Assistance with Disk Warrior and Flashing Question Mark

Hello, guys!
I need a help. My computer was not booting and kept flashing question mark. I've tried First Aid, didn't help. Then I've checked with Apple store technicians, after all they reccommentd me to run Disk Warrior v.4. I did, but it couldn't create a directory for the files. What does it mean? What would be next step?
Thank you very much for any advice.
Message was edited by: Host

Hi, Olimpia. If your hard drive's directory is very, very badly damaged, DiskWarrior may not be able to reconstruct it. Did you see an error message in Diskwarrior that said something like that? If so, you have no choice but to use something like Data Rescue II to recover what files it can, and then erase and zero the hard drive and start over.
If you didn't see any error message, but Diskwarrior seemed to be taking a very long time and didn't appear to be doing anything, it was probably still working and just needed time and patience. I've seen several reports of Diskwarrior successfully rebuilding badly damaged directories but taking several days to do it, and one instance when it successfully completed a rebuild after *14 days* of continuous work. If it doesn't show any error message, just let it keep on working.

Similar Messages

Hi guys, problem with grey screen and flashing question mark. on top of it while in utility, i'm unable to verify, verify disc permission or repair disc0 which is obviously my main hd. any ideas where to go from here? tried to reistall osx but no luck.

hi guys, problem with grey screen and flashing question mark. should be straight forward affair but on top of it while in disc utility, i'm unable to verify, verify disc permission, repair or even erase disc0 which is obviously my main hd. any ideas where to go from here? tried to reinstall osx but no luck, stucked when asked to chose location to install osx. would really apreciate any kind of help with this cause i'm quite new mac user. ty

If you don't have a backup, read this:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689

Apple Macbook 13.3" Laptop-Black 2008 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo will not boot up and instead I get a grey screen with a folder and a question mark over it.

My Apple Macbook 13.3" Laptop-Black 2008 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo will not boot up and instead I get a grey screen with a folder and a question mark over it. I've tried Option key, and Control S keys and it still will not boop up. Can anyone help?

If you are running Snow Leopard:
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 isthree times faster than wireless.

My MacBook has a grey screen with a folder and a question mark in the middle what does this mean?

My MacBook has a grey screen with a folder and a question mark in the middle what does this mean?

It means a valid system cannot be found. You need to reinstall OS X.
If you have Snow Leopard:
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 have 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.

White screen with a folder and a question mark in the Folder

Hi,
My daughter's Desktop Mac Pro won't reboot. On reboot, it shows a white screen with a folder and a question mark within, It just stays there and nothing happens. Is this a problem with a dead hard drive, dead processor, faulty USB connection, problem with airport.? We need advise and help, please!
effie imperio

Hi, Anonymoustache, thanks for responding.
Yes, I think it is "a flashing question mark". If it is flashing, you think it is a hardware problem like a dead hard drive? I had a flashing question mark with my Power book G4 and Apple replaced a dead hard drive.
Thanks Hatter, I will convey your response to my daughter and see if it will help.
effie imperio

I messed up badly by trying to restore my brand new macbook pro by doing restart then command R and choose disc utility repair now when I start ,all I get is the white screen with a folder and a question mark,What can I do???help please

I messed up badly by trying to restore my brand new macbook pro by doing restart then command R and choose disc utility repair now when I start ,all I get is the white screen with a folder and a question mark,What can I do???help please

Can you still boot to the Recovery partition using Command and R whilst booting? Or did you wipe the Recovery partition as well?
If your Recovery partition is still intact, you can simply boot to it and reinstall the OS via the Internet. If you wiped the Recovery partition, you can hold down Command, option and R keys whilst booting and boot into true Internet Recovery mode. You'll be able to reformat the hard drive, erasing all partitions (format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a dingle GUID partition) and then reinstall the OS that shipped with your machine.
Note that you should use a physical Ethernet connection when restoring over the Internet - it's three times slower if you use wifi.
Try your Recovery partition first and if that doesn't work, use Internet Recovery.
Clinton

Folder with face and flashing question mark, what to do when this happens?

I'm sure this has been asked a million times, please help, my brother has a ibook G4, OSX 10.3.9, about 3 years old and now when he turns on the ibook it has a folder with a face in it and a flashing question mark. Do you just leave it and it will sort it self out or is there something to do to make it go away? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

I have replaced a 40 G harddrive with a seagate 160 G drive. When I try to start it it only comes up with the flashing question mark. I have tried to boot off the install CD, but it only flashes the question mark. This is my daughters computer and she really needs it to work for school.
I have tried to "restore" using my new Mac Book and the old 40 G drive in an external USB case. But still is no good. I have used DiskWarrior and the drive will boot.
This is an ibook G4 running 10.4.2

On start up my mac is showing a folder and flashing question mark sign?

On start up my mac shows a folder sign & flashing question mark?? Help and Why??

Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
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.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From 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.
Reinstall Snow Leopard 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.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The 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 the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Wet iBook G4 and flashing question mark

Hi there!:)
I have a 12" iBook G4 with Panther. Yesterday accidentally it got soaked due to a flooding...
I've opened it and dryed it..
Today I see a flashing question mark when I start the Mac.
I've started up from the system software CD.
From the Apple menu I've choosen Disk Utility, but there were no hd seen...but the disk utility could see the external hd.
I've tried to reset the parameter RAM (PRAM), but nothing changed.
I've done the Apple Hardware Test and the result was that all is ok.
I've tried to install the system on an external hd but, in the pane where you select the destination disk, there were no disk seen,no internal and no external (even if connected).
Is this only an hd problem?Or something else?
Can I solve it by changing the hd?
Thanky so much for your help in advance!

Unfortunately, that external drive won't help you, even if you install OS X on it. An iBook can't boot from USB. Additionally, the drive needs to be formatted using the APM partition scheme as Mac OS Extended (journaled).
If you're game for tearing down your computer once more, pick up an external enclosure that uses Firewire (you can get them at http://www.macsales.com), remove the drive from the computer and place it in the enclosure, then see if the computer can see it. If not, the drive is dead and needs to be replaced.
~Lyssa

Why won't my MacBook Pro start up? White screen and flashing question mark.

Hi,
I've had my MacBook Pro for almost 2 years now and I installed OS X 10.8 about 4 months ago.
Today I turned the MacBook Pro on and a white screen with a flashing question mark appeared. I tried then getting the startup manager up: turning on the laptop and immediately holding in alt (option). But nothing appeared for about 25 seconds until a rotating Earth labelled 'Internet recovery' appeared that gave me options to join wireless connections. However, my internet wasn't in the options and when I tried typing in the information required to join my internet the laptop would just load and never find it.
I then tried putting in my Mac OS X install DVD (10.6.7) and help in C until the apple logo appeared on the screen and the little rotating loading circle appeared. That then disappeared and a cicle with a cross through it appeared (similar to a no entry sign). Then after about 30 seconds a blue screen followed by a grey screen appeared until eventually the disc ran properly. I then went into Disk Utility but there was no option called Macintosh HD, only the discs content. It wouldn't let me first aid, erase or repair anything.
I'm totally stumped and have 4 exams at university within the next 2 weeks. I'd really appreciate it if anyone could help me out here?
Thanks,
Best wishes,
Connor

The support article linked below is somewhat outdated. Where it refers to starting up from an installation disc, you should instead start up in Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the chime. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
If you don't have a current backup of all the data on the startup volume, and you want to preserve that data, then you must try to back up before you do anything else. Ask for instructions if you need them.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to reinstall OS X from Recovery, if necessary. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

My apple computer has a white screen with a file and a question mark

I have a white screen with a ? in a file. I have tried holding the option,command, P R buttons while turning it on. No help Does anyone have anymore ideas?

The flashing question mark says, " I cannot find the Startup Disk you said to use."
Hold down the Option key while starting up. This should cause your Mac to draw an Icon for each bootable device.
If none are drawn, you Startup Disk has been damaged.
If Recovery_HD is shown, choose that, launch Disk Utility, select your Macintosh_HD, and ( Repair Disk ).

Clicking sound and flashing question mark folder

This morning I started getting a repetitive clicking sound from the left of the machine. I wasn't using it at the time.
This stopped, and I tried closing apps: got the spinning beach ball. Let it run for a while, then tried force quit, which didn't work - the "Force Quit" window didn't appear. So, did a power off by pressing the power button.
At start up got a gray screen, the clicking noise, and then the folder icon with flashing question mark. Tried another start, got the chimes and blue screen and the clicking noise this time, then the gray and question mark.
My guess is I've got a bad hard drive: should I keep trying to start up so I can try to back up if I get a good start (last backed up a week ago) or is it doing more damage to keep trying?
Is it worth trying to run Disk First Aid or Tech Tool since it seems to be hardware related?

If it's clicking, it's probably failing. Try things in Apple doc.#58042 on Flashing? mark.
If the drive still spins, You could try the free demo of DataRescuell .
If the demo "sees" your stuff, you can purchase the full version to rescue the bigger files. Don't use the drive, till you get this program, if the demo works. Best chance of recovery. Otherwise Data Rescue companies will charge you a fortune! Everyone needs to have at least one backup of their system.
Cheers! DALE

Imac G5 won't start white screen and flashing question mark

tried every key combo recomended - erased HD using target mode/firewire with laptop - but won't boot up from install disc...

