After reformatting drive - folder with question mark appear

I am using an iMac 2010
I was planning to reformat it and install the OS Maverick from my drive but after formatting (which delete all the files from it's hard drive) after restarting a blinking question mark appears
I have a wireless keyboard and mouse and I am trying to boot it with a CD of OS X 10.6.4
nothing is happening when i press option c , command R ,etc
what should i do?

Hi,
- Try booting with the Option key and select the Install CD in view: Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
- If the Option key does not respond with Starup Manager, try with a wired keyboard.
See how you go

Similar Messages

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.

MacBook Pro won't startup - Folder with question mark appears

I have tried multiple times to startup my macbook pro (I am not sure if I have lion or not) and it will only come to a white screen. Sometimes an icon appears that is a folder with a question mark in the middle. I have an external hard drive, but everything is not backed up.
What is going on and what are some steps I can take to remedy this problem.
I have tried Command + R as well as Shift while starting up.

A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac

Booting system from an external drive; Folder with Question Mark

Hello all. I am trying to setup an external USB hard drive as a bootable device for my Tiger install. This is on a Core Duo Mac Mini. I have successfully partitioned it using GUID into two partitions; A small 5gb partition for the minimal OSX install, and the remainder for data. I installed OSX onto it via my included Tiger discs that came with the Mini, no problems. However, when I try to boot from it I get a Folder icon with a question mark in the center. I can boot the Mini normally and browse the external partition. It shows no problems. Disk Utility also shows no errors on the drive. What have I missed?
For any who are curious, my goal here is to use NetRestore to make a backup image of my main Mini hard disk. Then by booting to the external USB drive, I will be able to restore the backup image (stored on the data partition of the external drive as well) to the internal Mini hard disk.
Mac Mini Core Dio Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Just letting everyone know that I am still unresolved on this one. I have tried it all; Zero-overwrite erased the external drive before partitioning it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the boot disk, you name it. Every situation leads to the same result; no ability to boot from the USB drive, It just acts like it can't read it. Are there "undocumented" problems booting from USB on Intel macs?

Tried doing a clean install of lion and now have a folder with question mark appearing when mac boots

I purchased a 2011 mac mini I was having some issues and as I had already bought lion for one of my other macs and put it on a usb key I formatted the mac mini's hdd and put the usb key in to one of the Mini's usb ports and booted the mini up and held down c when the white scren appeard it stayed white for a few secnds and then a folder with a question mark started flashing no option to select my connected usb key I tried several more re boots and each time got the exact same result.
What on earth has apple done so now I can't even access attached drives during booting.
Any ideas how I can sort this out?

Maybe it is not "what has Apple done" You may have jumped the gun a little formatting your system so quickly without ensuring you can actually boot via an alternate method.
The mini has a recovery partition, and instructions how to reinstall the OS from that.
USB drive. Sounds to me like you don't have a proper OSX Bootable USB drive?
Also, the new way Apple allows reinstallation is over the internet too.

Folder With Question Mark Appears On Start Up: Computer Useless

When I turn the power on, a folder with a question mark flashes in the middle of the screen. The computer becomes useless. I can't go further. When I turn the power off and then on, the same thing happens.
This has happened to me before, but a long time ago. I forget the precise fix. Could someone advise as to the reason for this, and what to do about it? Thanks.

Hi frank_ohara,
The folder with the question mark, I'd say about 95% of the time, indicates a failed or failing HD. The exact meaning of the icon on startup is that no valid bootable OS (or startup volume) could be located. To further complicate matters, I've seen machines with failed HDs lock up the system bus and prevent the unit from properly booting to an optical drive when a disc is inserted.
If you can't startup the computer (with the System Installation disc) inserted by holding "Option" to get to the startup manager, I'd then recommend removing the HD from the unit and trying to startup. You can always "insert" the drive back in on the fly to run diagnostics via Disk Utility. It's tricky to do because you'll have to have the battery removed but it might be worth a shot given where you're currently at in the process.
Do you have a backup of the data? Is there any data of significant value on the machine, currently?

