A question mark folder appears on the start up after the sound ... with white back ground

im using macbook pro 11in ... i had recently ungraded to os x lion through app store .... i was working on my laptop with firefox open .. i closed my macbook just as i normally do to make it go to sleep (not shutdown) ... i went hope i opend it and it was stuck .. nothing was moving ,.. there was this rainbow wheel instaed of the mouse arrow .. so i pressed and hold the power button and it got shut.. i opened it and now there is the question mark folder after the start up sound ... i dont have my snow lepoard dvds with me .. im traveling ... when i press the option key on the start up i dont get the recovery disk which was an option with the lion os x ... so now wat i do ... help help !!!!

You can try a SMC and PRAM reset, but I think something got fried and your going to need to take it in for service.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html

Similar Messages

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.
Just bought Disk Warrior - that wont see the iMac HDrive either - so unless anyone has got a fix, it looks like the thing will be dumped or I get a new HD. Are these easy to buy and fit? It's a Rev A model, (the buzzy first edition). I haven't got all my files backed up, just the key ones, which are now on a new alum iMac. Or I could run it off an external drive (noisy, though).
I had been moving the G5 around a lot (switched off) before it went belly up - could this be a cause?
Maybe it'd been feeling left out, with the new 24in installed.
Hope someone can shed further light.
Rob
(PS - anyone want buy my Disk Warrior?)

Your drive is dead, you can look in [macsales.com] or [smalldog.com] for a new new one. The drive isn't too difficult to replace, you can do it yourself, and do get the largest one you can afford, just make sure it's a 3.5" SATA.
Keep your DiskWarrior, you never know when it'll come in handy.

TS1440 Clicking sounds. No entry on start up. Slow. Error code 36. Finally question mark folder. I don't understand what's wrong with the thing I barely use it. Can you help?

Iv been having multiple issues with my mac. This comes as a surprise as I rarely use it.
Symptoms-
Clicking noises
Slow
Unresponsive
(Error code 36)
Question mark folder
I used single user mode to try and repair the disk through utilities but the option wasn't available. I then verified the disk and it came up with few error messages
-invalid leaf record count
-invalid directory item
-found corrupt and needs to be repaired
Unfortunately I don't have an instillation disk, I didn't get one when I bought the computer. I don't know what else to do.

If the Mac is running v10.7 Lion or v10.8 Mountain Lion ..
Startup your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys so you can access the built in utilities in OS X Recovery
From there you can repair the startup disk.

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

My mac computer was frozen,then it had a question mark ? and does not start, still at the grey screen blinking with the mac logo,dont know if it is a lion,leopard or tiger

my mac computer was frozen, so my son turned off the computer and restarted again, then a questin mark showed on blank grey screen, then the mac logo comes up blinking and nothing happens. Don't know if it is still in the frozen stage. Please help me, don't know what to do?The version not too sure but i know it is more than 10.5 and 6. I turned off the computer many times and left it off for a while and turned it back on and it remains at the white screen with the mac logo blinking.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/8517/cant-boot-mac-only-shows-a-folder- with-a-question-mark
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3926554?start=0&tstart=0
How old is this Mac? It is also possible that the hard drive has failed. If nothing works, take it to the  Retail Store

