Switched on my imac 24inch intel based and all I get on screen is a folder with question mark flashing,I had backup on external hard drive but when I try to reinstall it can not find my mac hard drive

Hi when I started my intel based imac this morning all I am getting is a folder with question mark in the middle flashing,I have external hard drive with backup,but when run disc utilities it does not show my mac hard drive.hope someone can help.(it's running mountain lion, well it was)

Try starting up your Mac while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk then click Restart.
The question mark folder indicates your Mac cannot find a system folder to boot from.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Similar Messages

I installed the window 7 os in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume the mac os x?

i installed the window 7 ultimate OS in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume mac mac os x?

Assuming that you tried to install Win 7 in bootcamp.
Power on the machine and press and hold the "option" key when you hear the bong sound.
Select the Macintosh HD icon and press "return" or just click on the icon.
Once booted into OS X go to System Preferences and select the Startup Disk icon and configure startup to use the Macintosh HD.

Help please! My macbook air (2015) startup showed a folder with question mark so i tried "Command R" for internet recovery but after few minutes it stopped and showed error.. Please hepl me!

Help please! My macbook air (2015) startup showed a folder with question mark so i tried "Command R" for internet recovery but after few minutes it stopped and showed error.. Please hepl me!

Startup – Question Mark
Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)
Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

I can not open iTunes. It started when an upgrade appeared. Now I get this message when I try to open itunes. can not find MSVCR80.dll Then I get ERROR 7 (windows error 126) I tried reinstalling iTunes but that did not help. Please Help Me!

I can not open itunes on my computer. It started when an upgrade appeared. Now I get a message that states This application has failed to start because MSVCR80.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. I tried to reinsall the application but it did not help. I also get a message iTunes was not installed correctly. Please reinstall iTunes Error 7 (Windows error 126) Please Help me!

Click here and follow the instructions. You may need to completely remove and reinstall iTunes and all related components, or run the process multiple times; this won't normally affect its library, but that should be backed up anyway.
(99623)

I have an older nano i've synched many tunes but when i try now it says can not synch

I have an older nano that i've synched many songs from i tunes but when i plug i pod in now it says can not synch #-39

Hello mistymorrill
If after all that you have tried and your iPod nano is still not working, the refer the page below for further options.
Service Answer Center – iPod
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=ipod
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

I powered up my macbook and there is a file folder with question mark on the screen flashing. What does that mean?

Powered up Mac book and screen showing file folder with question mark flashing?

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Hope that solves your issue.

Imac froze and on re load folder with question mark appeared. Now will not start up to home screen.

The other night my Imac froze during updates. I found it in the morning with the screen and mouse frozen and only the loading icon spinning. I re stared the computer from the power button.
Upon re loading the apple logo did not appear and was replaced by a folder with a question mark in the middle. I looked this up online and found the best option was to use disk utility to check and repair the hard drive. This showed an error with HFS. Used disk utility to fix the hard drive so thast no error appear. I re stared the computer but all it loaded was the folder with the question mark again, so I decided to erase the hard drive of any information (I back up quite regulary, but left it as last resort due to inconvenience), when installing again it seems to go so far before telling me it cannot install and I need to re start. I have erased the dsk again and completed disk clean too before trying again and getting the same results.
I am currenlty stuck at this point and need help, which would be appreciated.
My Imac is an early 2008 Aluminimum model and installtion disk is 10.3

The folder with ? mark mean one of 2 things.
1) The OS is so corrupted that the hardware can't find it as a valid way to boot the system.
2) Your hard drive has failed.
You can try booting from the Recovery HD partition, Commadn + r keys at startup if you are running Lion Mt Lion or Mavericks.
Or boot the system from the original System reinstall DVD that came with your Mac or an upgrade OS X install DVd you may have purchased.
With either use Disk Utility to see if the hard drive is seen and if it can be erased or repartitioned and then restore from a Time Macine baclup or reinstall OS X.

Blinking folder with question mark! Recovery mode not recognising hard drive!

So today on my MacBook Pro 13" mid 2010, for some reason a CD that I inserted inside the DVD/CD drive didn't come out, and was stuck inside. So I looked up on how to force eject it out, and I saw someone wrote that you can force eject the CD by putting a paper clip inside the hole next to the CD/DVD drive. I did this, and it did not work. After I turned on my MacBook Pro and on the startup I found the blinking folder with question mark! I went through Internet recovery mode, and I found out that it did not recognise my hard drive!
-Do I have to replace my hard drive?
Please help! I'm fairly new with computers :(

Kazmunai wrote:
I saw someone wrote that you can force eject the CD by putting a paper clip inside the hole next to the CD/DVD drive. I did this, and it did not work.
That was for very old Mac's and PC's, it's been a long time since any modern Mac had that ability.
CD that I inserted inside the DVD/CD drive didn't come out, and was stuck inside.
Press and hold the power button down to force a hardware shutdown.
Hold the trackbutton down and the option/alt key at the same time, now boot the machine.
The disk should spit out and you should eventually see a row of icons appear on the screen, this is Startup Manager and you can pres the eject key here also to get the cd to spit out.
If you see MacintoshHD (or your OS X boot volume) click it and the arrow underneath and when you get into OS X, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and set it again. Your problem should be resolved at this point.
If you don't see your OS X boot volume and it shows RecoveryHD only, or holding the option/alt goes to Internet Recovery, then your boot drive is dead or there is some sort of other issue/power /Mac related.
Try a #1 SMC Reset and a #2 PRAM reset and see if that fixes things.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
If not, I then suspect because you couldn't eject the cd that something electrical bad happened to the Superdrive and as a result it also effected the power or something going to the boot hard drive.
The hard drive might still work just fine if it's removed from the machine and a SATA to USB adpater to another Mac.
My advice is to take the machine to Apple for a free hardware evaluation, then decide what you want to do from there.
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?

