My MacBook Pro turns on but not all the way, it gives me an icon of a grey folder with a question mark in the middle, and won't go further that that. Anyone knows why, or what's the problem?

My MacBook Pro turns on but not all the way, it gives me an icon of a grey folder with a question mark in the middle, and won't go further that that. Anyone knows why, or what's the problem?

If these do not resolve the issue or if you are not comfortable with proceeding through these steps then take your Mac to an Apple store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.  An Apple store will perform these initial steps, diagnose the problem, and give an estimate for repairs (if needed).  If the Mac is less than one year old or is covered by AppleCare any repairs would be free.
          Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
          or find an Apple Authorized Service Provider https://locate.apple.com/country

Similar Messages

  • Does anyone know why or what is the reason when starting a new iMac with Lion a gray bar sometimes appears when loading software?

    Does anyone know why or what is the reason when starting a new iMac with Lion, sometimes a gray bar appears under the Apple that begins to shade to dark as it loads OS?  It does this on occasion.  One time the system loaded was VERY slow and terrible colors.  Pulled the plug, re-started the computer and it did not do this.  As I say, its only on occasion, not every time.  I noticed in the discussion page there were problems listed for 10.6 nothing for Lion.
    Please advise, if possible.

    You should see this 4 option menu.  Click on Disk Utility:
    In Disk Utility, Select FIRST AID and then VERIFY and then REPAIR the disk.
    Ciao.

  • HT1310 when i starst my mac i get a flashing folder with a question mark. i tried rebooting and holding the option button then i get 2 boxes, one with a refresh arrow and one with a forward arrow neither of them seem to do anything. now what

    when i starst my mac i get a flashing folder with a question mark. i tried rebooting and holding the option button then i get 2 boxes, one with a refresh arrow and one with a forward arrow neither of them seem to do anything. now what

    Here is an article that describes what it is supposed to do:
    Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
    If no Volumes are shown, it is telling you there are no potentailly bootable Volumes attached. That means your boot drive has died or the bootable image on it is unrecognizable.
    What Mac Pro ? by year, GHz, number of processors, screen size?
    What Mac OS X ?

  • When I went to turn the desktop on, the start up sound came on.  Then the screen was white with an icon flashing. The icon is a file folder with a question mark on it.  I cannot get it to fully turn on.  HELP

    When I went to turn the desktop on, the start up sound came on.  Then the screen was white with an icon flashing. The icon is a file folder with a question mark on it.  I cannot get it to fully turn on.  HELP

    Run a disk repair tool on the hard disk or install a new OS.
    (59898)

  • IMac won't turn on. Only a clicking sound and a grey folder with flashing question mark.

    iMac won't turn on. Only a clicking sound and a grey folder with flashing question mark.
    Help.

    Your iMac is actually turning ON as proven by the grey folder with the flashing question mark.
    The flashing question mark indicates that your system is unable to find a bootable volume. The clicking sound that you hear is probably coming from your hard drive while it tries to recalibrate. I suspect your hard drive has failed.
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    If your iMac came with install disks then you can boot from them, choose your language when asked, then pull down the Utilities menu to launch the Disk Utility application. The Disk Utility application will allow you to verify whether your hard drive has an issue. Usually a clicking sound, assuming it's coming from the hard drive, is a sign of a bad hard drive.
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  • My screen has gone blank on startup and occasionally a grey folder with a question mark appears. I have tried rebooting either by pressing the start up with power or pram.. Neither attempts have worked ! My iMac is 2008. Please help :)

    My screen has gone blank on startup and occasionally a grey folder with a question mark appears. I have tried rebooting either by pressing the start up with power or pram.. Neither attempts have worked ! My iMac is 2008. Please help :)

    Hey Carolinearnold!
    I have an article for you that seems to address this issue and can provide some troubleshooting steps for you:
    Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
    -Braden

  • My laptop seemed to be frozen and I could not shut down from the menu. I held the power button for a long time and finally it shut off. When I started it again it turned on to show a black screen with an icon of a file folder with a question mark inside

    Any idea what a blank screen with a flashing folder with a question mark inside of it means???

    Ambinder55,
    it means that the forced shutdown corrupted some portion of the internal disk’s filesystem. Which version of OS X is installed on your MacBook Pro?