Ssd can't boot from mainbay folder with question mark

Hello I've searched for my problem but can't find anything same so I'm gona ask.
first of all I'm sorry for my English.
I'm using MacBook pro mid 2012 with samsung 840 evo ssd 500gb.
today it was working perfect it felt asleep and after wake up it restarted and flashing folder with question mark appeared on screen.
I Know it's some kind of hdd problem. So I've took it out and put in external box to connect to my friends MacBook to see if it's working and does all information is still in it. It was working perfectly. after that I connected it via usb and boot it by holding opt key and it startups normal. To check that it isint sata cable I have puted empty hdd in main bay and booted from ssd connected by usb and both drives show up in disk utility.
So hdd working perfect. Sata cable is good and can read drive.
Macbook boots from ssd connected by usb without any problems.
The only problem is that I can't boot my MacBook from ssd in mainbay it shows flashing folder with question mark.
Maybe anyone had had that issue before.?
How can I solve this problem.?
again sorry for my English. And thank you for all your answers.

Do not apologize for your English. I assure you your English is better than what my facility with your language may be.
I have seen a couple of posts similar to yours where the SSD will not boot internally but a conventional HDD will. The resolution in one case was a new SATA cable even though the tests suggested otherwise.
I would take the MBP to an apple store and have them check it thoroughly and see if they can pinpoint to the cable as the problem. Obviously this just a guess on my part.
A call to Samsung technical support may also be a good idea.
Ciao.

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.

When I start my iMac 2008, appear something like folder with question mark inside

When I start my iMac 2008, appear something like folder with question mark inside

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.
If you are running Lion or later:
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing 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.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Mountain Lion or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

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 have macbook mid 2009, with os leopard and I updated it till yosemite now while deleting partition I erased the main hitachi drive , now I have no backups and while switching on it shows folder with question mark,inserting the grey dvd it keep spin

Have macbook mid 2009, with leopard, updated to yosemite, while erasing partition erased hd, dot have backups, powerup shows folder with question mark, inserting grey dvd shows apple and spinning wheel, please help

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. 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 the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. From here you can upgrade to Yosemite by re-downloading it from the Purchases page in the App Store.

Hard drive crash? Folder with question mark

Hi everyone! I had problems with my macbook pro (early 2013). Last week, it slowed down suddenly and the laptop heats up during sleep. Then the hard drive recently crashed, at least I thought it crashed after it showed the folder with question mark during startup and did not show my old hard disk drive. Now I bought a 1TB WD mainstream hard drive disk, unfortunately it does not detect it in the internet recovery (disk utility). Now my question is, Do I have to do something with the hard drive first for my laptop to detect it? Like formatting it? The box said that it is compatible with mac OSx Lion, but my internet recovery lets me install Mountain Lion only. Is that the problem? or is the problem internal like the cable that connects the hard drive to the logic board?

That depends on the type of drive you have. If it is a standard external drive (in an enclosure) you can connect the drive with a USB cable.
If it is a bare drive like this:
You will have to put it an enclosure and get a usb cable. External drive enclosure are < $10. They come in two sizes, 2.5" and 3.5". Buy one that's correct for your drive. http://www.amazon.ca/MOGOI-Enclosure-External--Silver-Accessory/dp/B00HC107R6/re f=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1404755872&sr=8-5&keywords=disk+enclosure

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

Flashing Folder with Question Mark after Trackpad 1.0 Update

My machine won't boot after installing this update. I get the flashing folder with question mark and can't even boot from the Install DVD either... I just get a frozen spinney wheel at the Apple Logo screen. I've tried resetting the PRAM and everything else that a Googling of the problem suggests. This update bricked my Macbook!!!!
Anybody else having this problem? Anybody have any suggestions or am I stuck with going to see a "genius"?

I've not seen any other posts about it causing problems, worked fine here. You've tried resetting the PRAM the only other thing you could try is:
Boot holding down Apple/S and don't let go until you see scrolling text.
When that stops and you see a root#: prompt enter
fsck -fy
Let it run through all the checks and repairs.
If it fails first time, at any time, or finds and fixes a fault - run the command again and keep doing so (some fixes can take several passes) until it says "Appears to be OK" then enter
reboot

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
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Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

After reformatting drive - folder with question mark appear

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