Booting problem - first question mark folder and now grey screen

Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Macbook booting.
Yesterday it worked fine until I tried to open an old Excel file, then all became extremely slow, but anyway I was able to shut it down properly, or at least this was what I thought.
The next time I tried to turn it on, a flashing question mark forder appeared instead of the apple. Then I tried various solutions I've found in forums, like turning on while holding down shift button like in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455 (nothing happens), the option botton (the cursor appears, but bootcamp does not start), and command+V for verbose mode (nothing).
Anyway now if I turn it on nothing appears, neither the question mark folder, just the grey screen.
I know that everything suggests that my HD is dead, but I don't really see the reason why it should have done so...
Thank you for your help.
Giulia

Hello,
"*a flashing question mark forder appeared instead of the apple."*
A flashing question mark can mean several things. One, the hard disk disk is failing. Two, it means that when you boot your MacBook, it can't find a System Folder to boot from.
Try booting while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window so you can select your startup disc.
If that doesn't work... grab your install disk and check the hard drive for errors.
Insert the installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
The fact that you can't boot in Safe Mode (shift key) is not a good sign...
*"but I don't really see the reason why it should have done so..."*
How long have you had your MacBook? Do you have AppleCare?
Carolyn

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Boots to flashing question mark folder and disc utility cannot locate internal hard drive

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My macbook has question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions, my macbook has question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions

Hi
My MacBook has a question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions, help?

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 Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
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Flashing Question mark Folder and clicking - no start up.

Dear Mac Users,
I've already got some info on the above, but my 3.5year old G5 iMac wont get past the flashing question mark folder icon. It can't find the start-up drive. The think the hard drive is dead - if I start up from external HD it's OK and/or Tiger CD - but the mac's HD is nowhere to be seen on any disk utility.
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If you need to reset the firmware PW see:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57542601-263/efi-firmware-protection-locks- down-newer-macs/

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Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
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.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From The Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstall Snow Leopard 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.
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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.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
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Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

My macbook is getting the question mark folder and also my start up disks are gone

A few weeks back I turned on my macbook and discovered that it cannot boot up anymore. There was absolutely no precedent to this. I didn't drop it (I've dropped it many times in the past if that matters, and may have placed it down on my desk a little to aggressively the night before), and I had no problem using my computer right before going to bed. I just closed it went to sleep and the next morning my computer was malfunctioning. Whenever I turn it on the computer is stuck at a grey screen with a blinking picture of a folder with a question mark on it. I thought my computer was a lost cause and I bought a new one, but now I am in desperate need of recovering my lost files on my old computer which I still have.
So I go to the internet for help, with my goal being to just fix my old macbook or at least salvage the data, and read that the thing to do is press command+R when the computer boots up and fire up internet recovery, then go to disk utility and fix the drive/disc/whatever from there. So I press command+R at start up, and I get past the loading screen with the globe and go to a menu giving me the options of disk utility, time machine, reinstallation, and looking on mac forums for help. I click on disk utility and my mac os x disc does not appear to be on the left hand side. There is one disk under a disk that says Disk1 that says MAC OS X BASE SYSTEM or something to that effect on it, but if you click on its info it says that that particular disc has a total capacity of only 1.39 GB, so that can't be it, right? Also when I click on it it doesn't give me the option to verify or repair it. There's another disk at the very top of the left hand side that says 4.14 GB ST_M13FQ8L M... but it also has a low total capacity.
After I find no help in disk utility I decide to take a different route and see if I have any time machine back ups and it asks me to select the disk that contains the backup I want to restore, but the list that is shown is empty. I don't remember ever setting up a time machine back up so this doesn't surprise me.
So I move on to another solution- to try and reinstall MAC OS X Lion and it takes me to a window where it asks me to select the disc where I want to install MAC OS X Lion, but the the little white box under the message that is supposed to show a list or something of the available selections/discs is completely empty. So I have no start up discs?
Then I click shut down on the upper left hand corner of the screen to turn of my computer and another window appears asking me to select the system i want to use to start up my computer but that box is also completely empty.
I don't know what to do this at this point, and I don't know how to interpret the situation either, even after researching the issue on the internet. Does this mean that my harddrive/disc or whatever is completely gone/broken? And more importantly does this mean that all of my data is gone forever? Or is the system or computer itself broken or something like that, but my hard drive is intact? Now that I have a new computer all I really need is to somehow transfer the data from my broken computer to my new one, and don't really need to "fix" my computer- but if fixing it is the only means to see my data again that's what I want to do. And also can I fix this manually by myself, or does this require professionals. And if i do need to hire someone, how much will this typically cost? Thanks!
Some other facts: The macbook in question (the broken one) is an aluminum 13 inch macbook pro from I think 2012, maybe 2011, and used to run on Mavericks. I also used to have windows bootcamp on it but i rarely used it. The macbook has been having some problems for a while and recently started to slowly break down. The USB ports stopped working completely, all of its apps were slow and glitched a lot, the battery in it was nearly dead (it said REPLACE SOON where the battery symbol used to be on the upper right hand corner of the screen), but it still worked at a base level and I used it for work and stuff, up until this point of course.