MacBook Pro crashed, and then question mark folder appeared

So I have a MacBook Pro, the other day I left my computer on sleep mode as I always do. I open my computer to find a screen that is slightly grey, like the picture link: http://farm1.staticflickr.com/55/126466201_486bff5598.jpg
I've had this happen to me before, and so I restarted it without worries.
First I held down the Power button for 3-5 seconds and then it powered off.
I'm not one to have patients as I am a teenager, so I quickly booted the computer on.
I had the signature Mac chime, and then it went to a grey screen, I went to get something to drink, as I remembered Mac's take quite the time to boot back up.
I came back to the same grey screen with a flashing folder with a question mark on it. I was now in panic mode. I lucky had my trustee iPhone by my side and quickly described my problem, found many articles on solutions, but nothing truly worked. I tried the "Hold C and turn on power at the same time", "Safe boot by holding Shift", "Try PRAM", and blah blah blah.
At first I was missing my Install disc, as many of the articles stated, my problem may be resolved by using the disc. I am a teenager, this disc could be ANYWHERE, so thinking on my feet, I went to my mothers laptop case and found her Install disc (which was 10.6.7, my computer was running 10.6.3). I didn't realize the difference until much later.
After a few hours of trying to fiddle around with my moms disc, I decided to go on a hard core hunt for my disc.
Hours later, my room in a huge mess, I found my disc, under my bed (of course).
It took me an hour to figure out how to get my moms stuck disc out of my MacBook.
I found that solution through another article.
So I put in my Install disc and I went to go backup my MacBook with my external hard drive, and I went through the steps required and I thought forsure it was fixed and done, until this: http://tinypic.com/r/hupto4/5
I'm stuck.
I've been sitting trying to fix this for at least 12 hours now, and I have had minimal success.
--Questions
1.) Could I have damaged something, by putting my moms install disc in?
2.) Where did my hard drive go? Could I have possibly deleted it?
3.) Is this the end for my MacBook Pro?
Specs:
MacBook Pro
Bought: Last year (but on the back it says 2010)
Snow Leoperd
OS X 10.6.3
External drive: My Passport (Link: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=440 )
Please provide a step-by-step fixture if possible.
Thanks!

Failed hard drive possible. Bring it to an Apple store or AASP.

Question mark folder appears at startup. Impending doom?

Like it says, it flicks on for half a second then starts up OK.
I have used some utilities to tidy things up- Onyx and Applejack (I expect there's some redundancy there). These should have fixed all permissions, etc.
However, I still get this, and am quite concerned that some day soon it will stay and stay flashing!
Any thoughts on where to go with this next?
JKB

You might also want to do some maintenance on the machine. See these tips:
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System maintenance
Mac OS X speed FAQ
Maintaining OS X

Getting a folder icon with a question mark in it when I start up...

Hi Guys
I know this isn't a Logic or music-related question, but I trust you guys so I'm asking it here rather than in one of the other Apple forums...!
Sometimes when I start my 2 month old Mac Pro, I get a folder icon in the middle of the screen, with a question mark in it...
This happens approximately one in ten startups...
Does this mean there's something wrong with my boot hard drive? Or some other kind of problem?
If I switch off and start again, it always starts up fine, but I'd be worried if this might indicate my system hard drive is on the way out!
Any advice?
Cheers and thanks!
Mike

You cannot delete (just try it) the Network Startup icon, and I don't think it is the problem. That question mark folder on startup actually tells you that the Mac cannot find a valid system, so if I were you I'ld run a couple of utilities, repair permissions, perform a surface scan of your boot disk etc.
And post the question on the OS X and the Mac Pro forums too.
The question mark in the network startup icon in the Startup Disk Prefpanel simply means that there is no network startup system. I have the same icon. It is not the problem. However, if for some reason your Mac decides on its own to try and start up from it, it would explain your "where's the system" startup ?-folder.
It could mean a lot of things: something almost broken in your system, or maybe a firmware problem or maybe a disk, or even that your keyboard is defective, and that (for example) the letter C hangs 1 in 10 times, making your Mac look for a Boot CD/DVD that isn't there...
Regards, Erik

Persistent Flashing Question Mark Folder Icon, after Repair & Rebuild-THX!