  • I just bought my MacBook Pro 13" and I tried to install an anti virus but then it went into a grey folder with a question mark I need help with restoring the iOS please

    I need help taking out the grey folder with the question mark and I've try everything except the CD thing because my MacBook didn't come with one so I really need help please

    What anti-virus software did you install? Although there's a lot of bad anti-virus software out there, no anti-virus software should cause such a problem. A gray screen with a flashing question mark on a folder means that no bootable system could be found, which means that the system was badly damaged or corrupt. Even installing bad software would not normally cause that, so either there was something badly wrong with the system already or the anti-virus software you tried to install was really, really bad!
    As mende1 says, you need to reinstall the system at this point. After your system is back up and running, read my Mac Malware Guide. If, after reading that, you want anti-virus software, use one of the programms recommended in that guide.

  • Installed ssd on new macbook but getting a grey folder with a question mark?

    Hi, I bought a new macbook pro, late 2011. Installed aftermarket SSD myself. Switched mac on and i get a question mark in a grey folder with a white background. I rang Apple and they said they mac cannot find the operating system.
    Any help?

    You have to install OS X on the SSD in order to use it. Start with:
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    1. 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. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
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    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 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.
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  • My Mac mini is stuck in a reboot screen that is all white with a grey folder with a question mark in it

    My Mac mini is stuck in reboot screen that's
    white with a grey folder in the middle that blinks
    and there is a white ? mark on it. What do I do ?

    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 the hard drive's location.
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  • The MacBook Pro turn on but not show anything on the screen.. Please help me

    I have a MacBook Pro15 2011 2.2 i7. The computer turns on and makes the chime and you can hear it and the fan runs but the problem is that it doesn't show anything on the screen and the apple logo doesn't turn on Also none of the ports works

    Try these 3 things
    SMC reset:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    Try a pram reset:
    Power off, power on, hold the following keys, option,comand,P,R (no commas) hold thes keys till you hear the start chime 2 times, the release. Reboot and see if you have anything
    The other thing you can try is a safe (be patient as this will take a little longer boot). power off, power on holding the shift key continue to hold the shift ket till you see the progess bar, then you can release the key, let it finish booting, and try doing some things on the machine. This will disable the 3rd party software so only native sftware will run. f all is well there is a problem with a3rd party application causing the issue. Try rebooting mormal, snd see if things have gotten better.
    If not take it to the Apple store and have it disgnosed, they do not charge for this, and will give a price of repair. Most of the time it is a flat rate, if there is no evidene of liquid damage they will repair what is broken for the same price. About 13rd the price of a replacement. If your machine is less than one fear old it should be covered by the warranty, if you have ApplECare you have 3 years from date purchase.
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  • I am using a mac book pro with Leopard OS. when I switch my laptop on it flashes a grey folder with a question mark on a grey screen, after the chime. I have tried all the things mentioned in another discussion. none of those have helped. HELP! im scared.

    what must i do? im a student and dont have backup for my work. Im in desperate need of a solution where i wont lose my work from my desktop.

    You need to purchase Leopard if you don't have the DVD and 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.

  • What does the icon of a folder with a question mark inside mean?

    After an overnight power outage I tried to turn on my iMac this morning, but all I got was clicking sounds and a gray full screen with the icon of a folder with a question mark inside it, blinking. (There's no tool bar that appears anywhere). What does that mean?
    I've tried unplugging the system and waiting a while before attempting another boot. Same screen.
    I recently (a month ago) upgraded to Snow Leopard from my original OS X software. Never had this sort of a problem before.The iMac was purchased around 2005 or 2006. Intel Dual Core processor.
    Thanks for any help on this.

    Thanks, Paul, for the prompt reply.Obviously, your answer isn't what I wanted to hear, but feared. When I get home tonight I'll try finding the install disk and booting from that. Fortunately, I still have a MacBook Pro that is running fine.  Incidentally, I have a Western Digital external Hard Drive that has very little, if anything on it. But since I can't open anything on the iMac, I guess I'll have to see if the install disk works before I try to figure out IF I can use that WD-External drive temporarily rather than replace the HD on the iMac. Any clues on what a replacement drive and labor runs for that sort of iMac repair?
    j

  • 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

  • MacBook Pro turns on but will not load. Battery will power up and charge. The PRAM second start up seems to work, but the Apple timer continues add-infinitum. There is also a disc in the laptop so I can't load re-load software OS 10.6.1. How do I resolv

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