After installing brand new Macbook hard drive, boot to disk shows a flashing folder with a question mark

I had to install a new hard drive for my macbook after my last one had obviously crashed and was making clicking noises. The problem is I can't install OSX on my new one and I'm getting extremely frustrated. What could be going wrong? I've reset PRAM and done everything I could find suggested online.

Have you tried inserting the Snow Leopard Install disc and using Startup Manager to select the Snow Leopard disc as the startup disk? Once you get started up from the Snow Leopard Install disc, the rest of the instructions can be found in the manual for your MacBook Pro. Here are the ones for mine:
Installing Mac OS X and Applications — New Hard Drive
from http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf
To install Mac OS X and the applications that came with your computer, follow these steps:
1.          Start up from the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 that came with your computer, and choose your language.
2.          From the menu bar, choose Utilities > Disk Utility.
3.          Open Disk Utility and select the new drive in the list to the left. Note: If you are formatting the primary drive, use the Disk Utility program on the Install disc.
4.          Click the Partition tab.
5.          Click on Options, and verify GUID is selected if this is the startup drive.
6.          Name the volume “Macintosh HD.”
7.          Apply the change by clicking the Partition button.
8.          At this point, either
•          Quit the Disk Utility application, and proceed with the Mac OS X installation. Follow the
onscreen instructions. After selecting the destination disk for installation, continue following the onscreen instructions. Your computer may restart and ask you to insert the next Mac OS X Install Disc 2.
or
•          Leave the Disk Utility application open, and restore the backed up files from the image
you created before removing the hard drive.
Installing Applications
To install just the applications that came with your computer, follow the steps below. Your computer must have Mac OS X already installed.
1.          Back up your essential files, if possible.
2.          Insert the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 that came with your computer.
3.          Double-click “Install Bundled Software Only.”
4.          Follow the onscreen instructions.
5.          After selecting the destination disk for installation, continue following the onscreen instructions. Your computer may restart and ask you to insert the next Mac OS X Install Disc 2
6.          Restore the data by reinstalling the backed up files from your backup to the new drive.

Similar Messages

  • On a macbook I purchased secondhand hard drive got corrupted and I started to get the flashing folder with the question mark, I purchased a new hard drive and snow lion install DVD I installed the hard drive and tried disc but kept getting blinking folder

    On a macbook I purchased secondhand hard drive got corrupted and I started to get the flashing folder with the question mark, I purchased a new hard drive and snow lion install DVD I installed the hard drive and tried disc but kept getting blinking folder

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're users here and do not speak for "Apple Inc."
    Power on the computer and insert the DVD immediately.
    Hold down the 'C' key to boot from the Snow Leopard DVD.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
    After selecting the appropriate language, if necessary, select Utilities, and Disk Utility.
    You'll likely need to partition and format the new drive before it's recognized.
    http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA161/en_US/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY .pdf
    (Yes, these instructions ARE 7 years old, but the procedure is the same for installing from DVD media.)

  • When i boot i get a flashing folder with a question mark. disk utility doesnt work or read my harddrives to boot with. i installed a new SSD and its not reading that either. i have a macbook pro 2011, any help?

    So I came to this problem a while ago. M ycomputer basically froze so I was forced to shut down by holding the button down. When I started it up I got the flashing folder with a question mark. I started it up holding down the command and r keys which brought me to disk utility. Although my computer doesn't read that I have a hard drive to start it up. When I click on the disk utility app, I cannot verify or repair anything either. The buttons won't allow me to click on them. It also shows "Mac OSX Base System" which shows I have files and what not saved. I had been told that I need a new hard drive so I bought and manually installed a OWC SSD 240GB drive and when i booted the computer up it booted up yo the operating system fine with all my files and what not on there. After about twenty minutes, it froze again. I forced a shut down, restarted and the same thing happened. I am not able to choose my SSD to boot up, although thats probably because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it??
    i have a Macbook Pro 13" 2011
    any help would be great, I'm overall confused.

    ryansaint11,
    this isn’t Apple support; this is a user-to-user forum. We’re just fellow users of Apple products here.
    If you want to boot from your SSD, then you should put the SSD where your HDD currently is, and put the HDD into the optical bay. (That setup will also get you the best performance.) At the moment, you’re still booting from your HDD. Note that you will need to format your SSD in Disk Utility [with the “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” format] so that you can install OS X onto it.
    Since you have an Early 2011 model, it might or might not have originally come with grey installation DVDs. You will be able to find out whether it did or not by trying to use OS X Internet Recovery to install OS X onto your SSD. If it does not work, or if the installed OS turns out to be Snow Leopard, then it will have originally come with the DVDs, and you should purchase a replacement pair of DVDs from Apple or iFixit; those discs will have your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test and its iLife apps. If the installed OS turns out to be Lion, then it will not originally have come with the grey installation DVDs, and your Apple Hardware Test will be installed along with Lion, and your iLife apps will be downloadable from the Mac App Store.

  • I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I got a new hard drive and upgraded to 4 gigs and can't open anything or reload the operating system? Help?

