At startup: choose Macintosh HD or Recovery HD, choose network

I turned on my computer this morning and got a grey screen with two icons: Macintosh HD and Recovery HD. There was a drop-down box underneath asking me to choose my network. When I selected my network, another screen appeared with the network name and a field for the network password. I set up this network 10 months ago and do not remember the password.
Thankfully, one of my neighbours has an unsecured network, so I chose that one and my computer booted up as usual.
I wanted to know if this was a one-time crazy occurance so I shut down and started my computer again. The same thing happened again. And no, I did not remember to check my network password in Keychain.
I again chose the unsecured network and the computer booted up as usual.
Can anyone suggest why this is happening? I shut down the way I usually do last night and this has never happened before. The only things different today are:
1. My remote fell down last night and stopped working so I turned on the TV manually this morning; and
2. My trackpad fell out of my hand and there's a diagonal crack through the centre so I'm using a !#&?#!& mouse (I'm waiting patiently for the 3rd bout of misfortune to befall me)
I can't, however, imagine either of these things affecting the booting up of my mini.
Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My PRAM reset did not go as stated.
I depressed Cmd Option P R, kept pressing those keys, turned on the computer. Then got a screen with 4 options:
1. Restore from a Time Machine backup
2. Restore from installation DVD?
3. Get help online
4. I don't remember
I shut down and tried again, and got the same screen with 4 options again. I tried the PRAM reset a third time and the computer booted as usual.
Any other suggestions?

Similar Messages

Why does my macbook give me the option to choose Macintosh HD or recovery HD at startup every time?

Why does my macbook give me the option to choose Macintosh HD or recovery HD at startup every time?
It never used to do that before until now. How can I get it to just start up to the regular Macintosh HD again without clicking on the HD at startup?
Im running a new macbook pro 13 inch with lion and everything is fully updated.
Thanks.

Next time you boot, go here to make sure there is "something" selected:
That's all I can think of...if nothing is selected in this box, strange things do happen

Why did I get a screen asking me to choose Macintosh HD or Recovery HD?

When I turned my Macbook Pro on, there was a grey screen asking me to choose between Macintosh HD or Recovery HD. Above both options was a picture of a harddrive. I chose recovery incase it had lost any of my files, however it took me to a set up page, asking me to choose a language. At this point I turned it off using the keyboard button. When I turned it on again it came up with the usual login screen. I haven't lost anything, does anyone know why this happened? The last time I used it was a few days ago just to watch online TV. I have never downloaded anything except Apps.
Thanks.

Go to the start up disk preference pane and make sure your mac's hdd is selected as the start up drive.

Startup Pop up with macintosh HD and Recovery 10.9

on the odd occasion for absolutely no reason when I start my macbook pro running the latest mavericks OS version, the first screen that comes up when starting up from power off shows two options to choose either "Macintosh HD" or "Recovery 10.9" with "select network" below them, I dont understand why it keeps coming up every once in a while or what it even does although I'll usually select macintosh hd and everything will be ok but I'd just like to know whats up if anyone had any comments. Thanks in Advance

Hi tandh318,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The article below may be able to help you with this. Once you choose the Macintosh HD as your startup volume, the pop up option should not re-appear.
Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1310
Cheers,
- Judy

There is no Macintosh HD and Recovery HD on Startup Manager

i have installed Windows 7 using Bootcamp before
when i open Startup Manager there is no Macintosh HD or Recovery HD
only Windows shows up
any solution?
thanks
(sorry my english was bad)

mende1 wrote:
If your computer came with DVDs:
1. Insert the OS X DVD and press C key when your Mac starts.
2. Go to Utilities > Disk Utility and erase the drive.
3. Install OS X again. Then, open  > Software Update and install the most recent version. Finally, open App Store > Purchases and download OS X Mountain Lion
The OP is on 10.8, there are no discs, but there should be a recovery partition.