Hello All,
Thank you in advance for any insights.
For the past week, one/two days after a force re-boot, my Quicksilver Mac (OSX 10.4.11 and OS 9 Classic) starts up with the dreaded flashing question mark folder.
The start up disk has always been on "Mac OS X, 10.4.11 on main stuff" ("main stuff" is the name of the hard drive.)
The first time, I ran DiskWarrior and rebuilt the hard drive, which is kind of new as it was replaced in April 2009. Then I ran OnyX and got a clean bill of health. The Mac was shut down at the end of the day as is my habit via turning off the power strip.
If it helps, here's part of the DiskWarrior report:
• 13 files had a directory entry with an incorrect text encoding value that was repaired.
• 340 files had a damaged extended attribute that was repaired.
• 3 folders had a directory entry with an incorrect custom icon flag that was repaired.
• Incorrect values in the Volume Information were repaired.
Disk Information:
Files: 370,719
Folders: 85,161
Free Space: 92.55 GB
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Block Size: 4 K
Disk Sectors: 268,171,472
Media: WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0
The next day, the flashing question mark folder reappeared. This time I used the original system installer CD (labeled Power Mac G4 OS X Install). Disk Utility made its repairs. And this time, the computer was put to sleep instead.
In the morning, it woke up, the wireless optical mouse worked for a few seconds, the hard drive is humming along then all of a sudden the arrow (mouse) froze and none of the keys on the keyboard functioned.
After some research, I deleted the energy saver preference (powermanager.list?) and ran Disk Utility again. And again, I shut down b/c I wasn't going to use the Mac for a day or two.
This afternoon, the pesky icon reappeared at start up. At first Disk Utility didn't see the hard drive then I restarted and the hard drive was selectable though not mounted. It was repaired and verified yet once again. Btw, when I did hard drive test, the message says something to the effect that it appears to be working properly.
My question is, might anyone know what's wrong? I've been backing up after every use and I have a laptop. But I love working on the desktop and if this issue can be fixed, that would be perfect.
As an aside, I've read that I should do a clean install. Would doing a clean install mean I need to re-install OS 9 as well as all other all other software programs-Adobe Creative Suite, Quickbooks, Verizon DSL, printer drivers etc.?
One final question, can I continue to boot up from the CD, repair then restart or will I damage the computer? Once it restart, everything seems to work normally and well.
Many, many thanks for reading and any help would be greatly appreciated!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Sam

Disk damage can also affect the startup sequence, but I think what you have already done should have repaired any disk damage, or given you more information.
Once you have ruled out Disk damage, you get the flashing question mark when your Mac cannot find:
• the preferred operating System
• of the preferred version
• on the preferred startup drive.
All these items are stored in the parameter RAM, backed up by a 3.6 volt, non-recharging 1/2-AA size battery that lasts three years or so, unless you turn off all power at night.
If you cannot remember when you last changed that battery, now is a good time. Be sure to reset the PMU/PRAM after installing the new battery.
Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

Flashing question mark folder, 3 times this week on my imac : (

My intel based 3.06 GHz imac this week is showing a flashing question mark folder. A friend says is that the hard drive is toast but well twice it was solved quickly. First time on monday I did commandoption+pr to reset NVRAM and it worked. Second time yesterday i pressed option during startup and i selected my mac os x volume. But well today nothing works : (
This flashing question mark is constantly showing up. any ideas how to force my imac to select the hard drive mac os x as the startup disk?
this doesnt work:
1. pressing option to select startup disk as i did yesterday.
2. when trying to boot from mac os x install disc pressing c during startup the imac ejects the dvd.
3. trying to start up in safe boot mode (pressing shift), verbose mode or single user mode all fails, just the flashing annoying question mark folder again.
I was reading that i could use ubuntu live-cd to transfer my data from ubuntu to an external hard drive. I downloaded, burned and then it does shows the ubuntu cd to install ubuntu (the mac os x install disc is ejected but the ubuntu cd works), but i really dont want to install ubuntu X_X I just want my imac back without installing any linux stuff.
I can do target mode with my other macs but the imac hd doesn't show up in the other macs, any way to force the HD to show via target mode in the other macs?
Any ideas? I guess my disk is failing and thats why i have been receiving these question mark folders 3 times this week.
Message was edited by: AppleSensei

if someone has the same issue, i just want to notice i solved it using ubuntu -linux- and transferring the files to an external hard drive from ubuntu, reinstalling mac os x again. When i did target mode with another mac the hard drive didnt appear in finder, but with ubuntu all worked great, i saw my files and then problem solved, i saved my data ; )
I did found annoying using ubuntu to solve this issue with my mac, but well i learnt something new, linux can also be useful when you don't want your data to be deleted as customer support told me they were going to do if i sent my mac.
Message was edited by: AppleSensei

IMac won't boot - flashing question mark folder

Hi, I was having performance issues with my iMac, so after searching for a resolution, I followed some suggestions to reset the PRAM and SMC....after resetting the PRAM it will not boot up at all! The startup sound chimes, then a blank grey screen briefly before a flashing question mark folder appears. Nothing happens..... I have the install cd, but there is a CD in the drive and I can't get it out. Help!!
Thanks in advance....
Andrea

HI Andrea,
To get the disk to eject, start the iMac while holding down the mouse button.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Try booting while holding down the Option key.
Carolyn

Flashing Question mark folder on Macbook1,1

I have macbook1,1,2GHzSpeed,1GHz Ram,60GB HD.
When I start it, a folder with a question mark appears.
I don't have the original CD's/DVD's.
Please help me on how I can get my Macbook to life.
Thanks in advance.

dondada1 wrote:
Thanks TechChuan,but I don't have the intall disks,I have bought a new 120 samsung sata HD,and tried installing my Mac 10.4.8,but i can't do any installation and the flashing question mark still appearing.
It's going to do that with an unformatted hard drive and without a bootable disc in the optical drive.
You could perform a complete fresh install with a retail copy of Leopard (OS 10.5).

