At start up I get a white screen then eventually a blinking folder icon with a question mark in the middle

Help!  As of today, my iMac will not boot up.  When I turn it on I get a blank white screen then, after about a minute, a blinking folder icon with a question mark in the middle.

Find your original install disk, insert it and re-boot holding the "C" key during startup. It will take longer but should boot. Then you need to select Disk Utilityfrom the Menu Bar. Do a Repair Disk on your hard drive. When it finishes re-boot normally.

Similar Messages

  • I restarted my computer, but the screen only shows a flashing folder icon with a question mark. What to do?

    I restarted my computer, but the screen only shows a flashing folder icon with a question mark. What to do?

    It means that the system boot directory can't be found.
    See this support article for suggested actions
    Also see this discussion.

  • When I turn on my macbook pro, the white screen displays a file with a question mark in the middle. What does this mean?

    Suddenly, my macbook pro has experienced problems. When I turn on my computer, the white screen displays a flashing file folder icon with a quesrion mark in the middle. Has my hard drive burnt out? Thank you in advance for any helpful suggestions..

    It means your computer is search for a start up volume.  You need to reboot into recovery mode and attempt to repair your disk.  To do this restart the computer and hold the keys:
    <command> + r
    Then open Disk utility.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1417

  • On. Startup I get a flashing folder icon with a question mark

    My computer won,t start. After about 30 seconds I get a blinking folder icon with a question mark. I have never seen this before.

    There are four general causes of this issue:
    1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
    2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
    3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
    4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from its location.
    (101798)

  • MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    Read this article...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

  • Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?

    Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?Regards.

    That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the hard drive data is somehow corrupted.
    Put your install DVD into the drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the optical drive.
    Once it has finished booting and you are at the Install screen launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
    If it is then select the First Aid Tab run Repair Disk and if that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
    If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

  • My iMac has a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle.  What does that mean?

    My iMac is completely unresponsive.  Whenever I restart it, it's just a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle.  What does this mean?

    this means the mac cannot find the startup disc. which more times than not means you need a hdd replacement.
    try starting holding the option key, then using utilities try to repair the disc.

  • What does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?, what does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?

    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? 

    Reboot the computer holding the option key down, you will get a selection of your OS X internal boot drive or the perhaps the disk you stuck in.
    You can choose what you can boot into.
    If it's the hard drive and it's there, then select that and head to System Preferences and change the startup disk to the hard drive, you shoudl be fine.
    If only to disk, then select that and run Disk Utility > Repair, If your drive doesn't appear on the left, it's likely dead.
    Repair the drive and reboot holding the Shift key down, see if that fixes things some more and reboot again normally.
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

  • Anyone help mac book screen White with a question Mark in the middle of the screen .matthew

    Can anyone help my mac book screen has gone White with a question Mark in the middle of the screen .Matthew

    Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
    Do the following:
    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 the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

  • My computer suddenly refuse to start. When I turn it on it gives the startup sound but the screen is grey and after a while a little folder icon with a question mark inside turns up. It doesn't blink. What to do? Nothing happens if I try to start up from

    As I say my computer, a mac mini refuse to start. When I turn it on it gives the startup sound and the screen turns grey and stay that way for a long time. And in the end a small folder icon with a question mark inside (it doesn't blink) turns up in the middle of the screen.
    I have tried to start up from the installation CD holding down the C key on the keyboard. Same result. I have tried different key combinations while starting up. No result or rather same result. Nothing. Is the computer suddenly dead?
    I was about to buy a new computer but I need access to my data on this one (I write this on an iPad) but hven't yet found a way.
    Anybody have any good advice?
    I thought it was a software problem, that the computer couldn't find the startup software or something and maybe it is, but I am beginning to fear that it could be a hardware problem.

    You need to re install OSX. If you have the dmg file downloaded via torrentz this is how you can create a bootable external HD or Flash drive (8 GB+)
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/23957654#23957654
    Peace
    Harry

  • I just powered on my mac book pro and have a blue screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle, how do I get out of this?

    I just booted my mac book pro and it is at a blue screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle of it.  How do I get out of it?

    Click here and follow the instructions. If the computer was running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or earlier and you reach the third set of steps, insert a Mac OS X install disk.
    (126818)

  • HT4650 My computer turns to a white screen. In the center it blinks a suitcase with a question mark in the center. I can not access my desktop. Is this a malware virus?

    My computer turns to a white screen. In the center it blinks a suitcase with a question mark in the center. I can not access my desktop. Is this a malware virus?

    Hi, likely neither.
    What shows for boot choices if you hold alt or option key on startup?
    Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

  • 15" MacbWhite screen with a blinking file folder icon with a question mark on it.