    I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I got a new hard drive and upgraded to 4 gigs and can't open anything or reload the operating system? Help? FYI: I have been using boot camp with windows 7 and started getting a kernal_data_Page_error and it would reboot windows, i was trying to do a chkdsk on the next reboot, but thats when i started getting this issue. I have put in a new hard drive and went from 2 gigs to 4. I can not get the computer to do anything, even the monitor does not show anything now????

    Prep your new drive:
    Drive Preparation
    1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs,) then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
    After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Install OS X.

  • My Macbook Air 2011 got a white screen and a folder with a question mark. I tried to press option+r and try to install the OS X Lion but it didn't show the disk Macintosh Hd

    My Macbook Air 2011 got a white screen and a folder with a question mark. I tried to press option+r and try to install the OS X Lion but it didn't show the disk Macintosh Hd

    You are using Snow Leopard so you have no OPTION+R shortcut. You need to boot the computer from your Snow Leopard DVD or USB flash drive.
    Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
    1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
    If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed with reinstalling OS X.  Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files.  After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
    Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

  • What does it mean when i have a flashing folder with a question mark in it when i try to boot up?

    what does it mean when I have a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle of it when I try to boot the interface?

    It means the system cannot find a bootable OS. Reinstall OS X.
    How to Perform an Archive and Install
    An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
    1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
    Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
    3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
    4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
    5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
    6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

  • My new mac mini (3 month) didn't start up,all that appeared was a white screen and a flashing folder with a question mark inside it.

    My new Mac mini (3 month) didn't start up, all that appeared was a white screen and a flashing folder with a question mark inside it.
    I followed by recommendations from 'Everything Mac': "shut it down by pressing and holding the power button for about 5 seconds.
    Then hold down the Option key and press the power button again to start up the Mac mini. Keep holding down the Option key until
    the Mac mini starts up."
    But I got a Wi-Fi button only to chose and connect the local network. I connected to my network and I can't use this connection
    becouse no icons.
    Could you please help me?

    Your Mini (running 10.6.4) should have come with grey-colored install disks. Now is the time to put them into service. Turn on your computer so that there is power to accept disk #1 into the optical drive. Once  the disk is in the drive, shut off the computer by holding the start button down until it powers off. Then turn it on this time holding down the "C" key to make the computer boot from the disk. The question mark that you saw indicates that the computer cannot find a bootable volume. This can happen due to corrupted system files or an improper shutdown etc. Once you are in the "Installer" you can choose Disk Utility from the Utilities Menu in the menu bar. Use it to repair the disk and to see if that can solve your trouble.  

  • Booting from the disk...Flashing folder with a ? mark

    I just used my Macbook Pro yesterday with no issues but today when I turned it on I got the Flashing folder with a question mark on it. I did search the forums and found out what it meant. I have tried a number of things to get my MBP to boot up and nothing is working so far. I was wondering if I should try to insert the disk that came with my laptop to see if that will work. I have an older MBP still running Leopard.

    DVX100Shooter,
    boot your MacBook Pro from its grey Mac OS X Install DVD by holding down the C key as it starts up. When the desktop appears, select Utilities from the menu bar, and from there run Disk Utility. On the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window, select your internal disk’s boot partition (typically called “Macintosh HD”). On the right-hand side, press the Verify Disk button if it’s not greyed out; if it is greyed out, or if it reports that errors were found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu to restart in normal mode. Does it let you get to your login screen now?

  • Lousy 'fan' noise after installing a new internal hard drive

    Hi,
    I installed a new internet hard drive to replace my corrupted hard drive. The new hard drive is WD 320GB. Somehow, i got it installed and work. I install leopard on it and it works well as far as this point. Now, I have a new problem. Before installing the hard drive, my iMac run very quiet. Now, as soon as I turn on my iMac, i can hear a very noisy and loud 'fan' sound. I do not know if it is hard drive spinning or one of the fan. I do not notice any weird sound except it definitely a very loud spinning fan sound. I do not have Apple Care or warranty with Apple. Any suggestion to isolate the problem pls ?
    I use iStat Pro and have the following info:
    - CPU fan : 800-900 rpm
    - CPU and GPU temp : 40 - 60 C degree
    - Hard drive fan : 5000 rpm
    Another question is : when i take my old hard drive, i noticed it has 1 power cable, 1 SATA cable and 1 small cable with connect some kind of chip on my motherboard to a small chip on the right hand side of hard drive. It appears to me that Apple attached a small chip on the side of hard drive. And i do not know where to connect that wire to my new hard drive. So i just left it un-connected. Thought, i connect power cable and the SATA cable. Any idea what that wire used for ?
    Thanks
    Message was edited by: DeathNote

    Hi Dennis,
    Thank for informing me the heat sensor. Basically, i can take the heat sensor out from my old internal hard drive and stick it on the new drive ? If so, how do i do it ? can i use any glue to stick heat sensor on new drive ?
    Also, I just figure something. I opened the front cover, then run iMac. I noticed the noisy sound, i thought it might be the fan or the hard drive. So , i disconnect the fan power cable and restart the computer. Now, it runs very quitely. I can not hear anything noise as all. No thing. So i assume that the hard drive is not the problem. As soon as i plug back the power cable for the fan. The noise come back.
    Is there a software to control the speed of the fan ? Using Istat, i have the following info :
    - CPU : 42 C degree
    - HD : 29 C degree
    - GPU : 43 C degree
    - Ambient : 22 C degree
    - mem controller : 37 C degree
    - CPU fan : 860 rpm
    - HD fan : 5000 rpm
    - Optical fan : 800 rpm
    Thank you .
    p/s: inside my iMac is different than in the picture.