After installing the windows 7 on the Macbook pro, i accidentally disabled the Macintosh hd and Recovery Hd and now now cant see them on start up

After installing the windows 7 on the Macbook pro, i accidentally disabled the Macintosh hd and Recovery Hd and now now cant see them on start up
I need to boot to macintosh but i cant see the drive nor to restore to the fastory settings through recovery HD, What can i do

hold down the option key during boot it give you the option of what parition you wish to boot into

TS4303 When I try to Reinstall Mac OS X Lion using the Recovery by choosing the partition, I got an error message saying that it protected. What should I do?

My Macbook Pro will not start anymore after the update.
When I try to Reinstall Mac OS X Lion using the Recovery by choosing the partition, I got an error message saying that it protected. What should I do?

Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.
If that doesn't help Reinstall the OS.

Manage-bde command is not generating recovery key on network location

Hi,
I am trying to save the recovery key to the network share location and start up key in the USB drive while enabling bit locker.When the OS drive gets encrypted, the default folder for recovery password shows that it contains 1 file but not getting anything
inside it when i checked the properties of the folder.
i have already changed the group policy as "choose default folder for recovery password".
I am using the command to enable the bit-locker as "manage-bde.exe -on C: -rk
<network location to save recovery key> -sk <location of the USB drive>
-rp to enable the bit-locker. It is generating the start up key in the USB but not the recovery key on network share.
Can anyone suggest what i am missing or what else i should do to generate the recovery key on network share.
Does manage-bde process be able to save the recovery key on network share or it hand over to some other process to perform this task.
Thanks
Gaurav Ranjan

I got you Manoj, but I want to ask you one think that what if i lost the startup key or my USB stick. I have my recovery key on the network share. In order to log-in my machine I need the recovery password. From where i will get the recovery
password(48 digit). Surely from the recovery key on the network share. So how can i get the recovery password if only we have the recovery key.
I know both are different in context. Both are two different thing. I have lost my USB stick along with the recovery password and I have to log-in my machine. How can i do that i want to know that. Do there is any method to get recovery password from the
recovery key on network share. I have retrieved the recovery password when the recovery key in AD. But this time it is on network share.
Also one think which I need to solve is that the manage-bde -protectors -add command creates a new .bek file along with the older one. So the .bek file which get shown at the time of the start up of the machine is different from that stored in the network.
So i am getting confused as which .bek file is for which machine and hard to retrieve the password.
Is there any method to store recovery key on network without the -protectors -add command line so that both the .bek file should be matched and can easily be known for indiviual machine in an OU. As if both the .bek files will be different it would be difficult
to to retrieve the recovery password for the machines.
Please do inform if you need some more information about the scenario if i missed something.
Thanks
Gaurav Ranjan

HT4236 when i try deleting pictures on my ipod touch i can not choose "selected albums" i can only choose all my albums

when i try deleting pictures on my ipod touch i can not choose "selected albums" i can only choose all my albums

Yes, that's the way it works with pictures synced from a comptuer to an iOS device.
If you want to remove specific picstures/albums, do so via iTunes on the computer.