    15" Macbook. When i power on all I get is white screen with a blinking file folder icon with a question mark on it.N

    You may have a bad hard drive.  The flashing folder with the ? indicates that the system cannot find your hard drive.  Use the installation disc that came with your machine.  Insert it into the disc drive and restart the machine holding down the "C" key .  When the restart shows the Apple screen you can release the C keyWhen the installation screen appears, click on the utilities button.  Does the left side of the disc utilities screen show your HD?  If not, then your HD is bad or it could be a loose connection. ifixit.com has a good tutorial on how to replace the HF in the Macbook.  Follow the instructions to remove your HD.  Reinstall your HD and boot up your machine to see if it recognizes your HD.  If it does't, you probably will need to replace your HD>
    Is your machine still under warranty?  If so, take it to your nearest Apple Store for repairs as the repairs will be covered under your warranty.  If you bought AppleCare when you bought your computer your warranty is for three years.  If you didn't buy the Apple Care, then your warranty is only good for one year from the date of purchase.

  • Sometimes when starting my iMac it shows a folder icon with a Question mark in it. Mac does not start up, only when shutting down and restart again solves it

    Sometimes when starting up my iMac it shows only a folder icon with a question mark in it. Nothing happened. Only when start up again it runs ok.
    What can be the cause of this.
    thanks for your help
    Hans

    That's an indication your Mac can't find a system folder to boot from.
    Open System Preferences > Startup Disk
    Select:  MacintoshHD OS X
    For OS X v10.4, v10.5, and v10.6 >    A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
    Helps when you ask for help to tell us which Mac OS X is installed.
    If you aren't certain, click your Apple menu icon top left in your screen. From the drop down menu click About This Mac.
    The version is noted there.

  • My MacBook Pro won't start - it just displays a grey screen with flashing icon of a folder with a question mark in the middle. Help.

    It started while I was using Adobe InDesign, and that program froze, then crashed. When I tried to reopen the program, the error message I received was simply "Error: 16".
    I tried to take a screen shot of the error message for reference, and it gave me a message saying I couldn't because I didn't have access to the files where it would normally store the shot.
    Attached to my computer at the time was my Seagate Free Agent Go-Flex for Mac backup drive.
    So, I closed any open applications, and restarted my computer. But it wouldn't restart. It only displays a grey screen with a flashing icon in the middle of a folder with a question mark on it.
    I have no idea what happened - I wasn't using the machine any differently than usual, and it only had a few basic applicaitons open in addition to InDesign (like Preview, Text Edit, Microsoft Word, iCal).
    I have MacKeeper on my MacBook, and I keep it clean.
    Does anyone out there know what this flashing icon indicates, and if there is anything I can try on my own to fix it?
    Thanks.

    ali har wrote:
    It started while I was using Adobe InDesign, and that program froze, then crashed. When I tried to reopen the program, the error message I received was simply "Error: 16".
    I tried to take a screen shot of the error message for reference, and it gave me a message saying I couldn't because I didn't have access to the files where it would normally store the shot.
    For the Error: 16
    http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/827/cpsid_82744.html
    Seems a uninstall and reinstall of CS is in order.
    Attached to my computer at the time was my Seagate Free Agent Go-Flex for Mac backup drive.
    May or may not be a contributing factor,  may have kicked in at a wrong time or running root code.
    So, I closed any open applications, and restarted my computer. But it wouldn't restart. It only displays a grey screen with a flashing icon in the middle of a folder with a question mark on it.
    Computer can't find a bootable volume.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
    I have MacKeeper on my MacBook, and I keep it clean.
    Well that explains it, MacKeeper is almost malware.
    http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
    Search the forums here for "MacKeeper" they will tell the whole story, crapware.
    Disconnect all drives, follow the "Grey Screen" instructions and hold Shift key down while booting, if you get into OS X , immediatly backup your files to another drive and disconnect.
    In my opinion you should first check to make sure you have a backup of your data, then just erase the entire internal drive (hold c boot off the 10.6 disk, use Disk Utility), reinstall OS X, same user name, update to 10.6.8, c boot off the 10.6 and Repair Disk (to fix a update error) install your programs and finally return files from backup into the same main user folders like before (Music, Docs, Pictures etc.)
    A pain it is, but you've hosed your system and in the process you might as well rebuild everything and have a fast machine again. So happens to clear MacKrapper, uninstall CS5 and any other junk in your system at the same time. Fresh, clean, lean and mean.
    Learn to Carbon Copy Cloner to a external drive that new pristine boot drive, you can hold the option key and boot from it (even update it), which is a real bacon saver when something like this happens.  Also it's free to use, donations accepted.
    http://www.bombich.com/
    Note: if anything above I've mentioned is too complicated or your not sure, seek the services of a local computer specialist.

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