Blank grey screen and folder with question mark at power up

When I turn on my computer, the screen goes grey and makes loud, unusual noises. There was no hint of a problem last time I booted up my macbook and I can think of nothing that would have caused any structural damage to the computer. An icon with a folder and a question mark inside of it appears after a minute or so of the computer being in this blank, grey state. If you could give me any information about what might be wrong with the computer I'd greatly appreciate it.

Insert the 1st install disk and boot up while holding down the C key. Then when you get to the second screen for installation look in the menu bar under Utilities and run disk utility. Verify your drive and repair it if it needs it. You have something corrupted or your hard drive may have crashed.

Similar Messages

  • Gray screen, flashing folder with question mark

    My macbook pro was working normal in the afternoon...  I closed the computer lid and returned a couple hours later to a gray screen & flashing folder with a question mark.  When I hold the option key down at startup I only get an internet recovery mode.  I plugged in my airport time capsule and was able to boot from it.  I used disc utility check and everything checked out ok.  I used my ESET NOD32 Antivirus and it checked out ok.  Finally, I went to start up disc and restarted my computer from the Mac HD.  This also worked without problem.  Afterwards I disconnected my airport capsule and restarted the computer as a final test.  Unfortunately I am back to the flashing folder with a question mark.  What do I do?

    See:
    A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support
    Seems like your disk is failling.

  • HELP! Gray Screen & File Folder with Question Mark!

    Hello!
    If anyone can offer suggestions or if you've dealt with this before I would love feedback so that we can fix this problem!
    I recently converted my husband from a PC user to a Mac user (it was a happy day). A little over 1 month ago we bought a brand new 20" iMac and since then everything has gone quite smoothly, he's even said how happy he is with the switch!
    Then yesterday morning as I lay sleeping in the other room a noise similar to dial up internet woke me. I went into the office to find the internet up on the screen of our iMac, Firefox wouldn't shut down so I tried force quitting, but that too did not work. Finally I pushed the power button, and went back to bed.
    A few hours later as I went to check my email I powered on the iMac and got a gray screen. Nervous, I turned if off, and then back on in safe mode. I still got a gray screen but now with a file folder with a question mark inside flashing at me. Thankfully we're within the 1yr. warrenty so we took it back and they're diagnosing the problem....but I'm worried about the outcome.
    Has anyone else had this problem? What was the result? What caused it? We save most everything onto external hard drives (thankfully!) so it's not as if the machine was being overloaded. It kept making that weird dial up noise too... kind of a bleeb, fans running, trying to work noise. Obviously my husband isn't so thrilled with Macs now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

    Welcome to Discussions - you have an intel iMac, and this is the PPC G5 forum, but even so, I would first advise you to buy Apple Care before then first year of ownership is up.
    Then, I would remind you that all electronics will fail at some point, but the exact point is unknown and sometimes is much sooner than it should be. It would be interesting to hear from you what the exact failure was, there do not seem to be many reports of intel power supply failures, that seems to have been fixed since the era of the G5s.
    The flashing question mark is usually a sign that the hard drive has failed and drives can fail at any point, yours may simply have some bad sectors; it could also be the logic board and again, they fail, but usually not within the first three years. Your machine may have been defective to begin with, it certainly doesn't sound as if you have been abusing it, so do please let us know what the ultimate diagnosis was.

  • Power up screen has folder with question mark

    When I power on my computer the first thing I see is a white screen with a folder and a question mark in it. I can't go anywhere from there and this screen is on for a bout 2 minutes and then my computer shuts down. I have found a way around this (pressing power button, and immediately holding the option key which takes me to a screen where I type in my password and then that takes me to another screen where it says macintosh hd which I click on and that brings me to my main screen) which is very tedious. Is there anything I can do to go back to my normal power up screen where I can avoid this mess?

    Check the setting in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
    (53026)

  • Grey screen"no entry sign/question mark

    My imac was working fine and then the browsers began freezing.
    Tried force quits but no apps came up in the window.
    Tried restarting and heard a loud beep followed by grey screen and folder with question mark.
    Took out all connections and tried starting up again,this time a grey screen with a no entry sign appeared.
    Powered off and on again,this time blue screen appeared after 5 mins then went on to mouse/keyboard bluetooth set up,finally got back on to my log in screen.Logged in and tried disk utility which began verifying permissions but got stuck saying 4 mins remaining.
    Spotlight was also beginning to re-index.
    another restart,and no entry sign appears.
    Next restart,reset Pram,apple logo appeared and stuck on grey screen with nothing happening.
    Any ideas people?
    thanks in advance!
    Also,is there still an apple support contact number from the UK? used to be able to phone through for one off incidents.

    just done this:
    "Try Disk Utility
    Start from your Mac OS X Install disc: Insert the installation disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
    When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
    Click the First Aid tab.
    Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
    Select your Mac OS X volume.
    Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
    Taking AGEs again,ut waiting to see what happens next!

  • I powered up my macbook and there is a file folder with question mark on the screen flashing.  What does that mean?

    Powered up Mac book and screen showing file folder with question mark flashing? 

    A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
    Hope that solves your issue.

  • I installed the window 7 os in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume the mac os x?

    i installed the window 7 ultimate OS in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume mac mac os x?