I recently purchased used macbook pro 15" but unfortunately i erase the harddisk and did not have back up but when i try to reinstall the mac os x lion it ask me the id password,how i can purchse the mac os x lion.

i recently purchased used macbook pro 15" but unfortunately i erase the harddisk and did not have back up but when i try to reinstall the mac os x lion it ask me the id password,how i can purchse the mac os x lion.
where from i can buy the mac os x lion because i am using windows base system when i try to buy from apple web side it show in app store only not in itunes

Have you tried booting from the Recovery HD to reinstall Lion?
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.
You will need the Apple ID and password used to purchase Lion. If you have not purchased Lion, then you will need to purchase the Snow Leopard DVD and install Snow Leopard then update it to 10.6.8 to access the App Store where you can purchase and download Lion under your own Apple ID. Or you can purchase the Apple USB Lion installer flash drive at any local Apple retailer or the Online Store.

I have upgraded to Lion, and want to upgrade my iPhoto 8.1.2, but when I try it says it was not purchased at a MAC Apple store, which it was. Then it asks if I want to buy 9.2.3, and I say yes. It responds with Product Distribution file can't be verified

I have upgraded to Lion, and want to upgrade my iPhoto 8.1.2, but when I try it says it was not purchased at a MAC Apple store, which it was. Then it asks if I want to buy 9.2.3, and I say yes. It responds with Product Distribution file can't be verified. Maybe damaged or not signed. How do I get this fixed, so I can download the new iphoto's that are available.

How did you move your iPhoto library to the new system? the recommended way is Connect the two Macs together (network, firewire target mode, etc) or use an external hard drive formed Mac OS extended (journaled) and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity from the old Mac to the pictures folder of the new Mac - launch iPhoto on the new mac and it will open the library and convert it as needed and you will be ready move forward.
LN

Help! Took mac to store today as DVD stuck in drive- 3 hour round trip!!! Told it was fixed and it now won't even switch on :( I press the on button and all I get is a continuos loading symbol and then it shuts down . Worse state than it was before :( :(

Help! Took mac to store today as DVD stuck in drive- 3 hour round trip!!! Told it was fixed and it now won't even switch on :( I press the on button and all I get is a continuos loading symbol and then it shuts down . Worse state than it was before :( :( not happy at all and not well enough to travel to get it fixed (my mum went today) anyone got any ideas please???

Oh ok - Thankyou for that. I will be ringing them tomorrow and I will not be happy ! And I'm hoping they can suggest what I'm suppose to do about getting it back to them as I can't take it in myself. SO so angry!!! Does people getting it back in a worse state happen often? :| do read these discussion boards? I hope they do!!!

Satellite A205 S4797 - can not find drivers for my drive

I have recovery disks and Windows Vista installation disk. When I try to install error meesage says it can not find drivers for my drive.
I tried scannong CD drive and it cannot find them do 32-bit, 64-bit all have different drivers and if so where do I get the one I need if not from the install disk or recovery disk from manuf.?

If you cannot use original Toshiba recovery DVD for OS installation I can imagine there is some problem with DVD itself (some missing file or scratch) but Microsoft Vista installation MUST work on this notebook model.
If this doesnt work too there must be some problem with HDD. Just if you want to install WXP you need to load SATA driver at start-up but Vista must work.
Can you please tell me what happen when you try to install Vista from Microsoft Vista installations DVD?

Where can I find a Mac printer driver for the HP LaserJet 1536

Where can I find a Mac printer driver for the HP Laser Jet 1536dnf MFP

Hello, Mario here. All drivers available for this printer are located here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=3974279&lc=en&cc=us& dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
Select your operating system and you will be able to see what drivers are available. Let me know if you have any other questions.
I work on behalf of HP

Not solved with Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive

Before asking, I found someone had asked exact the same question, but that was actually an unsolved thread.
Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
Level 1(0 points)sdc3gJul 5, 2013 6:24 PM Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
in response to Niel
Thanks for the reply, held command+R again and it is trying to pick up WiFi, but it's not picking up my network and won't accept the password even when I try to put it in manually. Any thoughts on that?
Me too had tried the command+R and failed to manually connect to my network. Can anyone help?

Well, it was solved. I shifted to other place and tried other WIFis. One of the WiFi had the 2002f problem and another was fine, so the reinstall worked smoothly eventually.
On the apple support page it says that Supported network configurations and protocols includs both WPA/WPA2, not matter what they are, but it might not be true.

Folder with question mark and smiling mac face at start up

After I was importing some video today, shut down G5 and on start up I get the folder with question mark and smiling mac face.
Any help?
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Boot from a drive with Disk Warrior 4, or your emergency boot drive (FW or alternate) or if you lack that, use single user mode to run fsck command. The last option would be your Tiger DVD but that may be 10.4.3 or earlier and not your best.
I say that because it seems like it was more than just needing to reset the startup disk preference and may have a corrupt directory. It shutdown smoothly and fully?
At the least, using the OPTION key and SHIFT key for Safe Boot. My recollection of trying to do both is that it won't. You can do one or the other, but not both. So running FSCK is just insurance to repair the directory.

Switched on my imac 24inch intel based and all I get on screen is a folder with question mark flashing,I had backup on external hard drive but when I try to reinstall it can not find my mac hard drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for