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.
Similar Messages
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Hi Everyone, I have tried all the solutions mentioned by apple and still have a white screen with a blinking file folder with a question mark in the center, anyone have any ideas or experienced this?
Nooo or you would use OS X Recovery Mode: Disk Utilty and then Startup Disk.
Mac OS X & Mountain Lion Community
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion?view=discussio ns
Recovery Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
ExpressLane
https://expresslane.apple.com/
Mac OS X Help
http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/
Isolating Issues in Mac OS
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
https://www.apple.com/support/osx/
https://www.apple.com/support/quickassist/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/help/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/
Get Help with your Product
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304725 -
My MacBook Air has a blinking file folder icon on a blank screen with a ? In the middle of the icon. I've tried turning my computer off and on three times with no luck. Any recommendations on how to fix the problem?
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. -
Blinking grey folder icon with question mark on boot
Hi. Just got my system from the Apple Service center where they have reinstalled a new hard disk for me.
When I come home, and start the machine, it shows me a blinking grey folder icon with a question mark in it.
Only thing I can do in this screen is switch off the power. But when I reboot, it shows me the same icon again.
With google, I discovered that if while rebooting I press the OPTION key, then it boots me into the firmware password mode. How can I automate this? I do not want to have to always boot the laptop with Option key pressed.
Thanks for any pointers.That question mark means that your machine can't find a drive with a system installed to boot from. Sounds as if the techs didn't install a system when they replaced the drive... do you still have the installation disc(s) that your MBP might have come with?
Clinton -
What do I do when I power up the computer and get a grey screen with a folder icon and a question mark?
vickyfromosseo wrote:
What do I do when I power up the computer and get a grey screen with a folder icon and a question mark?
Read this: A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac -
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. -
Startup = blinking file folder icon?
After waking my Intel iMac from sleep mode I selected "Mail" too quickly and got the spinning beach ball for a while. I put the iMac back to sleep, woke it, same problem. I turned it off using the off button on the back of the iMac, because I was unable to turn it off using the menu option. When I turned it back on I got a blank screen for about a minute, then a blinking gray icon of a small (1 inch) file folder. HELP! This reminds me of the old days of system conflicts.
From what you say, it looks like the hard drive has dead. The blinking file folder appears when your Mac doesn't find any bootable volume.
The best you can do now is to take the Mac to an Apple Store or reseller and get your hard drive repaired or replaced. I hope that you have a backup of your files -
Gray screen when turning on iBook G4 with tiny file folder in center of screen blinking finder icon and question mark. I cannot figure this out. Tried everything I know. Can someone help please???
Hello,
Ideally you need to boot from the disk as you have no other media advisable. (e.g your hard drive)
Without some form of system disk or restore you wont be able to diagnose the problem with your hard drive.
By using a Mac OS X system disk you can load up the Disk Utilities and repair the hard drive if shown it's available. If it's not available you would need to replace the hard drive and reinstall Mac OS. Without any disk to support you, you are going to struggle.
You can obtain replacement disk, both retail copies or system disk on the Internet.
If you know what version of Mac OS X you had install (I'm guessing that it would have been 10.3, but would recommend 10.4) A retail disk is normally black with a colored 'X' on it, while system disk are always.
Always try and obtain a copy of the system restore disks (Gray) for your iBook
Ebay is another outlet that has genuine system disk for sell, but like any auction site, it's as and when someone is selling them.
The only other thing you could do is take it to a Apple repair agent who could check the hard drive on your behalf. That way you can get confirmation if the problem is the drive or some other fault. They may even help restore the OS for you.
I can't think of anything else to try without some form of disk to help you.
There maybe just one other small thing you could try.
When booting up, firmly rest your palm of your hand on the iBook next to the tracker pad on the left side.
If it works then it's another fault that I'm aware of. -
A few days ago my i mac when into grey screen; there were a few options for starting up, restoring etc i tried all of them to the extent possible but didn't work. Then i decided to unplug my external backup drive in case it may be erased or info lost in this process and now all i get when i turn it on is a white screen with a flashing folder and question mark. Any ideas?