The white screen with flashing question mark means that it cannot find a bootable volume.
The iMac G5 will not boot from just any install disk. Ideally, use the grey restore disks which came with the computer. If you've lost these, you can order them direct from Apple. Alternatively, a Mac OS X 10.5 retail install DVD will work provided the iMac G5 has also 1GB RAM (minimum requirement for 10.5).
Sometimes, if the internal drive is faulty, it can take a long time for the computer to recognise other disks. I would suggest holding down the option key on the keyboard (labled alt on some keyboards) and turning the computer on, keep holding alt until you get to the early boot menu, insert your DVD/CD, and click the circle arrow to refresh, wait a bit and the DVD/CD will show up and you can click on it to select it and boot from it by pressing the straight arrow.
After a little while it will get to the install menu, select your language, then on the next screen go through the menus to find "Disk Utility" (it's in different places on different versions of Mac OS X).
You will want to check that the internal hard drive is detected, and that it doesn't have a SMART error (it might be red, or say that the disk is failing). If you get that far, then (assuming you have erased the disk previously, as this will step really will erase the drive and take all your data with it) partition the drive, making sure that under 'Options' you select Apple Partition Map (this will be the default on earlier versions of Mac OS X, but might not be if you've erase the disk from an intel Mac like a MacBook).
Once, you done all that, and there haven't been any issues, you should be able to quit Disk Utility, and carry on with the sytem install as usual, and a 30mins to 2 hours and reboot later you should be booting from the internal drive again.

Installed new hard drive and flashing question mark appears

I bought a new hard drive for my macbook pro (mid 2009) because my original harddrive bit the dust... I purchased it off of amazon which states that its specifically for macbooks and the reviews appeared to back it up. I saw a lot of people with great reviews of the same model of macbook that I have so I figured it was the best solution.. I connected the new hard drive but I am getting the dreaded flashing folder/question mark. Is this normal before re-installing the OS x? Heres the problem, I am out of town on business and do not have the original OSx disc on hand. So my question is, is the flashing question mark normal upon installing a new harddrive? and if so, is there away to install the OSx onto the new harddrive without the disc?
my macbook was running mavericks before the harddrive went to poo, however I did try to re-install mavericks before i ultimately realized that I needed to new harddrive. I noticed that rebooting my mac with command+r would give me the option to reinstall mavericks without a disc or anything. the next question I have is, would this still be do-able on the new harddrive? I tried the command+R option on the new harddrive but nothing happens.
Can someone help me out here, I am getting a little desperate as I have gone over a week without my mac and theres so crucial things I need to get done! Luckily I have all my stuff backed up on an external hard drive, I just need to get the mac running again. Thanks for taking time to read!

1. Yes, it is normal. If there's no OS on the drive, there's nothing to take the computer past that point.
2. No, there's no way on that Mac model. You need to use an existing system(see #4).
3. Not on that Mac model; it doesn't have the Internet Recovery system, and there isn't a recovery partition on the new drive.
4. If the backup drive contains a bootable clone of any compatible OS, or a Time Machine backup created from Mac OS X 10.8 or newer, connect it and restart the computer with the Option key held down. If it doesn't contain either, you can't.
(105476)

Macbook Air - White/Grey Screen with a folder and a question mark

Out of the blue , my macbook air stopped starting up and strted to show me a white/grey screen with nothing but a folder and a question mark . After searching on the internet for solutions and trying to reset my PRAM setting , it still wouldn't boot up . I opened up disk utility and going through internet recovery , I ran the first aid verification on my MAC OS X Base System and it said that it found no problems . I can't restore or erase by the way and i really wouldn't erase my files as I have very important files on my mac . Moving on , I tried to reinstall OS X , but apperently it needs a disk to install OS x on and since none appear , I tried using an USB . After creating a partition and erasing everything on my USB , not happy about that , it wasn't big enough for the OS . So now I am basically stuck in the mac white screen Limbo .
Any sort of help would be fantastic and please do keep in mind that this is a macbook air and I do not have a place to put DVDs into . All I have read on different forum pages didn't help so i decided that it would be a good idea to create my very own thread . I am not very sure about the Mountain Lion version ,but I am not very sure that it matters .

Out of the blue , my macbook air stopped starting up and strted to show me a white/grey screen with nothing but a folder and a question mark . After searching on the internet for solutions and trying to reset my PRAM setting , it still wouldn't boot up . I opened up disk utility and going through internet recovery , I ran the first aid verification on my MAC OS X Base System and it said that it found no problems . I can't restore or erase by the way and i really wouldn't erase my files as I have very important files on my mac . Moving on , I tried to reinstall OS X , but apperently it needs a disk to install OS x on and since none appear , I tried using an USB . After creating a partition and erasing everything on my USB , not happy about that , it wasn't big enough for the OS . So now I am basically stuck in the mac white screen Limbo .
Any sort of help would be fantastic and please do keep in mind that this is a macbook air and I do not have a place to put DVDs into . All I have read on different forum pages didn't help so i decided that it would be a good idea to create my very own thread . I am not very sure about the Mountain Lion version ,but I am not very sure that it matters .

Assistance with Disk Warrior and Flashing Question Mark

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