This document should give you some leads as to what to do.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Blinking question mark folder and no HD?

My macbook froze today and I had to restart. When I did so I got the blinking folder with a question mark.
So I put in my installer disk and it shows my dvd but no hard drive. I'm in disc utility but with no hd recognized is there anything I can do?

hi,
I am having the same problem with my MacBook. ? With a folder and no hard drive. Apparently alot of people are having the same issue. Just from scanning some replies I noticed that no one really gets the problem. One, you can't repair permissions from the boot disc if the internal hard drive has no reconizable accses point. Two, you cannot run disc warrior from a boot DVD! When you run the boot DVD, disc utility finds no hard drive, so there are no premissions to repair. Seeing i started to experience this today, and so are a few people, there must be a problem with the most recent software update. Or... Dare I say... A mac virus? I dont know anythig about viruses so that's just speculation. But to see the same problem happen all at one to so many people makes me raise an eye brow or two.im just glad I have an iPhone. Otherwise I'd be screwed! If anyone has any answers please let me know. If anyone else is experiencing the same problem please post and let people know!

MacBook Pro Mid - 2010 has question mark folder and block sign at start up could I get apple care and apple will fix it

I need information ASAP on what I should do with my MacBook Pro , am I able to just give apple the money for the apple care cost and they'll fix problem

It's too late, at this point, to get AppleCare, unless you purchased the machine on or after February of 2011 - and then you'd only have a few months, at best, of extended warranty.
The best thing that you can do is to either diagnose the symptoms and fix the machine yourself or take it into an Apple Store or AASP and have them diagnose and fix the problem(s).
If your profile is correct and you're running 10.5.8 then you should get disc one that came with your machine and boot from it and run Disk Utility's Verify and Repair commands on your hard drive. If it fails, you'll know that the problem is most likely with the hard drive.
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Flashing Question Mark Folder - Cannot Eject Disc - Problem Startup

My Macbook will not start up. I get a flashing question mark folder and will not startup.
Also, I have a dvd inside that will not eject.
Any suggestions?

You will need to reinstall OS X. Try this:
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) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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.
If your drive cannot be repaired then you will have to reformat the drive and install OS X from scratch.
To eject the DVD press CTRL-E while booted from the installer disc or hold the mouse button down while the computer is booting from the installer disc.

New Hard Drive still have Question Mark Folder

So I first got the 'Question Mark Folder' and had to keep running Safe Boot Mode to use computer. Finally got around to replacing the Hard Drive, but this Question Mark Folder still comes up trying to turn the computer on and now trying to setup the new hard drive. Won't let me do anything. I've tried all of the button combos/recovery mode/etc. Tried inserting both a backup disk of Mavericks and Snow Leopard, nothing. Is there any other problems that could cause this? Maybe a dead SATA cable? or something else small hopefully?

My newest Mac just did the same "folder of death" dance. It's too late for you now, but you might consider a passport backup drive.You can get 2&3 T-bytes now fairly reasonably priced. A given with computers is they will crash, just a question of how bad and when, so you can be prepared for the next time.

I need to reinstall lion OS on my MAC mini. I have the 'question mark folder'.

It is a mid 2011 mac mini. It boots to the 'question mark folder'. I installed lion server over my lion OS. After trying to remove the server app unsuccessfully, I id a command-r boot and erased the Macintosh HD where my OS was wiht the intention to reinstall. THe on-screen instruction I thought said I had to reboot after to use the recovery HD so I di. Now when it boots, it jsut goes to the 'question mark folder' and does not load. I only have the bluetooth keyboard so will the mini recognize the command-r on boot? It doesnt appear to.
Thansk for any input,
Ken

Had the same problem w/ a Mac mini server. The only thing that helped was not the timing, but a disconnection of all cables from the machines: power, keyboard, etc., and a wait of one minute which according to Apple support - resets some config on the machine. After I did that, Command R worked just fine.
BTW, According to Apple, you have to hold Commmand R just after you hear the chime, and keep holding it until you see the recovery utility. Another alternative can be holding Command Option R for network recovery.

Intermittent Flashing Question Mark Folder

I've got a iBook g4 that seems to be having an intermittent problem booting. A few months back on boot it came up with a flashing question mark folder. After trying a few things it finally booted OK. For months all was good; until yesterday. The same thing happened again. I tried to boot from an install CD to run disk utility, but the drive didn't show up. After a few attempts I was able to successfully boot in target disk mode. After that it booted OK again. I noted in the log a number of I/O errors which makes me think the hard drive is starting to fail. Anyone have any other thoughts or suggestions?

It looks like things are getting worse. I ran diagnostics and everything passed. Is there a reasonable way to make sure the hard disk is the problem? It now will boot only rarely; sometimes hanging on a gray apple screen, sometimes showing disk I/O error messages in the upper left corner of the display, sometimes showing the question mark folder, and occasionally booting. Replacing the hard drive is reasonable, but I'd like to have a measure of confidence that will fix the problem.

Question mark folder on startup, Question mark folder on startup?

Have startup problem with question mark folder flashing on startup. How do I fix it?

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/.

Booting problem - first question mark folder and now grey screen

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