That indicates the computer is having difficulty finding the startup volume. Your internal HD may have failed or the system may have "forgotten" where it is. If you are using Lion or later (10.7.x or later) then restart in the Recovery Partition and choose the startup disk. Before doing anything carefully read and follow Apple's instructions in:
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac -
Please help, other forum from 2011 didn't help. Can't get info because I can't log in.
See this Apple note, which applies to OS X 10.7 Lion as well. This Apple note applies to OS X 10.6 and earlier but provides a little more information. When they talk about booting from CD, that's a boot with command and r keys held down in OS X 10.7 Lion.
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Restarted and received a blinking file folder with question mark image.
I left my computer sitting while I was working on homework long enough for the screen saver to come on (I'm not sure exactly how long it was). Earlier in the day, I had to force quit safari and then later it unexpectedly quit several times. While my computer was sitting, it looked like it does when it restarts. I waited until it started to come back up, and instead of coming up to the desktop, it came up with a blinking file folder and question mark. I had not done anything unusual with it, and had not tried to restore it. My dad was working on trying to fix it, and inserted the OS X disk. When the options came up, in the repair feature, the disk could not locate my harddrive. I was wondering if anyone else had encountered this problem, and if so how it was resolved. If anyone had any tips or ideas of things I could try that would be great. I can't really get it to an apple store soon, and I'm a student so my computer is very important to me. Thanks.
Mornin' John,
I also have an OWC external firewire drive that I tried to install OSX Tiger to but was told that I could not install OSX Tiger on the external drive.
What Format is that Drive? GUID/MacOS Extended? It should work if the right format.
Is there any way to run Disk Warrior from the external hard drive ... to try and rectify this issue, or at least get my data off the dead drive (if it is so)?
From the external only if you can get OSX installed.
What version is it? Do you mot have the CD?
or from my PowerBook G4
Possibly, with the MaBook in FW Target Mode
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
If DiskWarrior can't fix it, you might try Data Rescue II...
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to). -
MacBook won't start - shows flashing folder icon with question mark
When I attempted a Spotlight search, my MacBook froze. I shut it down, and when I start again I get the sound, the blue screen, and then a flashing folder icon with a question mark. I tried starting with Option pressed down; didn't work, and now I don't even get the flashing folder icon, just the blue screen. Any suggestions?
The flashing folder with question mark means the computer can't find a working OS on the computer. This may mean your hard drive has failed.
Try holding the Shift key while starting up the machine. This puts the machine into Safe Mode.
If you have your install discs, insert Install Disc 1 and start up the computer while holding down the C key. When the Installer has loaded, choose a language. From the Utilities menu, choose *Disk Utility*. Does your hard drive show up here? If so, click on its icon (the one with manufacturer name & capacity, NOT "Macintosh HD"), and then click on the *Repair Disk* button.
If booting in Safe mode doesn't help or you don't have your install discs, you need to bring the computer to an Apple store and have the folks there look. If Disk Utility doesn't list your hard drive, it has very likely failed and will need to be replaced. If your machine is out of warranty, you're better off replacing it yourself, as it's very easy to do.
~Lyssa -
My MacBookPro has a white screen with a grey file folder in the center of the screen with a white question mark blinking in it. What does this mean? And how can I get my computer back up and running normal?
Start up in Safe Mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
Repair Disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14222 -
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 -
What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?
What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate? I cannot get past it or do anything with the unit.
glamiera wrote:
What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?
That's the firmware telling you it can't find the operating system it's been assigned to boot from.
It could be because it forgot somehow, or the operating system is no longer there or readable or the hardware holding the operating system has failed.
Hold the power button to force a hardware shutdown, then reboot holding the option/alt key held down on the wired or built in keyboard, icons will hopefully load on the screen and if OS X appears, click the arrow to boot from it.
Once in OS X, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your boot drive so it can remind the firmware.
If there is no OS X boot volume, just recovery or Bootcamp (if Windows installed) then you need to perform more work.
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
To get a copy of your files off the drive.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
To fix your machine and find out (hardware test) if it's a hardware issue of some sort.
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