY operation.
Computer: 24" iMac, 2.8GHz core 2 duo, 4gb RAM.
Questions:
- What risks are involved with taking apart the iMac? What tools would I need?
- After I install a new hardrive, is it as simple as simply popping Snow Leopard into the disc drive and going from there?
- While I have it open, does anyone know if this model iMac has room for more RAM?
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Dec 20, 2008
So for the first time ever I power on my iMac and get a flashing folder indicating the system cannot find the boot disk. I reset it a few times and it eventually boots up. A few days later the same thing happens only this time I can't get it to boot up after many attempts.
I try all the usual suspects, reset PRAM, attempt to select boot device (can't find any) Finally I boot from the install CD and when I get to select a destination volume for the OS there are no volumes to select.
I shut it off for a few days assuming I'd need to take it to an Apple store for some kind of repair or hdd swap. However it just started up tonight when I passed it and decided to hit the power button. Should I do anything to it while I have it running? Would a fresh OS install do anything for me? I have everything backed up with Time Machine.
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Jul 31, 2009
New 13" macbook pro. Unibody. This is my friends.
She received it yesterday and after an hour of use she rebooted and got the Flashing Question Mark Folder.
She then turned it over to me. I have tried:
-Resiting PRAM
-Using the OSX Disc Disk Utility (It does not see the hard drive at all)
-Starting into safe mode (failed)
-Booting to firmware (failed) (command option p f)
I think the hard drive has died, but I want to get your input on it.
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Oct 11, 2008
I got a hand me down iMac with both osx 9 and 10.4.11 on it. Tried to set up airport on it but it shows no airport at all in 10.4.11. So I went to start up disk to see if it was in on the 9 partion and everything I clicked on says missing something or other or not able to find so I thought well I would use disk utility and see what it could do for me it did it's thing and when done showed lots of problems so I clicked repair. When it was done it says everthing was repaired do you want to restart your computer? Clicked yes. Came back with a flashing finder folder with a ? mark! Problem is the computer has no disks that came with it so what if anything can I do? I also have a iPhone and now this is my only computer and I have no way to use iTunes for it.
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Apr 11, 2012
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.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2), MBP mid 09
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Jun 1, 2012
I have an error like a folder start to flash when i turned on my mac mini i just want to know what kind of error is that?
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Jun 15, 2012
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.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.6)
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Jun 30, 2012
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?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
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Aug 28, 2014
my files from the harddrive..flashing folder with question mark when i turn it on..what should i do to fix and recover my datas!
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Jun 17, 2014
i have an early 2011 macbook pro 2.7Â i7Â Â 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,
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Dec 3, 2014
Mac Pro 1.1, OS x 10.7 - installed storage hard drive in bay 2 now get flashing folder icon with ? mark
Info:
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), os on drive in bay 1
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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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Feb 25, 2009
about a week ago my hard drive died. i took it in to be diagnosed... I purchased a new 250GB hard drive and decided to install on my own. I followed the detailed instructions on [URL], it was a breeze... but, now the problem is installing OS X onto my laptop. I can't find the original start up disk for the iBook G4, so I tried using Mac OS X Tiger, V10.4. The installation DVD loads up fine, but when it arrives at the "Select a Destination" step no Icons appear on the screen... my new hard drive seems to be hidden.
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Sep 1, 2009
I 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.
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Feb 11, 2010
My MacBook was fine until it fell last night. It wasn't a big fall. It had actually been very close to the floor, but now when I try to start it a flashing folder with a question mark shows up. There is no clicking noise. It makes the sound like it is going to start. I started it up while holding the option key and Macintosh HD shows up with an arrow underneath it. However, when I click on the arrow, it freezes, eventually disappears and then the computer shuts down.
I am currently in Spain and my installation discs that came with my computer are back in the US. Is my best bet to have someone send me them or is that not even going to help? I also read a post that someone took out their hard drive, reseated it and then when they turned their computer back on everything was fine. Could this be a possibility? Would I need my installation discs after doing that?
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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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Mar 12, 2012
I have a macbook pro I bought last week I turn it on there is only a blue folder flashing with a ? in it.
Info:
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Mar 19, 2012
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.
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Mar 22, 2012
What do I do when there is a flashing folder with a question mark? What do I do?
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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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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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May 24, 2012
when i restarted my computer last night a white screen appeared with a flashing folder and a question mark. I'm just trying to determine what the issue is, is the hard drive shot? I've inserted my installation disc to re download the software but it will not recognize anywhere to download the software to...
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Jun 20, 2012
My macbook won't boot. A folder with a questionmark keeps flashing...What do I do, so I don't lose my documents?If I send it to reperation, will they see the last thing I did on it? Cause it was quite private...
Info:
MacBook Pro, MacOS X (10.5)
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Jun 3, 2014
IÂ don't know which mac as used to be my friends. How do I get rid of it?
Info:
MacBook
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Sep 7, 2010
I dropped my MacBook from a fairly low height the other day. Now when it boots up, the Flashing Folder-? Icon pops up. bummer. I've read around and tried everything I can find to try. I've read over posts such as: [URL]. Nothing works. My only problem is that I can't get it to boot the DVD startup disk at all. Everything I try ends with the disk being kicked out of the drive, or spinning for a while and then doing nothing.
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Sep 22, 2010
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.
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