Kernel Panics on startup and when starting in recovery mode

I have a brand new Mac mini late 2014 right out of the box (2.8ghz, 8gb ram, fusion drive)
Upon initial startup the computer froze with a spinning wheel of death during the setup process and then restarted with a kernel panic. The computer kernel panics every time I restart or if I try to go into recovery mode. I live in Ecuador and am about a 10 hr drive from where I bought the computer. Hoping someone might have some insight or can understand any of this panic report. Thanks in advance for any help.
Anonymous UUID:       1274EFCD-E218-10BE-D151-4A6D21C8611B
Tue Jan 27 13:27:18 2015
*** Panic Report ***
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800f21e80a): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f91745895, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x0000000080010033, CR2: 0x00000000000021f0, CR3: 0x000000000584e00c, CR4: 0x00000000001626e0
RAX: 0x0000000000000000, RBX: 0xffffff802238c298, RCX: 0xffffff7f91757e00, RDX: 0xffffff802238c298
RSP: 0xffffff8117af3890, RBP: 0xffffff8117af38a0, RSI: 0x0000000000000002, RDI: 0xffffff8022141000
R8: 0xffffff8021867600, R9: 0xffffff8117af3be0, R10: 0x0000000000000008, R11: 0xffffff8117af3b90
R12: 0xffffff8117af3940, R13: 0xffffff7f91757ecc, R14: 0xffffff8117af39e0, R15: 0x0000000000000000
RFL: 0x0000000000010246, RIP: 0xffffff7f91745895, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0x00000000000021f0, Error code: 0x0000000000000002, Fault CPU: 0x0
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff8117af3540 : 0xffffff800f13a811
0xffffff8117af35c0 : 0xffffff800f21e80a
0xffffff8117af3780 : 0xffffff800f23a443
0xffffff8117af37a0 : 0xffffff7f91745895
0xffffff8117af38a0 : 0xffffff7f91757e14
0xffffff8117af38c0 : 0xffffff7f91757ef5
0xffffff8117af38e0 : 0xffffff800f6d566e
0xffffff8117af3920 : 0xffffff7f91757f60
0xffffff8117af3970 : 0xffffff7f91718d44
0xffffff8117af3990 : 0xffffff7f91718e81
0xffffff8117af3a10 : 0xffffff7f918c166d
0xffffff8117af3a70 : 0xffffff800f6d566e
0xffffff8117af3ab0 : 0xffffff7f918c19ac
0xffffff8117af3b00 : 0xffffff7f91718e81
0xffffff8117af3b80 : 0xffffff7f91718855
0xffffff8117af3bc0 : 0xffffff800f700003
0xffffff8117af3d00 : 0xffffff800f1ea517
0xffffff8117af3e10 : 0xffffff800f13e91c
0xffffff8117af3e40 : 0xffffff800f1235a3
0xffffff8117af3e90 : 0xffffff800f133e8d
0xffffff8117af3f10 : 0xffffff800f20a142
0xffffff8117af3fb0 : 0xffffff800f23ac66
      Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
         com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.7.21)[4700601D-3FEB-3B86-B2BA-8D71AF84D1 C4]@0xffffff7f91718000->0xffffff7f9171bfff
         com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferAzul(10.0)[78B8EBD4-B401-3BB9-BB23-E33F24 B52B69]@0xffffff7f9171c000->0xffffff7f91766fff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[766FC23F-452C-3B74-951C-598BB17BCF06]@0xffffff 7f8f84e000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.4)[70E2B65E-A91A-3522-A1A0-79FD63EABB4C]@0xfffff f7f8fe20000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2(156.4)[20DDCE61-E3EC-3CC1-8B79-170CEF2B603 A]@0xffffff7f916ac000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily(31)[781C9DD1-4CE9-3AEB-85EA-D420CEC18916]@0xffff ff7f8f8b0000
            dependency: com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.7.21)[4700601D-3FEB-3B86-B2BA-8D71AF84D1 C4]@0xffffff7f91718000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[6D99A3BE-D531-3780-880B-13F2FC894A4A]@0 xffffff7f91672000
         com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy(3.7.7)[0F1BB75D-C1F8-37BD-A2AE-0CEDB 6083906]@0xffffff7f918bd000->0xffffff7f918c3fff
            dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl(3.7.21)[62689710-EEA7-307A-AC83-B8F25DA88 A6A]@0xffffff7f918ba000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.4)[70E2B65E-A91A-3522-A1A0-79FD63EABB4C]@0xfffff f7f8fe20000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[766FC23F-452C-3B74-951C-598BB17BCF06]@0xffffff 7f8f84e000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[6D99A3BE-D531-3780-880B-13F2FC894A4A]@0 xffffff7f91672000
            dependency: com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.7.21)[4700601D-3FEB-3B86-B2BA-8D71AF84D1 C4]@0xffffff7f91718000
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: displaypolicyd
Mac OS version:
14A389
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 14.0.0: Fri Sep 19 00:26:44 PDT 2014; root:xnu-2782.1.97~2/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 89E10306-BC78-3A3B-955C-7C4922577E61
Kernel slide:     0x000000000ee00000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff800f000000
__HIB text base: 0xffffff800ef00000
System model name: Macmini7,1 (Mac-35C5E08120C7EEAF)
System uptime in nanoseconds: 47944526008
last loaded kext at 29608019997: com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothHIDKeyboard 175.5 (addr 0xffffff7f8fcdc000, size 16384)
loaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.70
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.6.1
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 266.5
com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.2.10
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 266.5
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy 3.7.7
com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 4.3.0f10
com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler 2.1.0d1
com.apple.driver.AGPM 100.14.37
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim 1.0.0
com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleOSXWatchdog 1
com.apple.driver.AppleHWAccess 1
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.7.3
com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP 2.0.2
com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.3.0f10
com.apple.driver.AppleHV 1