MacBook Pro hard disk upgrade shows question mark folder

I recently bought a 1TB hard disk for my teenaged daughter's MacBook Pro.
I formatted it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the existing drive. I even made sure to create the recovery partition.
I restarted while holding the option key and chose the new drive. It booted fine so I checked in System Preferences to make sure it was selected as the boot device.
I opened the case and swapped the drives. Put it back together and restarted only to see the question mark folder!
I tried booting while holding the option key and now I get the choose a network prompt.
I am desperate and hate the thought of disappointing my daughter. It used to be that I was her hero who could fix anything now I'm the guy who asks too many questions and doesn't put enough money on her debit card. Granted she busts her butt getting awesome grades and I was upgrading her drive so she could continue her video yearbook for her school. So I shouldn't complain but it would be great to be her hero again.
BTW, I am not a newbie to the tech world but I don't do nearly as much in the Apple arena as I do in the PC world. Then again I've been a senior tech in the industry sine before IBM had a PC. In fact, my first real work was on a 6502 processor that used the same machine code as the Rage of the day, the Apple ][. All that to say I usually can find my way around a problem but this one has me stumped.
I appreciate any assistance offered.
Thanks,
Thom

I tried to reboot with the option, command P. And R keys pressed. I heard the ding several times it still showed the question mark! I also tried the shift option and it only displayed the network selection. Also I tried to press C so I could boot from USB and it didn't work either.
If I cannot get this to work I fear my only other choice is to use a FireWire enclosure. This isn't a good option as my daughter does mostly movie work and iMovie has this terrible "feature" that forces all movies to be stored in one place. It sure would be handy if it allowed movie projects to set the storage location individually. I suppose I could simply move all the movies to the drive and try to find a way to point all iMovie projects to the external drive.
Unfortunately, my daughter is one of those Mac users who isn't savvy enough to use anything but the default settings. Heck I've tried to explain to her that she ought to get rid of the big files once she has done her work. That's why her drive is always full.

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.

Flashing Question Mark Folder... with a twist

Hi all, I hope you can help me out.
A month ago I had some trouble with my MacBook. It would continually freeze, then when I restarted it would show the flashing question mark folder icon. When I booted from the OSX CD it couldn't see any drives to install to. Restting the PRAM eventually fixed the issue, but only temporarily: it kept doing it and eventually it seemed that the hard drive was well and truly dead.
I took it to my Mac shop and they replaced the hard drive for me as it was still under my Applecare warranty. Things seemed fine for a couple of weeks.
Then it happened again. Now it seems to have skipped the stage where resetting the PRAM would fix things and has gone straight to the signs of a dead hard drive. I find it hard to believe the replacement drive has died after a couple of weeks. Is there some other issue, such as a faulty motherboard, which could be killing hard drives?
My MacBook is a Core 2 Duo 2.0, with 2GB of RAM and 200GB hard drive, running the latest version of OSX.

I had this happen to my MB a few weeks after purchasing it last November. I took it to the Genius Bar at my Apple Store, and the Genius took my HD out to test it, and said that it had completely locked up, and he wasn't able to get it to load on at all, and that it was dead. They sent it away for me, I got it back a couple days later with a brand new HD, and I haven't had a problem since.
My lesson learned: Backup, Backup, Backup!!! I use Apple's Backup App because it came w/ my .Mac account, but there's plenty of other great Backup Apps out there. Have one or more External HDs set up as backups in case anything happens to your internal, and remember a computer is a computer and sometimes they have problems. However, it does sound like Apple invested in a bad lot of HDs. If it's happening to a lot of people, report it to Apple. There may need to be a recall.

A question mark folder appears on the start up after the sound ... with white back ground

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for