  • When I boot up my I get a grey screen with a flashing folder with a question mark

    I was trying to set up a bootable Linux flash drive for another computer using UNetbootin and I accidentally selected an empty partition on my hard drive instead of the USB I was trying to use. It went through the install process, and I didn't realize it was on my computer rather than the USB. The computer worked fine, so I thought nothing of it.
    Today, I go to mess with my computer and it is frozen at the login screen. I restart it, and now I just get a blinking folder with a question mark. I try to go into recovery, but it isn't there. Internet Recovery works fine, but when I go to use Disk Utility or to reinstall the OS it cannot find the internal Hard Disk.
    What am I supposed to do here? I don't want to lose all my data.

    greenbil1
    You can contact AppleCare to buy a replacement set of the oringinal Install discs for a nominal cost. You will need the serial number and a credit card to place the order.

  • I have a problem with lion.  My MacBook pro froze and now I get a gray folder with a question mark.

    I recently upgraded to lion but my screen just froze. I had to shut it down by holding the power button down. Every time I tried to start it again I got a grey folder with a question mark and couldn't do a thing. I' ve been told to restore snow leopard but I dont want to loose my files or email. What can I do?

    Boot from your recovery partition. Check and if necessary repair your startup volume with Disk Utility. You may need to reinstall Lion.
    OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery

  • Boot problem: sometimes I get a folder with a question mark at start up

    I am having a problem lately which I think might be hardware related. I get a question mark in a folder icon on start-up This happens randomly. In most occasions it occurs when I do a cold boot (so the system has been off for a while). As soon as I switch it off and switch it on again, my Mac Pro starts fine. The hard-drive is "verified" in the disk utility and I tried to fix/repair permissions. I also cleared the PRAM, did a firmware reset (option key on startup) and repair disk using the installation DVD. All these thing do not seem to work. I also had this issue sometimes in Tiger.
    I do not have a library/receipts folder as someone indicated. I am running 10.5.1
    I haven't had any other issues with Leopard so far.
    I am wondering if this issue might be hardware related. The S.M.A.R.T. status of my boot up disk is "verified" and I have no other issues in Leopard (no crashes/freezes). So if it is my hard-disk, why does this only occur at startup and not randomly when using other programs?
    Any suggestions? I have 3 year Applecare so if there are no solutions... I might use that.

    This may occur for several reasons. One may simply be that you need to set the startup volume in the Startup Disk preference - open Startup Disk, select your startup volume, click on the Restart button.
    However, more often this is indicative of a problem with one or more required system files for startup. If the problem is simply cache related then you may fix the problem by using a utility such as TinkerTool System or Leopard Cache Cleaner to clear out the system caches then do a restart. However, if you truly have a bad system file then only re-installing OS X is going to fix the problem. You may be able to do this by Archive and Install which doesn't require erasing the drive provided your drive is OK and you have adequate disk space.
    How to Perform an Archive and Install
    1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
    Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger, 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger, 4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
    3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
    4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
    5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
    6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

  • TS1440 When I start up, there is only the flashing folder with a question mark on it. When I tried to reinstall snow leopard, there is no hard disk to be found.

    After rebooting my computer, there is only the flashing folder with "?" on it. I tried several things like PRAM resetting and whatnot, but nothing worked. I then tried to reinstall Snow Leopard, but it appears there is no hard disc to be found to install it. I also wanted to repair the disk first but it wasn't present in disk utilities. Did I lose my hard drive, or is this still salvagable?

    That is evidence that your hard drive has failed and needs to be replaced.

  • My MacBook just has a white screen and a flashing file with a question mark. Please help:(

    I don't really understand what's happening, but I tried to update the software. Then all these codes appeared on the screen so I help down alt, command and R and it then reset and now it's just a white screen with a flashing file and questionmark. Please help.

    That is a sign that the MBA cannot locate the OSX.  The storage drive may be damaged.
    LaurenDavie123 wrote:
    I help down alt, command and R and it then reset a
    What exactly did your reset? 
    Ciao.

  • MacBook Pro gets a flashing folder with a question mark

    I start up my computer and I get this flashing folder with a question mark. I looked up on here how to fix it but I get lost when I get to the disk utility part. All that shows up is something called disk0 and below it it says Mac OS X Base System. I click on it but the repair disk button is greyed out. What do I do? Please help!

    The MBP cannot find the OSX.  It may be a HDD or HDD connection problem.
    Start your MBP with the OPTION key down.  Select the recovery partition.  From the 4 option menu select Disk Utility.
    Select Disk Utility>First Aid and run Verify and Repair.
    If successful, you should be back in business.  If not, the HDD may be faulty.
    Ciao.

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