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferAzul 10.0.0
com.apple.nke.webcontentfilter 5
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 327.5
com.apple.driver.CoreStorageFsck 471
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 3.0.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.SparseDiskImage 389.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.ReadWriteDiskImage 389.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.UDIFDiskImage 389.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.HTTPBackingStore 389.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.FileBackingStore 389.1
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.RAMBackingStore 389.1
com.apple.BootCache 35
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 705.4.1
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 404
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 2.6.5
com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 900.19.8
com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC 1.6.5
com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet 10.1.2b3
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 3.0.7
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI 705.4.14
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.8
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 2.1
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.7
com.apple.security.quarantine 3
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 8
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 161
com.apple.kext.MojoKDP 1.0.4
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothHIDKeyboard 175.5
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 175.5
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothHIDDriver 4.3.0f10
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.13d1
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 266.5
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.15
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 200.6
com.apple.vecLib.kext 1.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 3.7.21
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 97
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.12d1
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.4.1
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.3.0f10
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 266.5
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 266.5
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssUART 2.0.45
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 11
com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.9
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 5.8.0d49
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltEDMSink 4.0.2
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPOutAdapter 4.0.6
com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl 3.7.21
com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 156.4
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.4.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 705.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 705.4.0
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 705.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 705.4.9
com.apple.driver.CoreStorage 471
com.apple.driver.DiskImages.KernelBacked 389.1
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter 4.0.6
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily 4.0.6
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 2.0.2
com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI 3.1.7
com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily 4.2.1
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 700.52
com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController 1.0.3b3
com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b8
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 3.2
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.7.0
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssGspi 2.0.45
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssDmac 2.0.45
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 705.4.14
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssI2C 2.0.45
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 2.0.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.security.sandbox 300.0
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.driver.AppleKeyStore 2
com.apple.driver.AppleMobileFileIntegrity 1.0.5
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 389.1
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 4.3.0f10
com.apple.driver.AppleFDEKeyStore 28.30
com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily 31
com.apple.driver.AppleCredentialManager 1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 3.1
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.9
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.4
com.apple.kec.pthread 1
com.apple.kec.Libm 1
com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0
Model: Macmini7,1, BootROM MM71.0220.B00, 2 processors, Intel Core i5, 2.8 GHz, 8 GB, SMC 2.24f32
Graphics: Intel Iris, Intel Iris, Built-In
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x80AD, 0x483943434E4E4E424C54414C41522D4E5444
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x80AD, 0x483943434E4E4E424C54414C41522D4E5444
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x13B), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.15.124.12.10)
Bluetooth: Version 4.3.1f2 15015, 3 services, 27 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en1
Serial ATA Device: APPLE SSD SM0128F, 121.33 GB
Serial ATA Device: APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662, 1 TB
USB Device: Microsoft Optical Mouse with Tilt Wheel
USB Device: IR Receiver
USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Bus: Mac mini, Apple Inc., 26.1