    Assuming that you tried to install Win 7 in bootcamp.
    Power on the machine and press and hold the "option" key when you hear the bong sound.
    Select the Macintosh HD icon and press "return" or just click on the icon.
    Once booted into OS X go to System Preferences and select the Startup Disk icon and configure startup to use the Macintosh HD.

  • Macbook pro folder with question mark blinking appear whent I turn on, When I press the Option key Grey lock screen appear asking for a password, can anyone help me please?

    Macbook pro folder with question mark blinking appear whent I turn on, When I press the Option key Grey lock screen appear asking for a password, can anyone help me please?

    Provide the computer's firmware password. If you don't know what it is, contact the person you got the computer from or Apple.
    (91589)

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Folder with Question Mark, to Apple Icon, to Kernel Screen at Startup.

    At startup Folder with Question Mark, Followed all steps to resolve it to no avail, I try to re-install Snow Leopard and Apple Icon with Grey screen appears, then Kernel screen.
    I cannot get past the Kernel screen.  No options to click anything, like system preferences or anything. I have a Macbook, with Snow Leopard.  Any help would be much appreciated.
    I tried Pram Reset and everything.

    Hey, thanks for the quick reply Mende.
    I tried that, it goes to the apple icon, however after about 10 seconds of the apple it goes straight to the Kernel screen.  It doesn't give me the options of opening anything. Infact it doesn't even have a mouse curser.
    If I hold "option" it gives me the option of choosing only the "Leopard DVD" but that's it and then it goes to the Kernel Screen
    Again, thanks for the taking the time to help me out.

  • MacBook Pro flashes file folder with question mark and startup manager will not run

    My son's MacBook Pro won't boot (gets the flashing file folder with question mark).  When I try to open startup manager (holding "option" key during boot does not do it).  Other posts suggest inserting the install disk, but I am pretty sure that for Lion, there was no disk, it was just off the website through the App Store.  Any further suggestions?

    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.

  • Folder with Question Mark on Start-up/ DOS-like screen with errors now...

    Left my Mac Pro running last night, woke up to it being frozen (looked like it was
    in hibernation mode and wouldn't wake up).
    Forced a shut down from button on tower - on start-up, went gray screen
    with blinking folder with question mark.
    Inserted install disc 1 and held down 'C' - Went to choose your lang menu,
    I picked English, went to choose start-up disc. Options were the install
    disc and a network drive with a question mark. I picked drive with
    question mark.
    Computer looked like it was trying to restart, apple with loading circle
    spinning, and then blinked to a black screen that looked like DOS that was
    blinking error messages (one message was "diskOs2 undefined Oxe0030005")
    Any suggestions?
    Mac Pro   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Was there a storm or outage that could have brought it down? for now it sounds like a kernel panic screen is what you are seeing. If you don't have a UPS, I wouldn't be w/o. Never know when one of those high winds will knock out power.
    You could try to do an SMC Reset and see.
    I assume you usually sleep the system and it doen't have trouble with wake from sleep, and you haven't altered the system (new hardware etc) in any way that would change that.

  • My MacBook pro stop working and it shows folder with question mark after this update,  it's not my fault,  Apple should solve the problem with out ask me to make payment

    After updating my MacBook pro it shows only a folder with question mark on it
    It is not my fault, Apple updates problem
    They should solve it fir me without make any payment
    Thanks

    Try starting your computer holding down the option key as soon as you hear the startup sound, and continue holding it. Hopefully, you will see the icon for your startup disk come up on your screen within a minute. Click on that icon and press return. If your machine starts up normally from there, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and reselect your startup volume

  • Help:  Got the dreaded grey folder with question mark

    Hey folks,
    I was working in Chrome on my 13" mid-2010 MacBook Pro running OSX10.6.8, plugged in the mains charger and instantly had an unusual (not the beachball- the daisy from start-up and shut-down) freeze-up of the computer.  I couldn't force quit and so shut the computer down using the power button (something I have done perhaps four times in its life-time).
    On start up I got the dreaded flashing grey folder with question mark and know that this is serious.  Last week I had a half hour with the U, I and O keys not working and that despite being very, very nice to my machines and repairing permissions and not unduly installing rubbish.
    So I have inserted the start up disk for the MacBook Pro to see if I could use Disk Utility.  And got it started (unusually load "whirring" too but I attribute this to heat) and Disk Utility cannot find the disk to repair permissions.
    Now-  from what I understand it means the hard drive is gone, right?  Anything that can be done to save it (I cannot afford a new one)?
    If not-  how do I get the bits of data on there which I had yet to back up?  CAN I?
    Please and thank you.

    So I fitted a new 500GB solid state drive from Samsung (easy enough- only a few screws on the lid, four screws holding it down and four more for the "pins" to hold it in place) but now, when I start up (bearing in mind that the install disk is stuck inside)- I get the Apple logo, then the daisy clock and then, woe is me, the "no entry" sign and eventually the install disk kicks in only to reveal that there is no hard drive to install to.  Disk Utility and Start Up Disk both do not recognise it.
    Any ideas what I can do, given that it is not rocket science to install one of these, given there is just one cable to connect and the rest is just to keep it in place?

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