If you bought the product in the U.S. directly from Apple (not from a reseller), you have 14 days from the date of delivery in which to exchange or return it for a refund. In other countries, the return policy may be different. If you bought from a reseller, its return policy applies.

Startup problem after restore in recovery mode

Hello,
My iPhone 5S stuck in apple logo and did not start to home screen. I found that the best solution is restore in recovery mode, but it did not work. my device started but made the apple logo loop. seems that it start and shot down. even the iTunes could not recognize it.
After two days of having this problem, disappointedly I put the wake up bottom and I saw that my iPhone started but in factory setting. Non of my data on it. I was happy until I made a restore to get back my data, apps, contacts, that the same problem of startup happened.
Can anybody help?

The backup data seems to be damaged, you'll have to start all over again without the latest backup, sorry.
iOS: How to back up your data and set up your device as a new device
If you are using iTunes on the computer, there might be more than one backup listed in iTunes/Edit/Preferences/Devices, check the article mentioned above for more info. If there is, use this one to restore from, to get at least some settings and data back. If there is no other backup listed, your backup data can't be used anymore, sorry.

How to unlock Macintosh HD on recovery mode

i locked macintosh HD & computer hanged, i restar my pc, but it can't boot,
i also try on terminal in recovery mode-
diskutil corestorage list
but terminal said- no core volume your group
i also check disk utility & show my UUID (11111-2222-333-444-555)
i also try --- diskutil corestorage unlockvolume (my UUID)
but he says ----- this is not your core storage volume..
N. B: I don't want formate my HD.

Fix Permissions for a Locked Drive
Open Terminal in the Utilities folder. Paste the following commands at the prompt. Press RETURN after each. The first command will prompt for you to enter your admin password. It will not be echoed to the screen. After entering your password press RETURN again.
chflags 0 /Volumes/*
chmod a+rx /Volumes/*
killall Finder
An alternative is to download BatChmod and use it to fix the permissions.

How to unlock Macintosh HD in recovery mode?

Good Evening,
Have a little dilemma. Went to update my wife's Mac Book Pro to OS X 10.9.5 today and ended up in recovery mode. Looks like something messed up during the update. There are files that have not been backed up on the drive which makes matters worse. I have attempted to reinstall OS X Mavericks in recovery mode but it won't let me do it because the Macintosh HD is locked. How do I unlock this drive without erasing all the contents in it?
Thanks,
Scott

Fix Permissions for a Locked Drive
Open Terminal in the Utilities folder. Paste the following commands at the prompt. Press RETURN after each. The first command will prompt for you to enter your admin password. It will not be echoed to the screen. After entering your password press RETURN again.
chflags 0 /Volumes/*
chmod a+rx /Volumes/*
killall Finder
An alternative is to download BatChmod and use it to fix the permissions.

Flashing question mark on startup, no Macintosh HD on disk utility

I had to do a hard shutdown on my 2011 MacBook Pro, and when I went to restart it I got the gray screen with the flashing question mark folder deal. I restarted it and went through Internet recovery, but under disk utility there is no option for Macintosh HD, only disk0 and Mac OS X Base System.
Any fix to this?

Possibly:
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. 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.

Can't locate startup disk while in system recovery

I have a MacBook Pro-version OS X Lion 10.7. The problem I have is that I moved the HD drive on to the dashboard--for some reason I thought it would be more convenient. The next time I turned it on a folder with a ? appeared. I've restarted the Mac while holding down command R and the option key. This is a work computer that I received only a week ago, so sadly I never got to back it up with Time Machine. When the four options come up (time machine, reinstall OSX, help online, and disk utility) I'm limited to help online, which gives me no option of a disk to store it on. My question is if there is anyway to locate my disk drives through Terminal or can I open up the Mac and remove and reinstall the hard drive to reset my settings? Could I also use a blank cd/DVD to install OS X on to? Thanks.

Open Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities.
Does Disk Utility see the drive? In order to reinstall OS X, you have to be able to see the drive in Disk Utility.
Options to try...
Hold down the Option key and restart. This should bring up a list of drives. If you see the Macintosh HD (default name) hold down the Shift key and select the drive. This would boot you in Safe Boot mode.
Another option would be to try resetting PRAM
1.
Shut down your Mac.
2.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3.
Turn on the computer.
4.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
5.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6.
Release the keys.

At startup: choose Macintosh HD or Recovery HD, choose network

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